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Asian Business Training & Mentorship Program

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Andy Goldberg, founder and director of the Asian Business Training & Mentorship Program, is selected to the Boston Business Journal 2022 Power 50: The Movement Makers. 

Background

 

Asians were not included in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston 2015 Color of Wealth Study because the sample size was too small. Poverty is prevalent in Asian communities throughout MA and the wealth gap between the most and least affluent Asians is the widest of any group.

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An end of course survey of the Asian Business Training & Mentorship Program (ABTM) 2023 pilot asked participants to rate the program on a scale of 1-100 with 30-70 considered great and 70-100 excellent. The 3rd cohort rated the program 83.  This rating is referred to as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and is a measure of customer satisfaction. This result is rare, exceptional, and a powerful antidote to close the stubborn Asian wealth gap, which is the widest of any group in the US. 

Program Description

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The Asian Business Training & Mentorship Program (ABTM) has been designed by and for Asian businesses. The program consists of ten (10) 2-hour sessions, which are held every other week so that participants have ample time between classes to learn, practice, execute and come back to class to report how their actions turned out. Individual accountability is intentionally designed into the program. The first nine classes cover important aspects of operating their businesses and making them more profitable. Participants make final presentations in the tenth class. The purpose of the final presentation is to create a structured way for them to present their overall plan and to demonstrate the extent of their progress and learning in the course. 

Class Topics

  • Ideas and Innovation

  • Industry and External Factors

  • Competition and Competitive Advantage

  • Required Resources

  • Human Resources

  • Cost Control

  • Profits and Profitability

  • Leadership

  • Succession Planning

  • Final Presentations

Unique Value Proposition

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  • Instructors are full time university graduate school of management faculty and successful serial entrepreneurs.

  • Program founder/director involved in launching and leading minority entrepreneur training program (Interise) with national footprint.

  • Use of participants’ businesses as the focus of the case study method.

  • Emphasis is on learning, practicing, implementing and coming to each class prepared to report out to peers and instructors how things went. 

  • Asian language and cultural competency.

  • Use of course topics to structure the work of the participants with their mentors.

Eligibility Requirements

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  1. Must be located in a low-or moderate-income area and/or employ low-and moderate-income employees

  2. Must be an owner of business

  3. Can be a nonprofit with earned income

  4. Must be Asian or of Asian descent

  5. At least 1 year of operations with revenue

Meet Staff and Mentors

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Staff & Mentor Directory

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What do ABTM mentors have in common? They are individuals who recognize that they have been helped along the way and have a strong desire to pay it forward and work with dynamic entrepreneurs. Some have Asian language and cultural capability.

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During its successful proof of concept in 2021, ABTM experimented with the role of the mentor in the learning model. Rather than leaving it up to chance and the mentee’s initiative to figure out what to work on, ABTM uses class topics to structure the work the mentee does with his or her mentor. The two work closely when mentees are scheduled to deliver mini-case presentations, which use their businesses to examine the relevance of the class topic to their businesses. As the instructors become more familiar with the entrepreneurs and the challenges facing their businesses, they ask them to do the mini-case presentations to feature particular learning opportunities. This reinforces and deepens the work the entrepreneurs are doing with their mentors.

ABTM Founder, Andy Goldberg, discussing the program with Mayor Wu at her 6/2 Chinatown Coffee Hours event.
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Testimonials

“This program and you all have wildly exceeded my expectations. I first had a hard time trying to piece together the classroom material and the real-life work. Although it is still not in 100% alignment, it brought to light a lot of areas to be developed that was very helpful to me. Thank you so much for your sincerity, your dedication, generosity and thank you for being so awesome!”
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— Ms. Tran Le, Pho Le Restaurant
Tran Le’s Testimonial (English)
Tran Le’s Testimonial (Vietnamese)
Frank Chan’s Testimonial (English)
Xiaoyan Huang’s Testimonial (Chinese)

Asian Entrepreneurial Dynamism and Pride on Full Display at 2nd Pitch Contest

 

ABTM held its 2nd pitch contest in-person at the Kwong Kow Chinese School on August 23, 2022. The contest featured 8 contestants on the existing business track and 4 on the idea track. The distinguished panel of judges awarded $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000 to Kuya’s Cooking, Ploy’s Kitchen, and 360 Ed Tech Corp respectively on the existing track and $2,500 to Very Funghi on the idea track and Boston Chai Party won the $500 audience favorite award. M&T/ People’s United Bank generously underwrote the cost to livestream the contest. Thank you to the following organizations for their support; Chinatown Main Street, Chinatown Business Association, Mayor Wu’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion and Chinatown Neighborhood Liaison, Boston Little Saigon Cultural District, Fields Corner Main Street, and the Center for Women & Enterprise.

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Contestant Photo_(l-r) Sandra Zhao, Hla Hla Win- 360 Ed Tech Corp, Bunrith Nga- Hofje, Ray Chang- FLY Sneaker Customization Art Bar, Aldrin Agas- Kuya’s Cooking, Mona Ahmad- Mona’s Curryations, Chaz Hing- Very Funghi, Ploy Khunisorn- Ploy’s Kitchen, Trang Huynh- Beacon Trust Insurance, Dharti Patel- Angel Arch Threading Spa, Lei Nichols- Wise Mouth 

Please click here to experience for yourself why the contest was an overwhelming success.

ABTM 1st Asian Pitch Contest    ABTM 2nd Asian Pitch Contest  

Building AAPI Power Research Collaboration

 

ABTM and the Northeastern University Public Policy and Urban Affairs Techniques of Policy Analysis master degree program collaborated on a research project with the goal of providing policy recommendations across the economic and cultural dimensions of the AAPI business ecosystem in Greater Boston to empower Asian-owned businesses. The goal is to provide a pathway to a sustainable mechanism for the inclusion of AAPI businesses in the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem by enabling coalition-building and the creation of social capital and increasing awareness about the role and importance of AAPI businesses and communities in Greater Boston.

Make a Donation

 

Please consider donating today to the Asian Business Training & Mentorship Program and support our underserved immigrant and minority owned businesses. Your support makes it possible to develop innovative approaches to peer-to-peer learning and other features that make this program special and exceptional.

Funders & Partners

  • Santander Bank (funder)

  • Massachusetts Growth Capital (funder)

  • Berkshire Bank (funder)

  • National Coalition of Asian Pacific American Community Development (funder)

  • PNC Bank (funder)

  • Needham Bank (funder)

  • Eastern Bank (funder)

  • Lawyers for Civil Rights (partner)

  • Foundation for Business Equity (partner)

  • Boston Little Saigon Cultural District (partner)

  • The Center for Women & Enterprise (partner)

  • Fields Corner Main Street (partner)

  • Asian Community Fund (partner)

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For more information about the program please contact Andy Goldberg, Founder, AACA Asian Business Training & Mentorship Program, at 617.953.0954 or abtm@aaca-boston.org.

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