When Janette Pulido decided to open a hair salon with Mayte Madera, the task seemed overwhelming. But unlike many nascent entrepreneurs, Pulido had help. A participant in the Washington CASH program, she was able to learn about sales forecasting, money management, research and business planning — all before opening her business.

“I feel like it’s a lot easier than it would have been without their help,” she says. The two women opened their new salon, Mayte N Janette, on North Callow Avenue in Bremerton in March, and right away they had five to seven walk-ins a day, more than the four clients they had forecasted. They hope to expand the business by offering two of the four chairs for lease.

“I have never seen two young women work so hard in my life,” says Stuart Walton, business development trainer for CASH in Kitsap.

Pulido is one of the most recent graduates of CASH, a nine-week, hands-on program that helps people start a small business. The program includes mentoring, peer support, and a peer-lending group that makes loans in the amount of $1,000 to $5,000.

CASH graduates can continue in the program as part of the peer-support groups, and some may later qualify for loans up to $50,000 through the “business builder” program.

“The great success of CASH is that it is peer-based,” says Bill Hoke, who owns a consulting business and is one of three volunteer mentors in Kitsap. “These entrepreneurs exercise real control over the program to motivate and constructively help each other as no one else can.”

Marian Sanders first became involved with CASH in 2003. Her business, DanDee Cleanup LLC, is now five years old and has three divisions with five employees. Sanders says she’d gone through the motions of starting the business before CASH but as a result of the program, was able to learn everything from business plans to payroll.

“I couldn’t have done it by myself,” she says.

Sanders started out doing real estate cleaning and since then she’s expanded to include window washing and housecleaning. Her current goal is to be certified as a minority-owned business, which could help the company grow. “I know Washington CASH is going to take me through this,” she says.

Walton says the organization has seen an influx of people in this economic downturn, with nearly 30 inquiries received for the most recent class. The prior class graduated 13 people, compared to an average of about 10.

“In these tough economic times, CASH training and peer support fill a real niche,” says Hoke, who has been volunteering for the program for about six years. “As a longtime mentor, I continue to be inspired by these business owners and it is a privilege to work with them.”

In the past 36 months, Washington CASH has graduated nearly 500 low-income individuals helped 350 businesses start or expand. Of those, 100 individuals and 72 businesses were in Kitsap County. Since the program’s inception, about $70,000 in loans have been made to Kitsap-area clients.

Recently, Washington CASH became authorized as a training facility under a new program that allows those on unemployment to collect benefits while training. Anyone receiving unemployment doesn’t have to continue looking for a job while enrolled in an authorized training program such as CASH.

A Bremerton office was opened earlier this year; other recent changes included raising the loan minimum to $1,000 from $500 and adding the business builder loan program in response to the tightening of the financial market that has made business borrowing very difficult. The program is also now accepting people who do not meet the low-income criteria; those from higher income levels pay for the program on a sliding-fee scale and Walton said about 10 percent of participants are from that category.

“We’re continuing to grow, just as we’re trying to help our businesses to grow,” Walton says.

Tracy Kendrick, whose business, Caring Hearts, provides nonmedical respite services, says the program has been invaluable to her, both with the hands-on training and the peer support network. “It’s very helpful because a lot of people want to start a business but don’t have the support,” she says. “I’m thankful they have this program in our county.