Small Business@IW
The mission of Small Business at IW (SB@IW) is to offer inhouse integrated employment programs to its differently abled members to lead productive and meaningful lives. These programs focus on bringing the work inhouse, into an environment that is 100% conducive for a neurodiverse youth to be productively engaged.
The model is centered on enabling an inclusive environment where neurodiverse members are integrated to work alongside their neurotypical peers to fulfill the purposes of business they participate in. SB@IW ventures to offer both products under the name SB@IW Products and Services, under the name SB@IW Services.
The SB Programs operate year-round and hold meetings every weekend. To see the weekend meeting times, please click on the Fall 2024-25 Weekend Schedule button. Additionally, members can work on projects during the weekdays by reserving timeslots to use the center.
FAQ
SB@IW Products
Where Members learn all aspects of running a small business – from procurement of raw materials to sale of finished products. Members work on a variety of arts and craft products and can choose to hone their skills in one or more aspects of a small business, in a customer order based model.
Members and volunteers in the program commit to at least one weekday session for an hour and a 90 minutes session each weekend, all year around, to fulfill customer orders. Inclusive World heavily relies on the support of families of its members and/or their aide to enable a member to be productively engaged at SB@IW, on the premises of Inclusive World’s Center, Milpitas, CA.
Members and Volunteers interested in engaging in this program are encouraged to have interests and skills in Art related projects (painting, stamping etc.), Marketing, Packaging and Labeling, Shipping and managing physical inventory. SB@IW runs on the dedicated time and effort of its members and volunteers, who need to sign up for at least 2 or more of the following important roles and activities:
- Marketing
- Customer facing Order Management
- Sourcing raw materials from different suppliers
- Making products
- Quality Assurance
- Labeling and Packaging
- Shipping
- Managing Inventory (Raw materials and Finished Products)
Roles will be assigned on a first come first basis on enrollment.
SB@IW Services
SB@ IW Services is a program where differently abled youth members and volunteers of Inclusive World, come together to offer varied market services run on an order based business model. SB@IW Photo Scanning is a program that offers high quality scanning services for photographs that need to be preserved, to chronicle memories of life. Old photos in danger of fading, or being forgotten or lost or damaged, are scanned, organized in a digital format that ensures these life memories are safe.
Members and volunteers in the program commit to at least one weekday session for an hour and a 90 minutes session each weekend, all year around, to fulfill customer orders. Inclusive World heavily relies on the support of families of its members and/or their aide to enable a member to be productively engaged at SB@IW, on the premises of Inclusive World’s Center, Milpitas, CA.
Members and volunteers interested in engaging in this program are encouraged to have skills in using a scanner, laptop, using Google Drive for storing, labeling and organizing images. SB@IW runs on the dedicated time and effort of its members and volunteers, who need to sign up for at least 2 or more of the following important roles and activities:
- Marketing
- Customer facing order management
- Scanning and labeling
- Bin management
- Online folder management
- Quality assurance
- Shipping including packing
Roles will be assigned on a first come first basis on enrollment.
All members and volunteers will undergo training before being deployed in scanning projects. Training is offered as part of the annual fall enrollment into Inclusive World’s programs.