Simple Steps for Starting Your Business Series Workshop

Simple Steps for Starting Your Business
Series Workshop

Is Starting a Business Right for You?

Attend this comprehensive series of workshops to help you test your new business idea and get started on the right path. Join us for five three-hour sessions that help you understand the basics of:

• concepts involved with assessing a business idea
• marketing your product or service
• understanding business financials and how they work
• how to fund and finance your business

Free, one-on-one mentoring is also a part of the workshop process.  Sign up now for these workshops:

Session 1:  Start-up Basics $25 - July 16, 2014 - 8:00am to 12:30pm (lunch included)

This introductory workshop focuses on the basics of testing your business idea and identifying the key factors that influence start-up success. Start-up Basics provides you with an overview of the skills and tools you need when deciding to start a business. In this session, you learn about: the advantages and disadvantages of owning a business, the most profitable form for your business, and the fundamentals of formation, organization, marketing, cash flow and funding sources.

Session 2:  Business Concept $25 - July 23, 2014 - 6:00pm to 9:00pm

The second workshop focuses on your business concept and step-by-step guidance in researching your idea, your market, and your competition. At the end of the Business Concept workshop, you are able to: identify your target markets, describe your products and services, and collect key competitive information to support your feasibility plan.

Session 3:  Marketing Plan $25 - July 30, 2014 - 6:00pm to 9:00pm

The third workshop provides you with an introduction to marketing communication methods and tools to maximize your customer reach. The discussion in the Marketing Plan workshop covers pricing strategies, positioning, the difference between features and benefits, and different marketing strategies. At the end of this session, you will know how to: outline your marketing strategy, test your marketing message, choose the right sales channel, and exercise your marketing strategy.

Session 4:  Financial Projections $25 - August 6, 2014 - 6:00pm to 9:00pm

The fourth workshop uses exercises to help you better understand financial concepts. This session reviews sales and prices, financial risks and rewards, true start-up costs, ongoing operating expenses, setting benchmarks for tracking progress and the organization of all your financial information. Using a hands-on approach, you learn how to use our financial model to forecast sales revenue and build solid pro-forma financial forecasts.

Session 5:  Funding Sources $25 - August 13, 2014 - 6:00pm to 9:00pm