The Business Plan Advising Program is a vital aspect of the in-prison curriculum for PEP participants. During the five-month, in-prison program, the men will experience three different learning opportunities simultaneously:
  • Entrepreneurship Theory – Participants complete an entire entrepreneurship textbook during the course of the class. This teaching provides a foundation to their entrepreneurship education and introduces them to business terminology which will soon become part of their everyday vocabularies.

  • Business Plans – Participants begin working on their business concepts immediately upon the commencement of the class. This hands-on experience helps re-enforce the theory they are learning, and it also provides them with a viable option for economic opportunity upon release.

  • Life Skills – Many inmates have lacked productive mentorship in their lives, often resulting in the lack of moral decision-making and basic life skills. Throughout PEP, the men will learn how to properly shake hands, transition back into fatherhood, dress like a professional, eat at a formal dinner, make educated relationship decisions, deal with addictions, etc.
The Business Plan Advisor Program is closely tied to the crafting of business plans mentioned in number two above. Although PEP participants have great business ideas, they often lack a greater understanding of business strategy, and because they don’t have Internet access, they are unable to get recent pricing and competitive information to make their plans complete.

The advising process is a great way for PEP participants to get conceptual and grammatical feedback on their business plans, and it is an excellent opportunity for a businessperson to give back to the community in a way that utilizes his/her core skill sets. It is truly and win-win situation with both sides sharing in the opportunity to learn from one another.