Achieve Your Goals, & Sustain Your Programs

Patryce Curtis — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 00:33:48 +0000

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Patryce Curtis, CEO and Owner of PC Eval Consulting, LLC., located in Snellville, GA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are a consulting company that provides program evaluation and project management services to non-profit organizations, federal, state, and local government and other firms. We offer a full cadre of services such as program evaluation, survey design & administration, focus group/interview facilitation, needs assessment, observations, training/technical assistance, data analysis, report writing, project management, and many others.

Tell us about yourself

I am Patryce Curtis, the CEO and owner of PC Eval Consulting, LLC. I have over 18 years of experience working with local, state, and federal partners, including non-profit organizations, public health research organizations, and other firms. I have served as an Evaluator for several organizations to assist in developing, implementing, evaluating, and analyzing various programs.

After several years of working with these organizations in a consultant role, I felt it was time to transition to the next phase of my growth and evolution into entrepreneurship. I love what I do! I am motivated each day because I know that the data we provide improves programming for the population being served. I am passionate about helping organizations achieve their goals and sustain their programs. That is our mission!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is the satisfaction that our services help those organizations better serve their target population. I have seen first-hand, through numerous success stories, testimonials, etc., how the data has been utilized to make a difference in the lives of the people being serviced. It is very rewarding, personally!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things that may come with being a business owner is dealing with disappointment. There will be instances where the opportunity did not go as planned, but you have to continue to strategize ways to achieve your goals and move past the challenges. I have learned to see failure as an opportunity to learn new things and grow the business.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

You need to have discipline and focus – it is especially important to have the discipline and focus to work on your business consistently, including outside of normal business hours.
You need to have systems and processes in place – this is important so that your business can operate without your presence. This is particularly helpful if you want to grow your business.
You need to constantly seek training opportunities – although you may have the technical knowledge and experience, you may be lacking knowledge in other aspects of your business (sales/marketing, financial, etc.). It will be important that you seek opportunities to update your skills in your field and know when it is time to hire others with the expertise you lack.

What Is Evaluation?

Patryce Curtis — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 19:50:08 +0000

Having worked with non-profit organizations for several years, I still get asked this question from time to time. What do you mean by evaluation? Evaluation has so many connotations; it can be done on a more simplistic level, i.e., I want to evaluate whether to pursue this software product for my home or business vs developing a full-scale evaluation of an activity, project or program, etc.

According to the online dictionary, it is the making of a judgment about the amount, number, or value of something; assessment. In the public health field, we define it in more concrete terms. After a review of several definitions, I found this one by the United Nations Evaluation Group to be more comprehensive:

“An assessment, as systematic and impartial as possible, of an activity, project, programme, strategy, policy, topic, theme, sector, operational area, or institutional performance. It analyses the level of achievement of both expected and unexpected results by examining the results chain, processes, contextual factors and causality using appropriate criteria such as relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability.”

This definition considers there is a systematic assessment of an activity, program, project, etc. conducted to achieve a result. Systematic refers to there being a series of steps involved. Impartial means that the assessment is conducted without bias and subjectivity. The evaluation will examine the expected against the achieved results and decides based on if the expected results have been achieved. This analysis is done by using several methods which I will discuss in another blog.

Due to limited budgets, many organizations will scrimp on this part. For long term sustainability, it is important that organizations conduct an unbiased evaluation to assess the effectiveness of their activities, projects and/or programs, etc.