BUSINESS RESOURCES BLOG

Is Starting a Business Right for You?

 Session 1: Start-Up Basics – FREE SCORE Charlotte Workshop

This introductory workshop focuses on the Business Start-Up Basics of testing your business idea and identifying the key factors that influence start-up success. The Business Start-Up Basics Workshop 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.

Presented by SCORE Charlotte Certified Mentors at no cost to you.

TO REGISTER, GO TO https://charlotte.score.org/local-workshops-4

Description

Discover how to manage and maintain your business finances by automating your accounting and financial reporting functions. Use this computerized program to set your company’s chart of accounts, receive payments, pay bills, create lists, track cash sales, enter bills, create invoices, make deposits, reconcile bank accounts and write checks in order to more easily manage your financial decisions.

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the participants will be able to:

• Set up a Chart of Accounts
• Create Invoices
• Receive Payments
• Track Both Cash and Charge Sales
• Make Deposits
• Pay Bills
• Create Lists
• Reconcile Bank Accounts
• Produce Financial Reports

Content

1. Class Introduction
   • What does your company do?
   • What information will be important to your company
   • Introduction to the QuickBooks navigator
   • Goals/objectives
   • Business terms
   • Using exercise disk
   • Set up a company
     • Use chart of accounts
     • Open cash account
2. Review company setup and answer questions
   • Lists
   • Creating a company
   • Customer/job
   • Employee
   • Vendor
   • Customized fields
   • Managing lists
   • Working with bank accounts
     • Writing checks
     • Check registers
     • Handwritten checks
   • Entering and paying bills
   • Accounts Payable
   • Entering and paying bills
   • Learn to back up and restore QuickBooks on your computer
3. Review items
   • Items (creating)
     • Optional (setting up invoices)
     • (selling products)
   • Invoicing for Service
   • Payment processing
4. Review
   • Optional (payment processing)
   • Reconciling and other accounts (charge cards, etc.)
   • Creating reports/graphs
   • Customizing

Prerequisites

Basic computer skills & some basic accounting are required.

Method of Instruction

Lecture, Hands on

Evaluation

• Exam: No
• Demonstation of Skills: Yes
• Class Partcipation: Yes

Who / Why Should You Attend:  Want to start a business, but not sure of the paperwork you need or the steps you should take??? This Startup Workshop is designed to give Entrepreneurs on-site legal counsel and assistance. This hands-on workshop will provide participants with answers to their legal questions, support with filling out documents with NC Secretary of the State, and support with completing all paperwork to get your business up and running.

Presenters:  Natalie Williams  /  Raeneice Taltoan-Reed  /  Tony Proctor  /  Ann Elmore”

The 53 Ideas team is coming to a neighborhood near you in January and February 2020!

We’re making it easier than ever for you to submit your 53 second video pitch to 53 Ideas by hosting pop-up pitch recording events throughout the Charlotte region. Stop in at any advertised event and we’ll record your pitch and get you entered in the competition. You might even be lucky to take home some cool swag.

WHAT IS 53 Ideas?

53 Ideas is an open call for business ideas made possible through financial support of the Foundation Office of Fifth Third Bank. If you have a business idea pitch it for a chance to win up to $10,250 to help fund the development of your idea.

Until February 20 anyone age 16 and older that resides in one of the 10 counties surrounding Charlotte can submit a 53-second video pitch. Learn more at www.53ideas.com

On February 29, we will announce the top 53 Ideas. Those individuals will move on to the next round of the competition and become a step closer to winning $10,000, $5,000 or $2,500 in seed funding.

Visit www.53ideas.com to submit your pitch from your smartphone, tablet or computer. Can’t submit on your own come out to a pop-up event like this one and we’ll record your pitch.

Good luck to all!

The 53 Ideas team is coming to a neighborhood near you in January and February 2020!

We’re making it easier than ever for you to submit your 53 second video pitch to 53 Ideas by hosting pop-up pitch recording events throughout the Charlotte region. Stop in at any advertised event and we’ll record your pitch and get you entered in the competition. You might even be lucky to take home some cool swag.

WHAT IS 53 Ideas?

53 Ideas is an open call for business ideas made possible through financial support of the Foundation Office of Fifth Third Bank. If you have a business idea pitch it for a chance to win up to $10,250 to help fund the development of your idea.

Until February 20 anyone age 16 and older that resides in one of the 10 counties surrounding Charlotte can submit a 53-second video pitch. Learn more at www.53ideas.com

On February 29, we will announce the top 53 Ideas. Those individuals will move on to the next round of the competition and become a step closer to winning $10,000, $5,000 or $2,500 in seed funding.

Visit www.53ideas.com to submit your pitch from your smartphone, tablet or computer. Can’t submit on your own come out to a pop-up event like this one and we’ll record your pitch.

Good luck to all!

Every business needs a plan B. Fire, floods, and hurricanes are generally associated with contingency planning. But what if a large event comes to town that shuts down roadways making it difficult or impossible for suppliers and employees to reach your business? What if your entire team comes down with the flu? Make no mistake continuity of operations isn’t just about natural disasters. It can also prepare you for more commonplace problems and ready you for unexpected disruption. Learn the necessary elements your small business needs to survive and thrive and five things most companies ignore that they shouldn’t in preparedness planning.

Speaker(s): Vanessa Vaughn Mathews, Asfalis Advisory

Pre-registration required

Description

Facebook and Central Piedmont are partners in developing and offering this non-credit Digital Marketing Certificate program. In the six-month course, entry-level job seekers and experienced professionals alike will gain and expand their understanding of core concepts including market positioning, brand positioning, targeting and segmentation, and marketing channels and metrics.

With this high-demand set of skills, this innovative course (offered by blending online and in-person sessions) will have you set to kick start your journey into careers that require new technology skills in digital marketing. You will end this course with a professional portfolio of applied projects that will showcase your abilities and prepare you to put these skills into action.

Class will meet in person the following dates from 6-9pm

1/28, 2/25,3/31,4/30,5/6,5/28,6/23

3/4 by WebEx from 6-7:30pm

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand foundations of marketing including: unique value proposition, customer segmentation, customer personas, various marketing channels, and key metrics.
• Understand the process of creating an effective content strategy by understanding consumer psychology and buying motivations
• Demonstrate the ability to create written copy for marketing content that aligns with a brand and target audience for primary marketing channels.
• Understand the principles and best practices of visual design when creating marketing collateral.
• Understand search engine optimization.
• Demonstrate the ability to A/B test various elements of marketing efforts to increase conversion rates.
• Understand the factors that drive conversion and opportunities to optimize marketing performance.
• Understand the role of social media in a marketing campaign and differences in voice and audience across various social media channels.
• Recognize best practices and understand the lifecycles of successful social media, search, display, and email campaigns.

Content

• Foundations And Strategy Of Marketing
  • Overview of digital marketing
  • Digital marketing and business fundamentals
  • The 4 Ps of marketing and unique value propositions
  • SWOT analysis
  • Brand positioning strategy
  • Targeting and segmentation
  • The customer journey and marketing channels
  • Marketing objectives and measurement
  • Student presentations
• Marketing Content Strategy And Branding
  • Introduction to digital marketing and content marketing
  • Consumer psychology and buying motivations
  • Branding
  • Content and channel strategy
  • Blog writing
  • SEO
  • Writing for various marketing channels
• Marketing Analytics And Performance Optimization
  • Google Sheets: Intro to data analysis and visualizations
  • A/B Testing: Designing and analyzing A/B tests
  • Google Analytics: Collecting, reporting, and analyzing data
• Social Media Marketing
  • Introduction to social media
  • Understanding audiences
  • Content planning
  • Content creation
  • Advertising
  • Reporting and analyzing ads
  • Community building
  • Best practices
• Search And Display Advertising
  • Search engine marketing
  • Campaigns and best practices
  • Networks and Google products
  • Search ads
  • Keywords
  • Display
  • Ad bidding
  • Optimization
• Email Marketing
  • Introduction to email marketing
  • Creating an effective email campaign
  • List segmentation and management
  • Anatomy of an effective email
  • Email automation
  • Email deliverability
  • Analysis of marketing emails
  • Testing emails

Prerequisites

• Basic computer and Internet skills
• Understanding of Google Suite or Microsoft Office applications recommended

Method of Instruction

Hybrid delivery with utilization of the following instructional methods:

• Activity
• Problem-based learning/ Case studies
• Collaborative learning/ Peer review
• Demonstration/ Modeling

Evaluation

• Graded assignments
• Formative assessment (quizzes/ knowledge checks)
• Performance-based assessments
• Discussion boards
• Experiential projects

For Additional Information: https://www.cpcc.edu/business-and-industry/small-business-center/digital-marketing-certificate

En este seminario gratis y en español usted recibirá información sobre todo lo que debe saber sobre cómo comenzar un negocio, como licencias, requisitos del estado, financiamiento y ayudas locales y oficiales disponibles.

The 53 Ideas team is coming to a neighborhood near you in January and February 2020!

We’re making it easier than ever for you to submit your 53 second video pitch to 53 Ideas by hosting pop-up pitch recording events throughout the Charlotte region. Stop in at any advertised event and we’ll record your pitch and get you entered in the competition. You might even be lucky to take home some cool swag.

WHAT IS 53 Ideas?

53 Ideas is an open call for business ideas made possible through financial support of the Foundation Office of Fifth Third Bank. If you have a business idea pitch it for a chance to win up to $10,250 to help fund the development of your idea.

Until February 20 anyone age 16 and older that resides in one of the 10 counties surrounding Charlotte can submit a 53-second video pitch. Learn more at www.53ideas.com

On February 29, we will announce the top 53 Ideas. Those individuals will move on to the next round of the competition and become a step closer to winning $10,000, $5,000 or $2,500 in seed funding.

Visit www.53ideas.com to submit your pitch from your smartphone, tablet or computer. Can’t submit on your own come out to a pop-up event like this one and we’ll record your pitch.

Good luck to all!