Events/Workshops

Effective Workplace Communication When people don’t get the right message on time and in a form they can understand, problems result. Learn how to instill trust and efficiency by: •Organizing messages people can understand •Improving the office communication flow •Creating an “open communication” environment •Overcoming the myth that more = better

Speaker: Dr. Toni Whitfield

Effective January 1, 2007, this program is required of ALL new clients prior to taking other classes or scheduling counseling sessions. This is the place to start! Our free one hour orientation workshop will help you understand all the resources, programs and services provided by the Community Business Partnership programs: The Women's Business Center, the South Fairfax Small Business Development Center, the Business Finance Center, the Financial Education Center for Women Entrepreneurs, and the Business Incubation Center. Come learn how we work, and how we can best serve you as you start and grow your business! Learn about the free one on one counseling that is available from our staff and community of volunteer professionals! Learn how to navigate our web sites and register for classes! Learn about special events! Learn about our other local resource partners and the US Small Business Administration services. Join us soon and get all the great news! Registration Required!

This Seminar will provide the basic of self evaluation, the idea, entrepreneurship, defining the need, determining hte feasibility, and what actions are necessary. Topics within these areas will include analytical methods; research sources; the legal forms of businesses; record keeping; laws, regulations, and policies; and a discussion on the value and importance of business plans and financial analyses. Registration deadline is Thursday, February 3, 2012.

Speaker: Susan Ball

Want to Start a Business? Get answers to your questions: Is my business idea viable? Do I have an “entrepreneurial” personality? How do I legitimize my business, i.e. license, taxes, registration etc? What are some “Do’s and Don’ts”? “Mistakes to Avoid”? and “Tips for Start-ups”? How do I create a business and/or marketing plan? If you are thinking about starting a small business or if you have already started and realize you may have missed a few things, this workshop is for you. We'll review the steps to a successful start and the components of sound business planning. Follow-up appointments are then available with SBDC business advisors.

Speaker: Betty Hoge, Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center Business Advisor

Is owning a small business a good fit for me? What are the steps for starting a business? Will I need funding? What are potential sources of funding? Ruth Cope, a small business specialist, and Kelly Keyser Thompson, an insurance specialist, will answer these and other questions essential for successfully starting a small business. Highlights will include: • Entrepreneurial traits • Taxes and licensing • Business plan development • Sources of financing • Marketing • Insurance

Speaker: Ruth Cope, Assistant Director Loudoun Small Business Development Center Kelly Keyser Thompson, Principal Keyser Thompson Insurance Agency, Inc.

Start Smart seminar will review six factors to consider before starting a business, including legal structures, financing structures, business planning, market research, and methods for deciding if a small business venture is right for you. Call 434-582-6170 to register or to find out more information. Pre-registration is required.

Speaker: Paul Morrison

Effective January 1, 2007, this program is required of ALL new clients prior to taking other classes or scheduling counseling sessions. This is the place to start! Our free one hour orientation workshop will help you understand all the resources, programs and services provided by the Community Business Partnership programs: The Women's Business Center, the South Fairfax Small Business Development Center, the Business Finance Center, the Financial Education Center for Women Entrepreneurs, and the Business Incubation Center. Come learn how we work, and how we can best serve you as you start and grow your business! Learn about the free one on one counseling that is available from our staff and community of volunteer professionals! Learn how to navigate our web sites and register for classes! Learn about special events! Learn about our other local resource partners and the US Small Business Administration services. Join us soon and get all the great news! Registration Required!

Are you considering opening a new business? Not sure what you need to do and what steps to take? Then this is the class for you! Business Basics is an introduction to owning your own business. Topics that will be covered include deciding on a legal entity, basic accounting and tax issues, steps you need to take for permits and licensing, steps to writing a business plan and basics of marketing and market research. The class is only 2.5 hours long so these topics will only be briefly covered. Upon completing the class you will have the opportunity to schedule a one-on-one appointment with one of the professional business counselors in our office. Payment may be made by sending in a check made out to the Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center to 210 S. Jefferson Street, Roanoke VA 24011. Of following the payment screen at the end of the registration process. For questions please call Tom Tanner at 983-0717 ext 223. Cash payment can be made in person, or paid the night of the event.

Speaker: Tom Tanner

This Seminar will provide the basic of self evaluation, the idea, entrepreneurship, defining the need, determining hte feasibility, and what actions are necessary. Topics within these areas will include analytical methods; research sources; the legal forms of businesses; record keeping; laws, regulations, and policies; and a discussion on the value and importance of business plans and financial analyses. Registration deadline is Thursday, February 16, 2012.

Speaker: Susan Ball

This course is about the craft of creating a plan for your business. The business plan is the essential document used to raise money for a business and communicate your business vision and strategy to your management team, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders.This ten-part course walks you through the details and tactics of creating a comprehensive plan while helping you avoid the critical planning mistakes that plague most business plans. Topics covered by this course include: What is a business plan? Determining your audience Crafting your mission and vision Setting goals and objectives The company and industry Marketing analysis and strategy Management and operations The financial projections The executive summary Bringing the plan together

Este curso se basa en el arte de crear un plan para su negocio. El plan de negocio es un documento esencial utilizado para recaudar fondos. También comunica su misión y visión estratégica al equipo administrativo, proveedores, consumidores, y acreedores. Los 10 temas de este curso le enseña detalles y tácticas en la creación de un plan comprensivo mientras que le ayuda a evadir errores críticos de planificación que plagan la mayoría de planes de negocio. Como valor agregado, este curso incluye Activeplans, un software que le permite crear la parte narrativa y proyecciones financieras de su plan mediante la utilización de un enfoque simple que detalla paso a paso el proceso. Este software por si solo tiene un valor de $40.00. Los objectivos de este curso: Ayudarlo a entender que exactamente un plan de negocios Ayudarlo a decidir si usted necesita un plan formalmente escrito y como dirigirlo hacia diferentes audiencias Ayudarlo a comprender que inquietudes in plan de negocios debe responder Ayudarlo a ilustrar el contenido y la estructura de un plan de negocios correctamente desarrollado Ayudarlo a evitar cometer los errores comunes que la mayoria de planes de negocios posee Ayudarlo

This course presents the fundamental devices used in crafting a strategy for a business venture. The course puts forth the innovative mechanisms of internal and external strategy which are based on the findings of a new body of research into the strategy-making processes of successful growing ventures. In addition to showing you how to craft a mission, visions, goals, and strategy for your business, this course also shows you how to best present and execute your strategy through strategic stories, the act of organizing genius, and tipping point leadership tactics. Topics covered by this course include: What is strategic planning? Knowing you purpose and mission Defining a vision Forming goals and objectives The two kinds of strategy Crafting internal strategy Crafting external strategy Presenting strategy as story The secrets of organizing genius Tipping point of execution

In this course you will to understand the different types of legal structures available when starting a business. The objective of this course is to help you understand the advantages and disadvantages between the different legal structures. This course will help you to choose what legal structure is most appropriate for your business. You will be provided the forms you need for the formation of your selected structure. This course will also inform you about employee issues and provide you with forms that every employer needs. Topics covered by this course: What is a legal strucure? Different types of legal structures Sole Proprietorship The general partnership ' C ' corporation ' S ' corporation Limited liability company Selecting you legal structure Forms you will need Employee issues and requirements

Buying A Business is a comprehensive course on how to buy the right business at the right price. Developed by entrepreneurs who buy businesses for a living, this course offers advice and wisdom in such areas as: the key questions to ask of any seller, the due diligence process, valuing a business and determining the offer, negotiation steps and tactics, and sample legal agreements. Topics covered by this course include: The pros and cons Finding businesses for sale The key questions to ask Valuing the business Negociating the offer Structuring the transaction Financing the purchase Perfoming the diligence Creating a business plan Post purchanse priorities

Understanding Intellectual Property defines exactly what a copyright, trademark, and patent are and what kinds of protection they might afford your business. The process of establishing such protection is presented for each kind of property. Also discussed are international intellectual property protection issues, as well as, important legal documents such as non-disclosure agreements. A primer concludes this course which details the prior details to prepare before meeting with intellectual property attorney. Topics covered by this course include: Intro to intellectual property What is a trademark? What is a patent? What is a copyright? Understanding trade secrets Federal, state, and employees issues Internet intellectual property International intellectual property Creating & realizing the value of intellectual property Understanding confidentiality agreements

Finding Money To Start A Business offers a comprehensive ten-part course on the tactics of how money is really raised for small business formation. The course examines the sources of available capital and an overview concerning the difference between debt and equity. The course walks you through the maze of financial terms and tactics necessary to successfully identify and secure money for a new business venture. Topics covered by this course include: Where does start-up money come from? How much money do you need? The different types of money How to get money from a lender How to get money from an investor The available sources of capital A little help from the government Financing different kinds of things A few financing scenarios Overcoming your weaknesses

This course details the exact set of steps necessary in preparing a comprehensive loan package request. Each of the forms and requirements are explained and included. From initial readiness tests to help with advanced topics such as U.S. Small Business Administration loans, this course lays it on the line concerning what a lender is really looking for and how they evaluate loan requests. Simply understanding the way a lender thinks can more than double your effectiveness in raising money for your business. Topics covered by this course include: What is a loan packages? Are you ready for a loan? How much should you ask for? Offering collateral and securtiy Obtaining your Credit report The personal financial statement Creating a Business plan The Financial Projections SBA guarantees and applications Bringing the loan request together

Financial projections are a collection of statements that present a numerical model of your business. Any good business plan must pass two separate tests: the story test and the number test. The story test asks, "Does the story make sense?" The number test asks, "Does the story add up?" A well-prepared set of financial projections helps to address that indeed the story does add up, but it also does much more than that. The projections reveal the entrepreneur’s basic assumptions which are usually synthesized together in their mind only. It doesn't matter whether you're applying for your first bank loan or your fifth, or whether you're seeking venture capital or debt financing. Sooner or later, you'll have to prepare a set of financial projections. Lenders will look for a strong likelihood of repayment using your projections. Investors will calculate what they think is the value of your company based upon these numbers. Constructing a set of projections allows you to play with your business model in a safe environment. Playing on paper is a valuable form of prototyping that can raise many questions before you make a decision. Under most conditions, fast learners are going to outperform even the most brilliant planners. The key is not to think of your numbers as a "plan" set in stone, but as a learning environment where you can test out different scenarios and decisions. Topics covered by this course include: What are your financial projections? Your assumptions Budgeting your fixed expenses Determining your variable costs Calculating your breakeven point Creating a sales forecast The income statement The cash flow statement The balance sheet The do's and don'ts

Finding and Attracting an Investor examines the peculiar nature of investment capital. The course presents practical tactics on how to identify and secure different types of capital including seed capital, angel capital, and venture capital. The process used by different kinds of investors is presented and the tools for completing the fund-raising process are presented. Special focus is given to the federal and state laws that govern the capital and securities process. Topics covered by this course includes: What is an investor? The investment process Obtaining seed capital Obtaining angel capital Obtaining venture capital Creating a business plan Legal considerations and concerns Criteria for a new company Investor presentations and pitches Where to find investors

This course describes the available entrepreneurial strategies and how they are applied in the marketplace. For anyone starting or growing a business venture, the knowledge and skills underlying the entrepreneurial strategies are an essential part of any entrepreneur's toolkit. Besides presenting the available strategies and their application, this course presents the sources of innovation and an overview of how decisions are made and how those decisions change over the course of a venture's life-cycle. Topics covered by this course include: What is entreprenuerial strategy? Begin first with the most Hitting them where they ain't Occupying a specialized niche Changing the economic characteristics Sources of innovation What makes an entreprenuer How entreprenuers craft strategy Strategic entreprenuerial decisions Social entreprenuership and innovation

This course provides the advice and strategies of the some of the leading entrepreneurs concerning what it really takes to start a new venture. Starting A New Business moves you through the important tasks of building a strong foundation for a business to the more tactical aspects concerning marketing, managing, and money. This course will also show you how to protect your ideas, how to hire employees, how to find out what licenses and regulations may apply, as well as, provide more than 50 resources of free information that are available to you in making your new business a reality. Topics covered by this course includes: Defining mission, vision, and goals Understanding management trinity Determining feasibility and risk Marketing products and services Handling money and finances Hiring and managing employees Getting licenses and permits Protecting your ideas Growing by adaptation and experimentation

Understanding the difference between patents, trademarks and trade secrets Do you have a product that you need to protect and safeguard as yours? A very informative Patent Attorney will help you understand the difference between patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. Lean how to use intellectual property to compete in the market. Bonus: Attorney will provide a free consultation by appointment. The class will take place on 6-9p. The early bird cost is $50. The rate increases to $65 seven calendar days prior to the class date. Please arrive on time. Cancellation Policy: Participants whose checks are returned for insufficient funds will be charged a $35 fee. Participants who have paid for a class and do not cancel at least 24 hours in advance, will forfeit their entire payment. Participants who have paid for a class, and cancel in a timely manner, may apply their funds to a future class within 390 days of the original class date. After thirty days, all funds are forfeited. Participants wishing to receive a refund will be charged a 10% administrative fee. All events are held at our center at our Springfield location - unless noted otherwise. If you need directions, please visit our Website http://www.cbponline.org. Please contact us if you have any questions.

An overview of the essential processes of managing employees. Includes best practice on the hiring process, employee forms you must file, wage and hour regulations, taxation and privacy issues, health and safety standards, benefit and retirement plans, discrimination and termination processes, and more. Topics covered by this course include: The hiring process Employees forms to file Wage and hour regulations Age laws & requirements Taxation issues Privacy issues Health and safety standards Benefits and retirement plans Discrimination and termination required posters and other workplace standards

Take command of a bookstore and coffee bar and see how money moves in and out of a business learning the fundamentals of accounting at the same time. This course provides an in-depth look at each of the primary accounting transactions used in a business demonstrating how "the language of business" works. Without using any accounting jargon to begin with, the course demonstrates how to keep score in a business through a simple scorecard approach. When you are finished, you are shown that each of your scorecards represents one of the three primary financial statements used in managing a business. Topics covered by this course include: The language of business Keeping score in business Money coming in Money going out Money owed to you Money you owe Handling cash and large costs The balance sheet The income statement The statement of cash flow

Covering a variety of topics to help you become a more efficient and effective QB User! We customize this class to meet the needs and questions of the attendees. Here are just some of the topics we can address to help you be a more efficient and effective QuickBooks user: Tricky Customer Transactions: Voiding a check in a prior period; Customer credits and refunds Tricky Vendor Transactions: Vendor credits and pre-payments Customizing Reports: Adding data fields; Using filters Customizing Forms: Using layout designer; Adding data fields Online Banking: Setup; Downloading and recording transactions Classes: When to use Class Tracking; Setup and use of classes; Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet by Class Budgeting: Setup of budgets by account, project/job or class; Budget vs. Actual Report Loan Manager: Setup of loans; Use of Loan Manager to automatically record loan principal and interest

Speaker: Henry Reeves, CPA - Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor

This course presents a media-by-media discussion of the tips and tricks used by marketing professionals when advertising a product or service. Learn how to set an advertising budget, learn why it's better to run two smaller ads than one larger one, learn how to correctly position your product and how to best design an effective marketing message, and learn what you need to know about selecting media for an ad campaign. This course also presents an overview of public relations tactics and internet marketing practices. At its conclusion, this course details specific measures how to assess the success of your results. Topics covered by this course include: What is advertising? The audience, objectives, and platform Determining the advertising budget The positioning and message Using print media Using radio and television Direct marketing options Promoting internet websites Public relations and publicity Evaluating you advertising plan

This course describes the fundamentals of the most important aspect of any business: marketing. Learn the concepts taught in college-level courses in just a few hours including the "5Ps"--Product, Promotion, Price, Place, and Positioning. At the end of this course, you will be able to create a comprehensive marketing plan for business that encompasses a creative plan, a positioning plan, and a media marketing calendar--the essentials of any good marketing strategy. Topics covered by this course include: What is marketing? Conducting market research Analyzing the market enviornment Selecting your target markets Market positioning Designing products and services Pricing products & services Placing products & services Promoting products & services Creating a marketing plan

The objective of this course is to help you understand how marketing activities are actually conducted in a small business. This course will convince you that buzz and word-of-mouth does not just happen, instead it must cultivated and strategically crafted with an underlying architecture. After going through this course you will become a master of self-organized customer networks by leveraging hubs and connectors. This course will help you to choose and maximize the right marketing weapons for your message. Overall this course will help you to achieve a high return on imagination as opposed to return on investment. Topics covered by this course include: What is buzz and how does it spread? Understanding networks Hubs and connectors Your positioning and message Choosing your marketing weapons Word of mouth tactics Return on imagination From message to action Public relations and publicity Creating a marketing plan

Market research is the systematic process entrepreneurs use to gain insight into market problems and opportunities. The term market includes not only customers, but all players who are responsible for bringing certain products and services to market including suppliers, competitors, producers, wholesale distributors, retailers, logistics, and so on. To conserve time and money, successful entrepreneurs minimize the resources they devote to researching their ideas. Unlike the corporate world, the entrepreneur only does as much research and analysis to justify the next action or investment. This course presents scores of best practice concerning how entrepreneurial research is actually implemented. Answers to questions about market segments, consumer and business markets, market size, and sales forecasts are all addressed through step-by-step processes. Topics covered by this course include: The market research process The market enviornment Researching your industry Researching business customers Estimating market size Creating a sales forecast Customer survey techniques Consumption chain analysis

The objective of this course is to define what positioning is and how it works as a communications tool in marketing. This course will put forth and describe the available positioning strategies including the positioning of a leader, the positioning of a follower, and the tactics for repositioning the competition. This course will show you the easiest way of getting into the prospect's mind. This course will teach you how to prevent the most common positioning mistakes including the line extension trap. Topics covered by this course include: What is positioning? The assault on the mind The ladders in your head Getting into the mind Owning a word in the mind The positioning of a leader The positioning of a follower The repositioning of the competition The line extension trap A positioning case study

This course will explain what is value and why it is better to set prices on value rather than costs. This course will discuss the 3C's that influence costs: Costs, Customers, and Competition. You will learn generic pricing strategies and techniques for segmented and lifecycle pricing. In this course you will study the effects of pricing psychology and the elements of your marketing mix. This course will present specific industry pricing tactics from the best entreprenuers. From the fundamentals of pricing to advanced discussions on psychological theories focused on pricing formulation, this course is essential to anyone responsible for making the price decision. Topics covered by this course include: What is value? Costs Customers Competition Generic pricing strategies Segmented pricing The marketing mix Pricing psychology Life cycle pricing Specific pricing tactics

“Increase Your Sales Through Exports” Did you know that over 90% of the world’s consumers live outside the United States? Join Jeff Geiger, International Trade Specialist for Virginia SBDC, to learn all about the benefits of exporting, assess your company’s export readiness, develop an export strategy and marketing plan, and identify target markets. Thursday, February 9, 1-3pm $50early bird/ $75 (7 days prior to the class)

Do you have a Facebook page for your business and not know what to do with it? In this seminar you will learn: - How to set up your Facebook page - How to use pay-per-click advertising - Advertising analytics - Developing ad campaigns - Marketing to your customers through your page This class is presented by Adam Williams and Michael Weaver of 440Web.

Speaker: Adam Williams and Michael Weaver

Learn what you need to do to become a government contractor: where to register, how to find buyers for your products/services, and determine whether government is the market for you. Bring your laptop! 2-4p EARLYBIRD $50 /$65 7 days prior