Small Business Center
Seminars & Workshops
Winter & Spring, 2012
Sponsored by the North Carolina Community College Small Business Center Network. No cost to the public.
| Startup Seminar Series | Date |
|---|---|
| » You, Inc | Tue, May 15 |
| » From Idea to Opportunity | Tue, May 22 |
| » Creating the Image, Crafting the Message | Tue, May 29 |
| » Reaching Customer Targets | Tue, June 5 |
| » Keeping $Score$ | Tue, June 12 |
| » Roadmap to Success | Tue, June 19 |
| Small Business Challenges |
Date |
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Fri, Jan 20 |
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| Thur, Jan 26 | |
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Thur, Feb 9 Thur, Feb 16 |
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Tues, Mar 6 |
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Leveraging Social Media For Your Small Businsess (Taylorsville) |
Fri, Mar 9 |
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Legal Issues For Your Small Business-Business Structure and Intellectual Porperty |
Tues, Mar 13 |
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Small Business Taxes, A-Z (Taylorsville) |
Tue, Mar 27 |
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Tue, Apr 3 |
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Thur, Apr 19 |
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Thur, Apr 26 |
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Tue, May 1 |
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Tue, May 8 |
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Federal Employment Taxes-Independent Contractors Through Full-Time Employees |
Thur, May 17th |
Check Back for Additional Offerings! |
SMALL BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Financial Planning For Non-Profits With more organizations chasing scarcer funds, it is critical that non-profits identify funding sources that support their mission and projects. Funding sources also demand accountability, so non-profits must have an appropriate way to manage and track financial support. This two-hour seminar shows non-profit leaders how to make sure their funding supports their mission and activities, analyzes various funding options at their disposal, and provides guidelines for how funding can be tracked by specific project.
Meet the Instructor »Amanda Pearce
Thursday, 1/26/12- 9:00 am to 11:00 am
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Doing Business With The Federal and State Government
You believe your small business has a product or service the Federal Government can use – but how do you sell to Uncle Sam? Where do you begin? How do you compete with large businesses? What about the forms and red tape? Selling to the Federal Government can be an overwhelming endeavor through a maze of agencies and regulations. This information packed workshop will provide attendees with first step priority actions to identify and create opportunities, and begin their adventure into the Federal market.
Meet the Instructor » Wanda Robinson
Thursday 2/9/12 - 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
Cash Flow Killers - And How To Control Them
You have to have sales to run a profitable business, but you can't operate unless you're generating enough cash to pay your bills, your employees - and yourself. In business, "Cash is King", so you must identify the areas that impact your cash flow and learn to manage them. This two-hour seminar will identify the cash killers in business and help you develop strategies to control them and manage your cash flow process.
Meet the Instructor » Todd Blair
Thursday, 2/16/12 - 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Cash Flow Killers - And How To Control Them
You have to have sales to run a profitable business, but you can't operate unless you're generating enough cash to pay your bills, your employees - and yourself. In business, "Cash is King", so you must identify the areas that impact your cash flow and learn to manage them. This two-hour seminar will identify the cash killers in business and help you develop strategies to control them and manage your cash flow process.
Meet the Instructor » Todd Blair
Thursday, 2/16/12 - 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Record Keeping and Taxes
Keeping proper records can help small business owners save time and save money. This two-hour seminar shows participants how business decisions impact their tax bill and how to keep records that will allow them to track their business' profits while maintaining the information needed to file federal and state taxes. Participants learn which expenses can be deducted for tax purposes and walk through a record-keeping process from sales receipts to tax returns.
Meet the Instructor »Mel Steiner
Tuesday, 3/6/12 - 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Leveraging Social Media For Your Small Business
Social media continues to evolve at a rapid rate, and now exists far beyond Facebook. This two and a half hour program reviews how companies are using social media to promote their business, and shows new businesses how to use these sites as part of their marketing mix. Participants will see examples of how businesses use these sites to reach their target markets, learn how to engage customers in an ongoing dialogue, and integrate social media into their marketing plans.
Meet the Instructor »Lee Yount
Friday, 3/9/12 - 9:00 am to 11:00 am
CVCC Alexander Center For Education, Taylorsville
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
Legal Issues For Your Small Business - Business Structure and Intellectual Property
Small business owners have many decisions that require professional guidance. They must first determine a legal structure for their business which makes sense for both their business and personal lives. As a business begins operations, it must protect key information and intellectual property that is critical to their business' success. This two-hour program features local attorneys providing information on legal structure and intellectual property protection to help participants make the right choices as they address these important decisions.
Meet the Instructors »Casey Pope and Michael Thomas
Tuesday, 3/13/12 - 9:00 - 11:00 AM
CVCC, East Campus, Room 975
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Small Business Taxes, A-Z
Tax compliance for the small business owner can be a formidable task. In this seminar, the instructor will provide an overview of taxes and fees applicable to a small business whether the business operates as a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or Limited Liability Company (LLC). Topics include sales tax, federal payroll, employment security, personal income for sole props, corporate income tax, franchise tax and local property tax.
Meet the Instructor »Mel Steiner
Tuesday, 3/27/12 - 6:00 pm-9:00 pm
CVCC, Alexander Center For Education in Taylorsville, Room TBD
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Increasing Your Web Site's Visibility
How do you get your website to the top of search engine result lists? A web presence is necessary for most businesses, but you must make sure that customers can find you to make your site work for you and build your business. This 2.5 hour program shows participants the basics about search engine optimization (SEO), introducing them to tools to evaluate their site traffic and best practices for increasing the number of site visits.
Meet the Instructor » Houston Harris
Tuesday, 4/3/12 - 6:00 pm-8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus, Room 958
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Marketing Research Tools For Your Small Business
Information about your customers will help you better meet their needs and provide products or services that are unique in your market. Information about your competitors can help you make strategic decisions to improve your profitability and grow market share. This two and one half hour seminar helps small business owners understand what information to collect and identifies key web sites and sources that can contribute to gathering strategic information and building a winning marketing plan. Thursday, 4/19/12 - 6:00 pm-8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus, Room TBD
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Lean Marketing Strategies For Your Small Business
All businesses must be diligent in managing their expenses, so how do you market and grow your business without breaking the bank? Smart businesses understand the importance of maintaining a consistent marketing message…and they know how to do it on a budget. This three-hour workshop helps participants identify lean marketing strategies to grow their business and provides the opportunity to build action plans that can be used after the program to drive marketing activities.
Meet the Instructor »Sherre' DeMao
Thursday, 4/26/12 - 9:00 AM to Noon
CVCC East Campus, Room #975
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Financial Statements 101 - The Language of Business
Maintaining and understanding financial information is critical to running a profitable business. This two-hour seminar helps small business owners identify methods to maintain financial records and focuses them on using key financial reports to understand and operate their businesses. The seminar also explains how business owners can use their financial statements to identify potential problems before they become serious threats to the company's survival.
Meet the Instructors »Jennifer Queen and Frank Williams
Tuesday, 5/1/12 - 6:30 to 8:30 PM
CVCC East Campus, Room #1001
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
How To Insure and Bond Your Small Business
Going into business presents many opportunities, but it can also create risks. Purchasing business insurance can help you manage these risks, but with so many types of insurance products what should you do? This two-hour seminar reviews business insurance products and helps participants determine what is right for their business. Workers compensation and the use of bonds are covered to help participants understand how they can protect their business and their assets.
Tuesday, 5/8/12 - 9:00 to 11:00 AM
CVCC East Campus, Room #1001
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
Federal Employment Taxes - Independent Contractors through Full-Time Employees
Your business is growing, and you're ready to hire somebody. But should it be a contractor or full-time employee? And are you ready to handle the tax issues associated with bringing on more help? This two-hour programs helps you differentiate between contractor and full-time employee and walks through the tax issues you'll need to handle to stay legal.
Thursday 5/17/12 – 6:00 to 8:00 PM
CVCC East Campus, Room #975
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117
"STEP UP, START UP" (a 6-seminar start up series)
Meet the Instructor » Maggi Braun
You, Inc.
Business owner vs employee, apples to apples? Not a chance. Owning and operating a business means that you wear all of the hats! Before you leave your day job, let's weigh your skill set, experiences, personality and life goals, your financial needs and your tolerance for risk.
Tues, 5/15/12 - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
From Idea to Opportunity
So, you have an idea, and you think it will sell. Not so fast. Let's turn your idea upside down and inside out. Is there a market for your product or service? What are the features and benefits of your product or service? Is there a marketplace need for it? Who is your target customer? What is your competitive advantage?
Tues, 5/22/12- 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
Creating the Image, Crafting the Message
In this session, you will learn how the big guys create powerful images and powerful messages so that they best their competition and reach their intended targets. You will learn what is meant by branding and begin to create a unique image for your new company.
Tues, 5/29/12 - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
Reaching Customer Targets
You've heard it all before, the 5 P's of marketing: product, price, people, place and promotion. Yes, these are core marketing principles you will have to master, if you are going to attract your target customer. In this session you will learn how to reach your customer targets -- and a bit about the art of the selling.
Tues, 6/5/12 - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
Keeping $Score$ (Tracking the Numbers)
You don't have to be schooled in credits and debits to run a business, but you do have to understand how money flows to a company's bottom line. This session introduces you to tools that companies use to track income, expenses and forecast their needs for cash.
Tues, 6/12/12- 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
Roadmap to Success
This session deals with all that has to be in place once the phone starts ringing: facility, equipment, inventory, people, policies, credit lines, operating capital. It also covers risk management, what it takes to be official and legal and 15 simple steps to Stress Free business planning.
Tues, 6/19/12 - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CVCC East Campus
To register call 828-327-7000, ext 4117.
