Two new offerings of
our top-rated workshops on starting a business and a new workshop about franchising.
Your Business - Plan It, Start It, Grow It!
A full day workshop for people who are ready to get going or already have a business
June 23, 2012 - 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Corporate Learning Center, 18700 Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver WA
You've thought about it for a long time, now you're ready to get going on your starting or expanding your business. At the end of this workshop you'll know exactly what you need to do to make sure your business gets the best start possible.
At its heart, this workshop is about two important but fundamentally different things that are frequently conflated - business planning and the Business Plan. (No, they are not the same!)
Business Planning
The
process of planning is your best opportunity to identify and remove or moderate
the risks to your business: Business planning is a process that provides
lasting knowledge you will need to maneuver the challenges your business will
encounter:
A Business Plan
A
business Plan is a written document designed to address a specific audience
like potential investors or lenders and/or to serve as your implementation
guide. An effective one can't be written without going through a detailed
planning process but by its nature the business plan is ephemeral - a short
time tool designed for a specific purpose. .
Where's Your Market?
At the
beginning of planning is market research. Will enough people buy your product
or service to make your business viable? Who is supplying their needs now? What
would make them change to buy from you? What's important to them? How will you
confirm your answers to these questions?
Can You Juggle?
While
many businesses begin with an idea for a product or service they succeed or
fail on their founder’s ability to manage the business
Show Me The Money!
There are
no magic sources of money that will fund your business. Most small businesses
start with the owner's own money, loans or investments by friends or family, or
assets you own. Since it’s truly your money in any case, thinking carefully
about how much you will need is vital. Being able to forecast how much money
the business could generate, to understand what the financial statements tell
you about the viability of your business.
A Little Help From Your Friends
Finally
this workshop will introduce you to the many resources available from SCORE to
help you plan and succeed in business. SCORE volunteer mentors attend every
workshop and are available to meet with you privately on request.
Starting A Business - What it Takes
A 1/2 day workshop to help you decide if you should start a business
July 12, 2012 - 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Vancouver Regional Library, 901 C Street, Vancouver WA
Our last group of students rated this workshop 4.7 out of 5!
Thinking about starting a business? The object of this workshop is to help you understand what it takes to do it and hence decide if you want to, and/or can do it.
First, it will help to examine your motives for considering starting a business. Depending on what you find, there may be easier or faster ways to get to your goal.
Then, we will review the skills, knowledge, resources and steps needed to implement you business idea.
Examining your strengths and weaknesses is the first step as they will affect the probability of success.
Now that you know yourself a little better, it's key to get to know your target market and asses if there’s room for your product or service. Then we will discuss the business experience in the target market and the management expertise that may be required. We'll also investigate how to figure out how much money you'll need and where you can get it. We will review other important issues to consider like proper timing and risk.
We'll spend a serious amount of time on the process of de-risking your business (that's called planning). Fundamental business questions need to be answered like: what are the market needs and the market that you want to supply? Who, exactly, are the prospective customers? What's important to them when they buy a product or service like yours? Who are they buying from now and what would make them change suppliers?
Finally we will introduce you to some fundamental financial concepts and documents that deal with questions like: How much income could the business produce? Would it have the necessary cash when needed?
We will provide you with some additional planning material and resources for you to further assess and decide if starting a business is it for you.
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