Small Business Handbook

Application

1

Updated October 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Great TechCommunity Challenge

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Welcome Letter

Workload Overview ChecklistKey DatesConsultations

Participation Overview Client Technical Minimum RequirementsClient ReceivesClient Provides Client Responsibilities

Success In Program

Post Bootcamp

Policies & Procedures Privacy Policy Cancellation Policy Grievance Procedure

Quick Reference

2Small Business Program

Welcome Letter Handbook

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Dear Small Business Owner,

Welcome.

We are proud to have you join the Small Business Program of Hack The Hood, a unique learning experience focused on helping local small businesses (SMB) thrive through digital presence. You are here because you want to create a website that captures the best sides of your enterprise. You seek the knowledge, skills and courage that will allow you to put your plans into action.

At Hack The Hood, we offer you the chance to build a website at no financial cost. You’re joining an innovative community of entrepreneurs. It includes our youth developers, Bootcamp staff, SMB Manager, your SMB peers and, ultimately, the whole HTH family. What you do not give monetarily, you trade for learning how to create, manage and edit your website, as well as providing a real-world client to our Youth Developers. This process will be work immersive and require your full attention - something not always easy for SMB owners to give.

However, it will also be short and can be extremely rewarding. You could walk away with a beautiful website that can now begin to draw traffic - leading to sales, growth and visibility for your business. This community is a resource that is here for you to engage and explore your digital literacy skills. Please take time to review this handbook to understand the policies, procedures and guidelines designed to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment. The best way to contact us is via e-mail. Phone is also an option. The Small Business Program looks forward to working with you in forming and strengthening your business, while creating a tech learning community.

Sincerely,

Mercedes Gibson Small Business Manager mercedes@hackthehood.org (510) 761.5106

CHECKLIST

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Paperwork❏ Read Hack The Hood Small Business Handbook❏ Complete Small Business Application

Meetings❏ Small Business Orientation ❏ 3 Youth Developer Consultations

Optional: Small Business Drop In Hours

Required to Participate In Bootcamp ❏ Gmail account with active GDrive ❏ Purchase domain name from GoDaddy ❏ Photo & text assets for Youth Developer

Weebly Work Prior to Bootcamp ❏ Read Small Business Handbook ❏ Read Small Business Online Learning Handbook ❏ Explore templates on Weebly❏ Weebly Essentials ❏ Weebly First Steps

Gather Design Ideas ❏ Check out Hack The Hood Sample Sites ❏ Check out 1-3 websites of businesses similar to yours

Start HereCoversheet & checklist to help organize your work

KEY DATES

November 25 Spring Application Opens

December 5 - 22 Application Help Drop In (Tues/Thurs)

January 9 - 13 Application Help Drop In (Tues/Thurs)

January 15 Spring Application Closes

January 16 Application Review Period Begins

January 20 Application Review Period Ends

February 1 All Applicants Notified

February 7 SMB Orientation

February 13 Spring Bootcamp Begins

February 13 - 28 Photo/Text Help Sessions

February 23 SMB + Youth Developer Mixer February 27 SMB Enter Bootcamp

March 6 - 21 Consultations: Mon/Tues (1-3p)

March 22 End of Website Build

March 24 Spring Bootcamp Ends

April 7 SMB Evaluations Completed

Mark these dates down in your calendar!

Small business owner must be physically present.

Small Business Program

Consultations

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

3 Consultations w/ Youth Developer Include -

● Website Design

● Website Layout

● Website Production

● Domain mapping to client URL and publishing website

● Brainstorm content

● Feedback and perspective

● Baseline overview of Weebly

● Free web hosting

● Social media connection

● Theme selection and collaboration

● Introduction to website management

● Complete website

These 3 In person meetings between SMB & Youth Developer are critical to your website

CONSULTATIONS

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Late for one consultation

Late for more than one consultation

Miss one consultation Miss two consultations

Client will not have access to youth for full 2 hours.

May result in incomplete website.

Client will not have access to youth for full 2 hours.

Aspects of website probably not completed.

Client may be dropped.

* In the case of an emergency out of your control, reapplying to be apart of the website build process at a later date may be offered.

Warning is given that unless client attend future consultations we are under no obligation to complete the site.

If available, SMB client may work with Bootcamp Lead & Youth Developer to reschedule consultation.

Client is dropped immediately.

Website incomplete.

Client cannot apply for future cycles.

* In the case of an emergency out of your control, reapplying to be apart of the website build process at a later date may be offered.

Emergency Only The 3-week website build period is very tight. For this reason, SMB owners should not miss any of the 3 consultations with their Youth Developers. When SMB owners miss consultations it creates a big impact on the Youth Developer’s experience, quality of your website, and on the Bootcamp staff.

In the event that a SMB owner must cancel their consultation (emergency only) they must e-mail both Instructor and Youth Developer to reschedule as soon as possible. SMB owners will work with the Bootcamp Instructors to reschedule as soon as possible.

Late ArrivalsIf SMB owners arrive more than 15 minutes late to any required meetings we cannot guarantee full completion of their site. We suggest you arrive 10 minutes prior to any meeting to ensure your spot, and to alleviate time-delaying problems such as parking, entrance into the building, etc. In the event you are running more than 15 minutes behind please text your Youth Developer directly.

Technical Minimum Requirements

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Check out this checklist of Small Business requirements before you fill out an application

❏ Desire to learn to edit and update Weebly website on their own

❏ Owns a smartphone

❏ Owns a Gmail account you open and check often as well as creating word documents in Google Drive (https://drive.google.com)

❏ Engages with online sites that require passwords weekly, such as Facebook

❏ Access to desktop computer with internet connection. Websites cannot be edited from mobile phones, and some features do not work with tablet devices

❏ Phone where voicemails can be left, and texts can be received

❏ Domain name purchased before Bootcamp

❏ Provides quality assets during Bootcamp

❏ Agrees to edit and maintain website on their own (or hire someone to do it) post Bootcamp

Make sure you meet the minimum requirements to avoid wasting time and money

Client Receives

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

● One complete website consisting of up to 4-6 pages via the Weebly web platform

● 4-6 hours of in person consultation and coaching with Youth Developer

● 25 hours of build time on their individual website, including phone calls and emails from Youth Developer

● 4 hours of training and support from SMB Manager

● HTH & Weebly Supports

● Entire process is valued (approximately) at $1,000

● Focus on business results in business development & growth

CLIENT DOES NOT RECEIVE

● Does not include store or eCommerce

● No logo creation, but can incorporate a pre-existing one

● No more than 2 hours per consultation

● No phone support post grace period & Bootcamp

● No flash

● No asset (photo & text) creation

Benefits of Participating

Client Provides

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Client provides asset information during the website build process, which Youth Developer will use to establish a website using the Weebly.com platform.

● Ideally, you will provide at at least 1-2 pictures and 2 paragraphs per website page. You must provide at least 1 paragraph and 1 image per page. If a page has less than a paragraph then it cannot be a page

● All information requested in SMB Application ● Domain name with login information through Godaddy. Client must provide domain

name and login to SMB Manager.. Youth Developer will link client’s finished web site to your purchased domain, however you will decide when your website be published

● Website assets (text and photos) via Google Drive which you will share with your Youth Developer. In the event that the SMB is missing assets, Youth Developer may be able to use a placeholder, or the section may be left undeveloped.

● Photo assets: Clear, high, resolution photos, not blurry, large format, 300 DPI. JPG or GIF format works best.

● Text assets: 1-2 paragraphs per webpage of clear, concise language. Think buzzwords

The 2 most important things you can provide are clear photos and good text

ASSETS

PHOTOS &

TEXT

CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

● Establish youth/adult partnership with Youth Developer. Understand limitations of learning environment while being open to ideas and feedback.

● Responsive communication with Youth Developer & Hack The Hood staff (responding to all calls/emails within 24 hours)

● Positive attitude and understanding of the youth web developer process● Provide digital assets to Youth Developer during consultations via Google Drive ● Attend all required consultations with Youth Developer ● Post-bootcamp, client must continue to manage and maintain their own site. May

also hire a Youth Developer (dependant on availability)

Understand what you are responsible for so expectations are clear.

The most important thing SMB owners do in

Bootcamp is show up for consultations with Youth

Developers

Success In Program

Small Business Program

Before BootcampREAD INSTRUCTIONS Overall, the number one reason that SMBs have trouble with their sites is that SMB’s aren't following instructions. This could be that they haven’t reviewed information in the SMB Handbooks (both SMB Program and Online Learning) or didn’t understand the information.

STAY PHYSICALLY & MENTALLY PRESENT From the time of application to time of website completion, we need SMB owners to remain accessible. That means coming to all in-person meetings (drop-in, orientations and consultations), being available by phone and e-mail. Any absence (for instance, going out of town) before, during or immediately after the website build lessens the likelyhood that you will have a finshied website.. Please only apply if you will be in town for all meetings, consultations and at least the month following the end of Bootcamp. An simple way to check is to review the Key Dates with a careful eye.

COLLECT QUALITY ASSETS Assets are 1. photos of your business and 2. text that describes your business. Without these two things there is no website. Assets can also be videos, blogs and testimonials, etc. The most important assets are photos and text.

During BootcampKEEP EXPECTATIONS REAL Hack The Hood does it’s best to pair SMB owners with the best Youth Developer tp build their site. Youth Developers are still learning. As such, there is no magic wand, but instead, a learning environment where both SMB owner and YD are students. Most consultations will take place 1 - 1.5 hours. No consultations will exceed 2 hours. Your YD will not be able to train you on most things. If you are late to your consultation it impacts the rest of the day. Use these 2 hours wisely.

PARTNER WITH YOUTH This is a partnership in where both Youth Developer and SMB owner are learning tech, at the same time. Not a professional website development service. Come prepared for all in person meetings and consultations. These will be the only time you will have these before your site is complete.

Make the most out of your time and energy by avoiding these common SMB pitfalls

Success In Program (contin’d)

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Post BootcampUSE WEEBLY SUPPORTUse our special Weebly (e-mail only) line there is no phone support for HTH clients post bootcamp at this time. Calling Weebly confuses the process, and can hurt the SMB. Typically, Weebly is able to handle most email requests that SMB owners have. One of the more common issues is that SMB's usually cannot access their Weebly site. Here are ways to avoid that -

1. Don’t get frustrated with the learning aspect - take the time to understand the login process. Use the Weebly Preview Link or login URL (www.smbname.com/login) so you see a prompt to enter your credentials. There is no traditional login link or button on the front end of your site.

2. Prioritize knowing your login information (username & password). Use the same password throughout the process - from application to end of Bootcamp.

3. Certain devices don't allow SMB to login (mobile always, sometimes tablets). Make sure to edit and update your site using a laptop, desktop or Chromebook.

USE EMAIL After the application period, there is no phone support for SMB clients. Everything happens either in person, over e-mail or via online learning. If talking to someone on the phone is going to be a deal breaker for you, you should not apply to the program unless you can hire your own outside supports.

PLAY! The best way to ustilize Weebly support is to create specific questions for Weebly. It’s true - you don’t know, what you don’t know. The best way to get to know what questions you have is to play around with your Weebly site.

Before Bootcamp, set up a test page for free and play around with the Weebly features. Check out the Weebly online tutoials to get a feel for the platform. Avoid the last minute panic. A typical scenario: SMB getting ready to launch a business initiative, and they need access to their site like yesterday because now they are directing all this traffic to it. Yet they haven't touched the site in months. Give yourself the time you need to learn, play and ask questions.

Learn what Weebly can and can’t do (like Calendars) and use your supports wisely. This is the voice of your business!

POST BOOTCAMP

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Clients are the owners of their websites, and as such, we encourage you to learn as much as you can about updating and editing before and during the website build period build. The platform we use is Weebly, designed to be a easy to use. During the website build, you will be introduced to what Weebly refers to as a “drag & drop” platform.

Youth Developers will not be available for work after the Bootcamp ends. Make the most out of your consultation time with your Youth Developer - present your assets, ideas and priorities.

Your website should be complete by the end of Bootcamp. However, we reconize some sitations come up that may prevent that. If that is the case, you will have a 1 week grace period to work with HTH staff to get your site to the level of completion. After this grace period ends (published or not) you will have your login credientails to manage your website your own.

However, as long as SMB attend all meetings, provide assets and engage in the work your website should be complete. .

After the Bootcamp, make sure to check Weebly Help Pages for free articles & tutorials on how to update and edit your new site. You can also reach out to Weebly support directly via e-mail:HackTheHood@Weebly.com . Weebly only provides Hack The Hood customer support via e-mail.

If for some reason you are not able to get the support you need from Weebly, e-mail Hack The Hood’s Customer Support: Help@HackTheHood.org

Please see “Quick References” to view a complete list of SMB supports.

Privacy Policy

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Hack the Hood respects your privacy; our team will do all our due diligence to protect personal information provided, including login, passwords, usernames, etc. Hack the Hood will take all precautions to protect your information, but is not responsible for data and/or security breaches of your domain hosting account, web site, or Weebly account.

Internally, Hack The Hood uses Salesforce as a database for all client information.

If you have any concerns regarding the privacy of your information, we have some suggestions:

● Right before the Bootcamp ends, request that one of the instructors remove the Youth Developer as an additional user to your account

● Change the usernames/passwords after the work by HtH is completed

Cancellation Policy

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Hack The Hood is an “at-will” program - both Youth Developers and Small Business owners may quit at any time, with or without reason or cause. However, only clients who can commit to the full Key Dates timeline are encouraged to apply.

Opt out prior to SMB Orientation If you have submitted an application, but can no longer commit to the entire program, you are able to opt out of Hack The Hood prior to SMB Orientation. If you cancel anytime after the SMB Orientation it then creates a hardship for Hack The Hood to provide a quality experience for the Youth Developer that was assigned to you.

Youth Developers are strongly impacted by the availabilty of SMB client. Please only submit an application if you can physically be present for each stage of the Small Business Program.

Reference Key Dates & Checklist to better understand the commitment.

Grievance Procedure

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Who should SMB communicate with if they are having concerns with their Youth Developer or the website build process?

1. The first person SMB should reach out to is their Youth Developer. Attempt to resolve issue with YD.

2. If there is no change in situation, reach out to one of your Bootcamp Leads

3. If there is no change in situation, reach out to SMB Manager

QUICK REFERENCE

Small Business Program

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER?

Hack The Hood Staff Mercedes GibsonSmall Business Manager mercedes@hackthehood.org (510) 761-5106

Max Gibson Lead Instructor max@hackthehood.org (510) 384-8974

Hack The Hood Client Support help@hackthehood.org No phone support

Hack The Hood Applicant Support smbadmin@hackthehood.org

Hack The Hood Online SupportsFacebook Community Closed group - by invitation only

Weebly Supporthackthehood@weebly.com No phone support

Weebly Help Center https://hc.weebly.com/hc/en-us

Weebly Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/weebly