for colleges | workforce development organizations | apprenticeship programs

your students are going to start businesses.  the question is whether You'll Prepare them first.

Industry data suggests that one in four trades graduates will start their own business within ten years of completing their training. Most of them will do it without any formal business preparation. They'll figure it out expensively, on the way down. The most efficient moment to address that gap is while they're still in your program. You already have the audience. You already have the trust relationship. BizFlint makes that addition simple.

What Your students aren't getting anywhere else

Community colleges, workforce development organizations, and apprenticeship programs are doing exceptional work preparing tradespeople for careers in the field. When it comes to technical skills, safety certifications, licensing preparation, the training is strong.

But there is a consistent gap sitting just beyond the reach of most programs: the business readiness moment. It's the point at which a skilled, experienced tradesperson starts asking whether they could do this for themselves.

Most programs don't address that question. BizFlint does.

what do i bring to the table?

Most programs treat every entrepreneur the same. BizFlint recognizes that trades service businesses are built differently. Students complete a practical self-assessment including a DISC personality profile, trade skills inventory, and resources audit designed specifically for someone who is starting by paying the bills with their skills, not pitching investors for startup capital.

Develops self-awareness and entrepreneurial mindset.

what will this Actually cost?

Most business curricula apply startup frameworks built for product companies and funded ventures. BizFlint is built for the trades. Students work through a practical cost analysis using the BizFlint Business Calculator, grounded in the real economics of a trades service business, to determine what they actually need to earn before the business supports itself.

Builds financial literacy and critical thinking.

Will this business work?

Most business programs teach market analysis through a Silicon Valley lens. BizFlint speaks the language of the trades. Students conduct a practical market analysis and complete a viability scorecard built specifically for service-based trades businesses, leaving with a data-backed Go or Not Yet verdict grounded in the real economics of their local market.

Applies analytical thinking to real world decision making.

Designed for Integration, We Help You Fill the Gap in Your Existing Trades Programming

three delivery options

Workshop Format

A standalone session that walks students through the core feasibility framework using a real composite case study. Designed for Small Business Centers, workforce development programs, and trades organizations.

Curriculum Integration

A structured module that embeds directly into existing trades programming. Covers business readiness as a defined learning outcome alongside technical training.

Recommended Resource

A self-paced course and live program students access independently when considering self-employment. No instructor involvement required.

Flexible by design

Every institution has different constraints, and your students deserve access to this foundation regardless of what yours are.

Research shows that one in four trades program graduates will start their own business within ten years. But the value goes beyond the students who eventually make that leap. When trades students are exposed to entrepreneurial thinking, financial literacy, and honest self-assessment, they develop the critical thinking skills and entrepreneurial mindset that make them more capable and self-aware regardless of the path they choose. Knowing that building a business is a real and viable option changes how students approach their entire career in the trades.

BizFlint was designed with that reality in mind. Whatever your format, students engage with the practical business thinking that most trades programs never reach. Whatever your context, the outcome is the same: students arrive at a real, informed answer to the question most programs never ask. It's not whether any trades business can work, but whether theirs can.

built by someone who knows both worlds

Start With A Purpose | Trades Business StartUp Course | BizFlint

Diane Hendrickson spent 18 years running her own business before she ever set foot in a community college classroom. She's worked inside her husband's electrical business and ran her brother's cabinet shop from the ground up. When she moved into developing entrepreneurship programs at A-B Tech, she saw something that stopped her cold: nobody was telling trades students that business ownership was even an option. Not one word. 

One in four of those students would go on to start a business within ten years, and they were leaving completely unprepared. She built BizFlint because every trades student deserves to know they have options, and business readiness should be part of every trades program in America.

Let's talk about where this fits

If you're exploring how to incorporate business readiness into your trades programming, I'd welcome that conversation. BizFlint is already built and designed to integrate into what you're already doing. The conversation is simply about finding where it fits.

 CONTACT DIANE