Ramona J. Smith will be hosting the South Arkansas Business Model Development Workshop on Friday, July 9 at 8 a.m. at the South Arkansas Community College Library.
“I want to help those who feel like they’ve become stagnant in their business,” Smith said. “I want to help those that want to scale, grow their business and see an increase in profit.”
Smith, who lives in Houston, is currently residing in El Dorado with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) working on a project. But while here, she has been networking with local business leaders and officials and decided to organize a business workshop for the community through her Ladybug Speaker LLC where she serves as a professional motivational speaker.
Smith is a part of a steadily growing number of Black women business owners and entrepreneurs. According to Forbes, Black women represent 42% of new women-owned businesses—three times their share of the female population—and 36% of all Black-owned employer businesses.
“Just from networking with people, I’ve realized that so many people have businesses but their businesses have no structure, no order or roadmap,” Smith said. “I want to give value to business owners and have them hear it from a perspective that is simplified. I’m not going to come in and use trillion dollar words and I’m not going to come in and pretend to be some billion dollar person, I’m not trying to sell you anything, I genuinely want to help people focus on the things they miss when operating a business.”
Smith, who is the president and founder of her own company, knows the importance of grit and perseverance not only in business, but also in one’s personal life. Smith is the 2018 Toastmasters World Public Speaking champion. Each year, thousands of Toastmasters, representing over 100 countries, battle for the title of World Champion of Public Speaking according to the Toastmasters’ website.
According to Smith, winning this prestigious title has allowed her to travel all over the world: Dubai, Qatar, Brazil, Sri Lanka, India and more.
Traveling to all these different places not only continued to build up her profile but also continued to expose her to the business savvy of world business leaders; something she hopes to impart on attendees of her workshop.
“Exposure, experience, education and environment are the four E’s I’ve picked up over the years that will help people in their business endeavors,” Smith said. “The more education you get, the more you know. The more experience you get, the wiser you are. The more you get out of your environment, the more of the world you get to know. Exposure allows you to network, make connections, and get you outside of your bubble that can enrich what you’re trying to do.”
The cost of the workshop is $9.99 and expected to last for three hours to delve into the nine building blocks (key structures, key partners, cost structure, customer segments, value proposition, channels, revenue streams, key activities, and customer relationships) of the Business Model Canvas according to Smith. To register, call or text the number 216-309-2341.
“Just from networking with people, I’ve realized that so many people have businesses but their businesses have no structure, no order or roadmap,” Smith said. “I want to give value to business owners and have them hear it from a perspective that is simplified. I’m not going to come in and use trillion dollar words and I’m not going to come in and pretend to be some billion dollar person, I’m not trying to sell you anything, I genuinely want to help people focus on the things they miss when operating a business.”