We serve 26 counties. View a map of our region here.

Coaching is normally $55/ hour and our coaches are local business owners, consultants, or retirees who are contracted through Mountain BizWorks.

Yes! Visit our scholarship page to learn how to apply.

Eligibility for a scholarship enables you to receive coaching at no cost, up to a certain limit of hours.

The limit of free coaching hours will depend on the funding source of your scholarship. 

As a nonprofit organization, Mountain BizWorks receives funding for scholarships from various sources, including government agencies, private foundations and companies which have their own specific requirements and criteria. We determine the funding source of your scholarship award based on different factors, including your household income, location and sector of business.

Mountain BizWorks has a contractor network of 40+ coaches and facilitators from a variety of backgrounds who are dedicated to supporting local businesses.

• I’ve only attended an Orientation – New Client Application
• I’ve only participated in the Financial Series – New Client Application
• I’ve only participated in a workshop – New Client Application
• I took Foundations or Alpine within the past 6 months – Existing Client Application
• Through Mountain BizWorks I have a TDA grant, PPP, One Buncombe Fund or other coronavirus disaster funding – New Client Application
• I have a loan- Beginning spring 2021, all loan clients will be assigned a long-term coach. Additional coaching needs should be submitted through the Existing Client Application.

Yes. Each coach at Mountain BizWorks signs a contract with a confidentiality clause stating that they agree to keep confidential all information obtained through discussions, presentations, telephone conversations, email, or any other exchange of information about potential and actual businesses, business ideas, or plans.

The coach is authorized to share information discussed with Mountain BizWorks staff. The staff at Mountain BizWorks have also signed confidentiality agreements.

Permissions from the client to share anything of a confidential nature with outside parties are required in writing.

We encourage idea stage businesses to participate in Taking The Leap, a free 4 session course offered by our resource partner, Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC).

Through Mountain BizWorks, taking our free orientation and start up business planning course, Foundations, positions entrepreneurs to have a richer experience with coaching since those offerings generate great questions to tackle in coaching.

Although we encourage these initial steps, clients in any stage of business are welcome to pursue business coaching. The course offerings help fill in the blanks and provide a structured peer-to-peer learning experience to cover the small business building blocks.Our coaching services weave in and out of every stage of business and work in tandem with many of these courses for extra support!

Lastly, coaching is a judgment free zone. We understand that client’s journey to small business ownership takes many forms and clients come to us with different levels of knowledge. Both new and seasoned business owners always have something to learn! The Mountain BizWorks coaches aim to share their wisdom and experience to help you on your journey to start, grow, and thrive.

We call the relationship set up by Mountain BizWorks between the client and a coach a Coaching Project.

Since the majority of our coaches are active business owners themselves, we can’t promise any one particular coach will be able to work with you. We review the goals you’ve shared and match you with a coach based on our knowledge of a variety of factors including: the coach’s experience, your sector, your business model, stage of business, personality, etc.

The short answer is no. Our coaches can offer general advice around business structure, business partnership agreements, and other topics to help you narrow your focus and list of questions to maximize your time when speaking with a lawyer.

We offer occasional legal workshops where we partner with NC Leap and Pisgah Legal Group to connect our clients with legal experts.

Visit our events calendar for a list of upcoming legal workshops.

Each coach has their own special sauce, meaning no two coach follows the same session format. 

Our coaches are wonderful guides for the challenges with starting and growing a business, however, keep in mind that they are there to be your sounding board and not to complete projects for you. The coach’s role is to help you make informed decisions and work with you to learn key business concepts and strategies to reach your goals.

No. Coaches are not supposed to sell you anything or gain financially in any way from this pairing.

If you would like to work with the coach outside of Mountain BizWorks for any service, please email jill@mountainbizworks.org so we can officially close out the Mountain BizWorks coaching project.

Mountain BizWorks does not endorse or take responsibility for the outcomes of any arrangements outside of our organization.

We have a 24-hour cancellation policy for scheduled coaching sessions. If you cancel in advance of this window, please communicate with your coach about selecting a new time. If more than 3 sessions are missed outside of the 24-hour cancellation window within a 3 month period, the scholarship for free coaching can be removed. When the session is canceled within the 24-hour window, the coach can still bill and be paid for this appointment which would deduct from your pre-paid or scholarship hours. We appreciate your understanding and respect for our 24-hour policy.

Any advice or communication that occurs in-between or outside of scheduled coaching sessions are billable and will be deducted from your coaching hours. These include non-scheduled consultations between yourself and your coach conducted via phone, text, or email. Coaches may also, from time to time, discuss your project with the staff at Mountain BizWorks to determine appropriate coaching measures and business support services that will aid in advancing your project goals. This is considered administrative time and may also be deducted from your coaching hours. Your coach will notify you whenever non-scheduled communication and administrative time is to be deducted from the balance of your approved or purchased coaching hours. In the event the coach does not communicate this to you, please understand that the additional efforts to coordinate are also a time commitment for your coach towards supporting you. If you have any questions or concerns about the extent of these deductions, please reach out directly to Jill Kichefski, Business Coaching Manager at Mountain BizWorks.

Come with an open mind and a list of questions.

Communicate with your coach what you hope to accomplish. They will let you know if any of your goals are outside of our coaching program.

Mountain BizWorks does not have access to each coach’s calendars. 

Coordinate directly with your coach a time that works for both of your schedules.

Be proactive in checking your available purchased or scholarship hours and schedule a routine time to meet with your coach.

Yes. We are not requiring proof of vaccination at this time. We recommend that you review the CDC’s vaccination guidelines. 

This is based on each client’s needs. As long as the coaching is productive and we have enough funding available, we’ll continue to approve additional hours.

Each project is assigned hours. Fewer hours are usually assigned in the beginning to make sure it’s a good fit and you like working with that particular coach.

What you see is not what you get if you’re a scholarship client. Meaning the hours approved are just the starting point. 

Clients are responsible for 1) confirming their coach is available to meet for additional sessions and 2) the submission of the Request Hours Link to keep the coaching project going. 

Use the Request Hours Link from your session summary emails when you’re below 2 hours remaining.

Locate your unique purchase link from an email from Mountain BizWorks staff or one of your session summary emails. 

Unable to find your unique link? You can use this blank Purchase Hours link.

We’re here for the challenges as well as the wins! Share your success story with our Communications Manager, Justin Thompson, via email for the opportunity to be highlighted in one of our BizNews e-newsletters.