Request for Proposals | General Business Training

COMPANY BACKGROUND

CommunityWorks is a non-profit financial organization, certified by the US Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution or CDFI. Our mission is to expand access to capital, housing solutions, and knowledge to build stronger families, businesses, and communities. We envision a future where innovative and bold solutions move communities to economic resiliency and shared prosperity.

CommunityWorks achieves this mission by providing capital to small and microbusiness owners, financing to affordable housing developers, down payment assistance to aspiring homeowners, personal and business coaching services, and entrepreneurial training.

One of the key elements of our Small Business Loan program is robust business coaching and technical assistance services. Our offerings range from general entrepreneurial training to one-on-one pre-loan coaching to assess capital readiness, and post-loan coaching to ensure businesses have the tools, resources, and professional connections to meet their defined goals.

In an effort to provide more robust cohort-based training, CW is inviting interested and qualified consulting firms, individuals, or nonprofit organizations to submit a formal proposal to support our small business clients with a 10-week training.

NEED FOR SERVICES

Over the last 6 years, CommunityWorks has seen an increased demand for generalized business training for entrepreneurs that are looking to start, maintain, or expand a business. With this growth, we are looking to grow our network of training providers to ensure our clients are receiving comprehensive early-stage business training.

CommunityWorks provides training services to a diverse group of entrepreneurs and it is expected that the experience level of these entrepreneurs will range from a person that has no written business plan and is not in operation to a business that is operating successfully but it looking to established a number of formal steps that were skipped during the start-up phase.

CommunityWorks would anticipate that the training is curriculum-based and addressed topics and provide resources in content areas such as:

Explore how an entrepreneur’s business concept aligns with their personal vision and long‑term goals.
Validate business ideas by aligning them with real market opportunities and customer demand.
Define a clear business niche, target market, and competitive advantage.
Identify the unique features and benefits of products or services to strengthen market positioning.
Develop a clear and concise business plan with all standard components
Understanding how to develop a strong company brand and effective marketing strategies across multiple channels.
Learn how to manage core business functions.
Set realistic financial goals and understand the steps required to reach profitability.
Build foundational financial skills, including pricing, budgeting, cash flow, and break‑even analysis.
Identify and evaluate potential funding sources, including traditional and alternative financing.
Connect entrepreneurs to community resources that support ongoing business planning and growth.

CommunityWorks expects this engagement to span approximately 10 weeks with up to 3 planning calls leading up to the delivery of the 10-week training. Respondents are requested to outline their all-inclusive hourly rate for providing the scope of services, as outlined below. Preference will be given to proposals that utilize a validated curriculum.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

1-3 planning calls to discuss preparation, marketing, and pre-cohort launch
1-2 check in calls with CommunityWorks during cohort training.
Offer a 10-week or more cohort training
Deliver a structured curriculum for start-up and early growth-stage businesses via Zoom
Lead weekly instructional sessions with homework and milestone reviews.
Coordinate with CommunityWorks on all matters relating to this business training.
The contracted individual or firm agrees to keep all participant information as well as that of the CommunityWorks confidential.

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Submit the following documents to Will Brown, Business Support Program Director – wbrown@cwcarolina.org by May 29, 2026 at 1pm

Title page (Define subject firm, local address, phone number, contact person, and date)

Summary to include the following:
1. Statement of services to be performed
2. Fee (all-inclusive rate on a per hour basis)
3. Names of persons authorized to make representations for the proposer, titles, addresses, and phone numbers
4. Knowledge of and experience in working with small businesses
Description of the proposed approach to providing cohort-based training, including:

1. Experience facilitating entrepreneurial education or business cohort programs.
2. Familiarity with curriculum-based training and frameworks such as NxLevel, FastTrac or others.
3. Demonstrated success supporting start-up and early phase entrepreneurs in achieving launch, operational readiness, or revenue growth milestones.
4. Qualifications and credentials of staff to be assigned to the project
5. Additional data the firm wishes to present
6. Three (3) business references who can attest to the qualifications of the proposer

Proposals will be evaluated based on experience, proposed curriculum and delivery, experience in providing technical assistance, qualifications of instructor(s), pricing, and past performance. All submitted proposals become part of the files of CommunityWorks and receipt of the proposals implies no obligation on the part of the requestor.

PROPOSAL Timeline