Live Webinar - StartSmart: Developing Your Comprehensive Business Plan

Join UH SBDC’s Vision2Venture pathway to develop a comprehensive, best-practice business plan. This four-week program is designed for entrepreneurs with a validated business idea. Using the LivePlan platform, each online session combines brief lectures with hands-on activities, so you work directly on your plan while receiving guidance from industry professionals and UH SBDC Business Advisors.

Prerequisite: Participants must have completed a feasibility study, including customer discovery, and received a “Go” decision on their business idea before enrolling. If you have not yet done this, our Entrepreneurship 101 cohort walks you through the process and provides the tools to complete it.

Participants must attend all sessions, complete weekly homework, and actively engage in class discussions. To finalize the business plan, participants are required to schedule no-cost individual meetings with an SBDC Business Advisor to develop financial projections. Class sessions focus on group discussion and feedback rather than individual consultation or writing time.

This series will be held on Tuesdays, November 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2026.

Please be prepared to have your camera on and audio working. All sessions are recorded. Recordings are used internally to review and improve our programs, and access is limited to program staff. By joining a session, participants acknowledge that it will be recorded. If you have questions or concerns about recording, please contact us at v2vsbdc@cougarnet.uh.edu before the session.

Certificates of Completion will be awarded to anyone attending all four sessions and doing all homework.

Highlights:

• Utilize LivePlan for structured business planning
• Work with industry experts and receive real-time feedback on your progress
• Develop comprehensive financial projections and funding strategies
• Create a professional business plan ready for lender or investor review

This four-week program is designed for entrepreneurs who have a clear business concept and are ready to develop a detailed business plan. Participants should be prepared to commit to weekly pre-work and active participation in hands-on workshop activities.

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Our presentation team:

Ajitesh Das, Program Manager, SBDC Vision2Venture

Das brings more than 10 years of experience as a product manager and management consultant in the digital, EdTech, and enterprise SaaS sectors. He holds an MBA and an MS in Management Information Systems. At V2V, he facilitates cohort classes for entrepreneurs at every stage and leads the program’s work with established businesses on products, service-based scaling, and automation.

Das has led products from idea to launch, including three that reached $8 million in annualized revenue within their first year. He has also founded, grown, and exited a startup in digital media. Das draws on this experience to deliver practical guidance that helps entrepreneurs test ideas, reach customers, and grow.

Arsiema Gherahtu, Program Manager, SBDC Vision2Venture

Arsiema is a systems and brand strategist with more than seven years of experience in classrooms and teaching spaces. She holds a BA in Graphic Design and Film and an MS in Management Information Systems. At V2V, she facilitates cohort classes and helps early-stage entrepreneurs understand the operations behind their business.

Her design and social media work includes helping small brands launch and build outreach, growing content to more than 100,000 views and tripling engagement. She brings that same approach to the pre-venture stage, mapping how the different parts of a business fit together. Arsiema helps entrepreneurs ask the right questions, pressure-test their plans, and close gaps before they launch.

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It is imperative to add centeric@ic.sbdc.uhbauer.org and no-reply@zoom.us to your approved senders' list to be able to receive event confirmations and links.

Your registration confirmation email will contain a link to join the webinar via Zoom. You must join the webinar series in Zoom using the same email address you used to register for this webinar series.

Note: Registered participants will also receive onboarding documents in a reminder email leading up to the start date. Please be sure to open this email and follow any included instructions.

If you experience any issues, please contact v2vsbdc@central.uh.edu for troubleshooting support.

Registration will close two business days prior to the start of the cohort.