Rural School Business
Partnerships
How to enhance employment
opportunities for adolescents in
rural communities!
Rural Economies
“Rural people with disabilities have a higher rate of unemployment
than their urban counterparts, possibly due to the marginal nature
of many rural economies”
(http://rtc.ruralinstitute.umt.edu/RuEcD/RuEcD.htm)
• Rural areas present numerous economic challenges
for employees in general.
• Therefore, individuals with disabilities have increased
challenge with finding employment.
• The task requires Job Developers, Vocational
Coordinators and Transition Coordinators to be
creative and distinctive in their activities related to
placing individuals with disabilities into employment.
Creative. Innovative. Distinctive.
• Self-employment has proven successful at
a higher rate for individuals with disabilities
in rural settings than for their non-disabled
counterparts.
• Self-employment requires creative,
innovative and distinctive people to
develop the process.
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Self-employment –
How can it help?
• Advantages
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Independence - control over work setting and schedule
Employment where/when outside opportunities are few
Being the boss
Interacting with customers, suppliers, and others
Enjoyable work
Sense of achievement/satisfaction if the business succeeds
Control over job security
Control of business decisions
Better standard of living
Feeling part of the community
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Self-employment –
How can it challenge?
• Disadvantages
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Pleasing the customer (the REAL boss)
Long, hard hours with little free time
Fluctuating income
Unrelenting responsibility
Possibility of business failure
Stress on family/resource
Possible exacerbation of health problems/disability
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Self-employment –
Two possible Routes
• Entrepreneurship
– Individual or small group of
individuals have a concept,
idea, product
– They need financial and
planning assistance to start
up
– Detailed business plan
needs to be developed
• Resource Ownership/
Partnership
– Individual has a service or
resource to distribute but
little avenue to distribute it
– Partner with an established
company to produce and
sell service/resource
– Share profits
– Semi-detailed business
plan needs to be
developed
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR
Counselors – rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Entrepreneurship –
Business Plans –
What they do for you
• Evaluate entire business to produce
self-employment success
• Find a critically evaluated market NICHE
• Continue ongoing evaluation of the
market – ESSENTIAL
• Extensive business plans WILL do
these three things.
Business Plan Components
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Executive Summary
Business Description
Marketing Plan
Operations Plan
Financial Plan
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Executive Summary
• Introduce idea, marketable niche
• Use an eye-catcher, Catch-Phrase
• Convince the readers that the business
idea is sensible.
• Grab the reader’s attention so that they
are engaged to read further
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Business Description
• Answers these questions:
– Where the idea came from,
– Who owns it and his/her/their background
– How much does each person own (if more
than one owner)
– What industry will this business compete in
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Business Plan activity
• Using slide 9 and the first and fourth
question in slide 10 develop a marketable
idea/niche for your community (Note: what
works for rural will likely work for urban and
suburban as well.)
Marketing Plan
• Sells the product and its success ability to the
reader
• Answers the following questions:
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What is the product in detail
What are the market demands for this product?
What are the market trends for this product?
What and how much competition for this product is
there in the market?
– Who will be the customers interested in the product?
– What will be used to effectively advertise the product?
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Operations Plan
• THE HOW questions about the business:
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How will the work be done?
How will the product be made?
How will the business be managed?
How much upfront equipment is needed to begin
operations?
– How will the business meet licenses, permits, codes,
insurance, etc?
– How will the business employ others (if at all)?
• What types of employees and how many?
– AND some where/what questions
• Where will the business be located
• What outside businesses will be used regularly
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Financial Plan
• The $$$$ questions – THE MOST challenging
part of the plan….
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How much investment is required?
What funds are readily available?
What funds are solicitous?
What is the financial statement/cost benefit analysis
for this business?
• Need: sources of cash, equipment list, income statement,
break-even analysis, cash-flow projections, balance sheet,
personal financial statement, and any other helpful financial
documents.
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Business Plan Example
• Rainbow Siding and Guttering
– Very detailed business plan
http://selfemploymenttraining.ruralinstitute.umt.e
du/EXAMPLE-business-plan.htm
Resource Ownership/Partnership
What do they do for you?
• AKA – Supported Self-Employment
• Ideal for the less assertive, selfdetermined individuals who need a
moderate level of assistance to bring
ideas to fruition
• Win-Win situation!!!!
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR Counselors
– rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Resource Ownership
• Individual with a disability owns a
particular piece of equipment or a vital
resource
• The individual needs a place to use the
equipment and sell the end product
• Partner with an already established store,
franchise, or company to “rent” the space
and sell the product to that company’s
audience
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for
VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Partnership
• Individual with a disability has an established
amount of cash flow for an investment.
• Individual has an interest and a skill in an
already existing company.
• Individual sets up a partnership with said
company to make product or provide service
and each partner share the profits
• Individual and company determine percentage
of profits and division of labor.
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for
VR Counselors –
rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
So, how does it work?
Individual has a skill or idea.
Individual is unable to mass-produce skill or idea
due to financial or physical challenges
Individual and Case Manager or Transition
Coordinator approach businesses that have
facilities and materials to produce skill or idea
to develop a partnership
Use a very simplified business plan to pitch the
partnership idea
Produce a WIN – WIN situation
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR
Counselors – rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
How to Make a Win – Win
• Through transition planning – identify the individual’s interests and
skills.
• Canvas the community for employers who do such work
• Coordinator and individual meet with employers to determine
interest in resource ownership or partnership
• Discuss advantages and low risk to both parties
• With PASS plan, buy equipment to use at worksite
• Set up written guidelines
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The employer maintains and insures the equipment or resource;
The equipment is located in the employer’s place of business;
The employee retains ownership of the equipment and product; and
If the employee leaves, the equipment/product leaves.
Payment due to each party (for a partnership)
Quarterly profits due to each party based on profits (for a partnership)
Adapted from: RTC: Rural Training Guide for VR
Counselors – rural@ruralinstitute.umt.edu
Examples
• Student run business
– Spirit Blankets
• Sewing Shop
• Sandwich Delivery
– Video
Activity
• Using Slides 19 - 21, develop an idea
based on an individual or group of
individuals that would be successful with a
resource ownership or partnership.
In school systems
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Student-run businesses
Small Entrepreneurships
Small Partnerships
These present the largest amount of ease
and efficiency for students with disabilities
and the educators that are job developing
for them.