Spring 2015 SMALL BUSINESS COURSES & SEMINARS

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1 Spring 2015 SMALL BUSINESS COURSES & SEMINARS Jacquelyn Thomas Owner, Kids-N-Technology

2 Seminars FREE and open to the public Business Start-Up Begin the New Year by laying plans for your new business. See how to turn your idea into an opportunity. Get step-by-step instructions on how to start a small business and discover what you really need to increase the odds of your success. Learn key strategies for start-up, marketing, legal issues, financing and more. Take home tips that you can use now. 1/13 T 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm /24 T 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Find Your Target Customers Online You ve identified your ideal customers. Now it s time to find them. Learn how to zero in on your target market using the huge amounts of data stored on websites. Online business consultant Carol Sankar teaches you how to use key words, active forums, circles, analytic sites and more. This is an important seminar for business owners who want to use the power of the internet to get more from their marketing efforts. 1/15 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Business Ideas for New Entrepreneurs Thinking about starting a business but not sure which one to pursue? This informal session with business coach, Matt Rudisill, covers the latest trends and businesses that literally can be started in a weekend. Get ready for some creative, out of the box thinking to start and sustain a profitable business. 1/21 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Business owners, balance your life with cost-effective personal enrichment classes! (see back of insert) Which Business Entity is Right for You? Choosing the right business structure is an important step in setting up your business. Attorney Fred Parker walks you through the benefits and disadvantages of Sole Proprietorship, LLC, S-Corporation and Partnership, and helps you ask the right questions when deciding which one is right for your business. 1/29 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Give Them an Offer They Can t Refuse! The Art of Soft Selling for Small Business Owners Be one of the first 10 people to register and attend this seminar with Mark Csordos and receive a free copy of his book Selling Entrepreneur Style. Then hear his best tips for taking your sales from ordinary to extraordinary. Csordos started his first business, C & S Mystery Shoppers Inc., at the age of 24 and sold it when he was 28. He s been featured in The New York Times, Vogue and Entrepreneur. Meet him and discover his selling secrets. This seminar is a must for any business owner who doesn t consider themselves a natural sales person. 2/10 T 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Developing Your Business Plan Need to get started on your business plan? This seminar will help you evaluate all aspects of your business and determine the elements needed for a winning business plan. Find out how a business plan is used by potential lenders, the do s and don ts of writing a plan and steps for making the process easy. 2/12 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm When you see the colorful vehicle zipping around our area there s no mistaking the two passions of the woman behind the wheel. Jacquelyn Thomas is founder and owner of Kids-N-Technology, an award winning out-of-school education program for children in grades K-12 that teaches them how to create STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) projects. Combining her degrees in business and computer engineering, she started the business 14 years ago in Memphis, Tenn. and today holds programs and in several cities, expanding to Charlotte two years ago. Small Business SPOTLIGHT Recently both her Kids-N-Technology and Girls Pursuing Science summer camps and after school programs were winners in the region s STEM education awards presented by WTVI-PBS Charlotte. She credits her recent business success to the Rowan- Cabarrus Small Business Center where she attended a business planning seminar taught by one of the Center s counselors. That was two years ago and I ve been a client ever since. The counselor teaches you how to do your own plan, forces you to think about things you hadn t thought of and pushes you to persevere through the pitfalls. With the help of the Rowan-Cabarrus Small Business Center, Thomas plans to package her curriculum to make it available to schools and youth services organizations. Please reserve a seat at to receive event reminders and any location updates.

3 Seminars FREE and open to the public Landing BIGContracts Vendor opportunities with state and local government and other entities continues in February Do you have a product or service to sell to local municipalities, state agencies, schools, colleges, healthcare entities and others? Learn how to become a successful bidder and preferred vendor. Find out what they purchase, how to get on the list to see their RFBs, RFPs, RFQs and ITBs and learn what a successful response to each entails. Understand their formal and informal bid process, the bonding, certification, insurance requirements and more. Discover how to overcome the common reasons many small businesses are not successful. FREE Build your business into one that can land local and state contracts! Visit for Friday morning dates and times How to Pitch to Investors Pitching to investors for funding is different from presenting your loan request to a banker. While bankers may lend money, investors are really buying part of your business. As a result, the information they need to make their investment decision is not the same. Join George McAllister, regional director of the Small Business & Technology Development Center as he shares important information on the various types of investors and what motivates them to invest. Knowing how investors think, he will show you how to put together an investor pitch that gets results. 2/26 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Interested in Crowdfunding for Your Business? Many entrepreneurs are finding success raising money for their business through crowdfunding, the practice of raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically through the internet. Although there are more than 100 crowdfunding sites in existence, Kickstarter and Indiegogo are two of the most popular. Meet Liz Gray, a Concord artist who was successful with her crowdfunding campaign. Find out how she did it, how crowdfunding works, how to launch your own campaign and the benefits that go beyond raising money. 3/4 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Google + for Your Business Not on Google +? Find out why more business owners are turning to this social media platform to promote their business. Learn how to set up your business, create circles, public and private communities, gain followers, send people to your local business page and more. Join online marketing expert Lisa Perry as she teaches you the basics of Google + for your business. 3/18 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Design Your Business Website with WordPress A functional website is a must for small business owners. Learn how to use WordPress, the most popular and powerful free website creation tool. Web designer Kevin Mallary takes you from the important beginning steps such as understanding your brand and business culture, to the design process, picking templates, marketing your site and search engine optimization. If you want to improve your website, or don t have a site yet, this seminar is for you. 3/24 T 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm /9 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Figuring Your Startup Costs Planning to start a small business? Many potential business owners underestimate how much it will take to open their doors. Legal fees, licenses and permits, furniture and rent may be obvious, but there are a host of other expenses that are often overlooked. Find out how to determine your start-up cash needs. Learn the steps to take before you can determine start-up costs. Running out of money quickly is one of the main reasons small businesses fail. 3/26 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm LinkedIn for Your Business When it comes to social media for business, LinkedIn cannot be ignored. Join Denise Adcock, owner of Healthy Business, as she shares her best tips for getting the most from LinkedIn. Learn how to create a winning profile, build a community, engage followers, make key connections and more. Discover the real power of this site for your business. This seminar is designed for beginners. 4/6 M 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Join our SBC mailing list to receive more information about these and other programs. Go to (scroll the left side). Please reserve a seat at to receive event reminders and any location updates.

4 What do you get for that person who has everything? Enroll him or her in an exciting and enriching class from Rowan-Cabarrus person Community who College. has everything? Enroll him or her in an exciting and enriching class from Rowan-Cabarrus Community on a gym membership, College. but still What do you get for that Not ready to spend the money want to take some exercise classes? Not Well, ready we have to spend some great the deals money for you. on a gym membership, but still want to take some exercise classes? The Rowan-Cabarrus Personal Enrichment Program offers Well, short-term we have courses some in self-improvement, great deals for you. cultural enrichment, and academic achievement for adults at a variety of times and locations The Rowan-Cabarrus to meet your Personal schedule. Enrichment Take a class Program with your offers family short-term friends and courses enjoy in learning self-improvement, new skills together. cultural enrichment, and academic achievement for adults at a variety of times and Visit the program website to see all of our current offerings locations to meet your schedule. Take a class with your family and check back often to see which classes will pique your or friends and enjoy learning new skills together. interest. Also, feel free to provide us with your suggestions for which Visit the classes program we should website offer to see in the all of future, our current using the offerings class and suggestion check back form often online. to see We which welcome classes your will input pique and your invite you interest. to participate Also, feel in any free courses to provide which us with interest your you! suggestions for which classes we should offer in the future, using the class suggestion form online. We welcome your input and invite you to participate in any courses which interest you! Classes InClude: american sign language Classes InClude: american How to use sign Your language digital Camera How Photoshop use Your digital elements Camera Photoshop Yoga (Beginning elements and Power) Yoga Cake(Beginning and decorating Power) Cake Motorcycle decorating safety Motorcycle Core safety stability Core stability Please register soon, as class size is limited! Call RCCC (7222) or register online through WebAdvisor (go to WebAdvisor, click Students, then Register and pay for Please Continuing register Education soon, as Classes). class size is limited! Call RCCC (7222) or register online through WebAdvisor (go to WebAdvisor, click Students, then Register and pay for Continuing Education Classes).

5 Seminars FREE and open to the public Selling Techniques for Small Business Owners: Three-Part Harrisburg Series Business owners are often surprised by how much time they spend selling their product or service and selling themselves! While it may be one of the least favorite tasks of many, find out how to make selling more productive, profitable and even enjoyable. In this Friday morning three-part series in Harrisburg, sales expert Jason Owens shares insights on why your selling may not be working and how to turn it around. Also discover the places where prospects are waiting to spend money with you! 4/10 F 8:30-10:30 a.m. Harrisburg Town Hall 4/17 F 8:30-10:30 a.m. Harrisburg Town Hall 4/24 F 8:30-10:30 a.m. Harrisburg Town Hall 10 Essential Skills for Small Business Owners Operating a small business can challenge even an experienced business owner. That s why adopting some essential skills early on will make a big difference in the long run. Popular presenter Mike Collins returns to share the best tips, tactics and strategies of successful business owners. 4/15 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Internet Marketing: Best Low-Cost Tips for Small Business Owners Lisa Perry returns with more low cost/no cost ways to market your business on the internet. If you re confused about where to begin with internet marketing, or want to make sure your business is found online, plan to attend. This seminar is especially helpful for new business owners and those with little experience with online marketing. 4/29 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Clueless About Accounting? Unravel the mystery behind debits and credits in this seminar designed with the clueless in mind. Join Semone Brisson as she covers the basics of accounting systems and how to record transactions using debits and credits with the double-entry method. This is an important seminar for new business owners or those who need a refresher. 5/4 M 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Financial Statements Q & A for Business Owners Managing by the numbers is the only way a business will see lasting success. But if you re like many business owners, certain portions of financial statements are fuzzy. Even if you have someone handle the finances of your business, owners still need to understand where the numbers belong and what they mean. Now is the time to have your questions answered in this informal session with accountant Semone Brisson. 5/7 TH 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Looking for MONEY for Your Business? Attend The Support Center Lunch & Learn Funding continues to be a challenge for many small business owners, especially for new businesses, but The Support Center, based in Raleigh, may offer a solution. The Support Center is a statewide nonprofit and approved SBA Community Advantage 7(a) Guaranteed Lender that provides loans that are not easily available through a traditional bank, and includes funding for start-ups! Join representatives in this free lunch & learn as they help you navigate the funding maze. (Lunch is provided) Monday, April 20, :30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm Taking Your Business Online: E-Commerce One way to expand your market is to sell products online. If you ve thought about an online store join business coach Matt Rudisill as he shares the basics of selling products online. Come away with an understanding of your online store options, the differences between platforms and how to determine which one is right for you, what you will need to set up your store and how to market it. Maybe it s time to take your business to the next level! 5/18 M 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cabarrus Business & Tech. Ctr., Rm How do I Market My Small Business? Marketing is the lifeblood of any small business. Stay on top of the best marketing techniques in this information packed session with award winning marketing expert Sherré DeMao as she shares the latest effective strategies to get your business in front of your desired customers. 5/20 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. North Campus, Rm Please reserve a seat at to receive event reminders and any location updates.

6 Online Options HP Life e-learning for Entrepreneurs Need help with a particular area of your business? Check out the free online webinars by HP Life. These interactive sessions are great for business operations or as a refresher about financial matters you have 25 topics from which to choose such as: Basics of finance Finding funding Social media marketing Selling online Setting prices Maximizing capacity Hiring staff Effective presentations Effective leadership Strategic Planning Business Counseling One-on-One Business Counseling Expands in Rowan County Get help with your business from experts in marketing, social media, retail, business start-up, business growth, and more. The Small Business Center, in partnership with the Rowan Chamber, has expanded its free counseling program. To make an appointment with one of the four counselors available each month go to On the left side, click Free Confidential Counseling and add Salisbury Counselor when describing your request. Free seminars are sponsored by the Small Business Center Network of the North Carolina Community College System and supported by these local partners: Get started at On the bottom right click HP Life. Then click Rowan/Cabarrus County on the map. North Campus: 1333 Jake Alexander Blvd., S., Salisbury, N.C Harrisburg Town Hall: 4100 Main St., Harrisburg, N.C Visit Seminar Locations: Cabarrus Bus. & Tech. Ctr.: 660 Concord Pkwy N., Concord, N.C Post Office Box 1595 Salisbury, North Carolina RCCC (7222)