Business bootcamp aims to aid entrepreneurs

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The inaugural Business Bootcamp Conference, created by entrepreneur and author Raquel M.R. Thomas, will be held Nov. 1-2 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

Columbia lawyer and activist Bakari Sellers will be the keynote speaker for the event, which will feature workshops aimed at providing entrepreneurs tools to grow and improve their businesses. More than 15 speakers from various regional companies will teach classes on marketing, branding, funding, nonprofit organizing, real estate investment, business plan and budget creation, leadership and more.

Thomas, a Columbia native, owned and operated six businesses before the age of 35, according to a news release, including DMR Fashion, Gold Den and Dream Catchers Foundation of S.C.

S.C. native Sellers is a former state legislator and a CNN political and social commentator.

A portion of the conference proceeds will go to the Dream Catchers Foundation to fund monthly programs that help students create their own businesses.

“Our goal is to help build and create leaders in our community, cultivate entrepreneurship and facilitate change,” Thomas said in the release.

The Nov. 1 conference agenda will focus on youth entrepreneurs, while the Nov. 2 portion will focus on adult entrepreneurs.

Tickets are available online and range from a $7 one-day children’s ticket, which covers two workshop sessions, to a $250 VIP pass that includes 10 sessions.