Bootstrapper marries maternity to fashion (Part 2)
O'Callaghan's company is an example of what the Small Business Administration calls a microenterprise, a business requiring an investment of $25,000 or less for start-up and employing one to five people.
"So it's really the smallest of the small," said Sylvia Munoz Schnopp, regional manager for the Ventura County, CA, office of Women's Economic Ventures, an SBA funded Economic development organization with another headquarters in Santa Barbara.
O'Callaghan drew on the group's resources within the first year of beginning her new business.
The organization focuses on aiding low to moderate income residents of both communities, mostly women, who are either seeking a way to become financially self-sufficient or in a state of transition.
A core part of the organization's services is a 14 week, 56 hour self-employment training course offered in English and Spanish in the spring and fall one night a week with two full Saturday sessions on the second and ninth weekends of the course.