Small Business Development Center
hosted by Santa Monica College
3400 Airport Avenue, Suite 76, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Establishing good communications
• Gaining product recognition
• Customizing your sales approach
• Strategies for getting past the "gatekeeper"
• Getting to the close

Facilitator: Monica Rayes

This two and a half-hour workshop is designed to assist you in defining your mission and vision statements for your business. We will also look at creating strategies to fulfill your companies mission, and begin to develop an initial budget for your venture. The work begun in this workshop is critical in keeping your business focused on its core mission. You will be able to use the document you create as a roadmap to assist you in your business decisions.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• Milestones
• Goals and Objectives

Facilitator: PJ Abode

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• What Banks Typically Look At When Underwriting a Business Loan
• Preparing Your Loan Package
• Five C’s of Credit
• Guidelines
• Your Credit Request

Facilitator: TBA

The latest wave of globalization has ushered in a new epoch of international trade. In light of this global economy, companies can no longer confine themselves within the boundary of each individual country. This workshop is designed for entrepreneurs, marketing executives and business owners, who are interested in understanding international trade and exploring opportunities to conduct international business. The workshop will cover the following practical issues:

• Planning and preparations for export
• Understanding the export market and its culture
• Shipping and distribution channels
• Contract negotiation and documentation
• Methods of payment – cost and risk analysis

Facilitator: Sarah Chang & Sam Gui

This workshop will give you a detailed understanding of the agreements you use every day to buy, sell, and barter.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• What is a contract?
• How are they created?
• Oral versus written?
• How are they enforced?
• What do I get if someone breaks their promise?

Facilitator: Robert Klepa

This workshop will give you a basic understanding of the benefits and risks of becoming a Corporation, LLP or LLC, Solce Proprietorship, or Partnership.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• What Am I Now? The Joys of being a Sole Proprietorship or General Partnership;
• Corporations: What are “S” and “C” corporations?  Why consider incorporating in Nevada, Delaware, or another state?
• Limited Liability Companies: The Good, The Bad and The OK;
• What if I don’t want to incorporate? Insurance options;
• Tax issues and lawsuit protection options.

Facilitator: Robert Klepa

The workshop will cover the test to determine if a worker is an employee or independent contractor, and issues regarding worker sick time, vacation time, firing and involvement with confidential information in the workplace.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Employee vs. Independent Contractor;
• 14-point test to tell the difference;
• Examples of what happens when a company guesses wrong;
• Sick and vacation time;
• Issues on firing workers;
• Workplace secrets.

Facilitator: Robert Klepa

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• The essence of contracts
• Employee v. Independent contractor- how do I tell if a worker is one v. the other and what are the rules for each?
• How do I collect money that's owed to me?
• How do I protect myself from bill collectors?
• The truth about credit repair.

Facilitator: Robert Klepa

The workshop will cover how business people can protect their logos, pictures, stories, inventions, and other intellectual property.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Copyright basics;
• Trademark basics;
• Patent basics;
• Trade secret basics.

Facilitator: Tim Martin and Robert Klepa

This workshop will take you through the basic set-up functions when utilizing QuickBooks. You will further learn invoicing, receiving payments, making deposits, cash memos, cash sales, and estimates.

Facilitator: Laura Lara

This workshop is for anyone who wants to optimize their use of QuickBooks. You will learn the following transactions: Purchase Orders, Inventory, Entering and Paying Bills, Writing Checks, Sales Tax, Reports, Memorizing Transactions, and Bank Account Reconciliations.

Facilitator: Laura Lara

QuickBooks Point of Sale software gives you the inventory and sales tools to help run your store more profitably along with customer management features to keep customers coming back. Point of Sale quickly rings up sales, like a cash register, but also tracks complete inventory, sales and customer information to give you better control over your business. With every sale, your inventory is automatically adjusted so you always know where you stand-what's in stock, what needs reordering. At the end of the day you can quickly and easily transfer sales data into QuickBooks Accounting software, saving time and helping to reduce manual bookkeeping errors.

QuickBooks POS can:

• Manage inventory in real time to know what's selling, what's not and what to restock
• Capture customer data to generate mailings, special offers and loyalty programs
• Improve profits with instant reports on sales, customers, and inventory trends
• Keep growing your business by adding lanes, stores and even a web store

Facilitator: Laura Lara

This workshop concentrates on establishing a presence in the marketplace, targeting your audience and landing sales. The instruction also addresses four major concerns when dealing with customers including making the initial contact, winning trust, ensuring satisfaction, and expanding opportunities.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Good Communications
• Gaining Product Recognition
• Customizing Your Sales Approach
• Getting past the gatekeeper strategies

Facilitator: Monica Rayes

Focuses small business owners on understanding the current marketplace and the necessary strategies to implement in order to differentiate their product/service from the competition. The workshop concentrates on creating verbiage that defines your specific brand presence and targets potential clients leading to an improvement of customer satisfaction resulting in an increase of sales.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Learn how to create content for your marketing purposes utilizing social media
• Capture your customers' attention and interest
• Formulate a plan to communicate to your client base
• Capitalize on increasing brand recognition and propensity to buy

Facilitator: Monica Rayes

REQUIRED FOR SBA FINANCING

Writing a Business Plan is designed as a two-part workshop.

Part 1 of our Business Plan series concentrates on the theory behind planning for success. A discussion of each major element of the business plan and why it is relevant.

Part 2 of the series concentrates on the strategies for completing the major sections of the business plan including sources of data.

Facilitator: Trevor Schickman

Today the web is an essential component of communication and marketing. A website is a must for any contemporary business. Web Basics: Creating a Web Presence is a workshop for those who don’t have a website yet and want to know how to go about getting a web presence, as well as those who have struggled through getting their first website up, and would like to understand the process better before having to go through the process again.

Primary Topics (include, but are not limited to):

• Find out key issues, technical considerations, and decisions needed, before starting.
• Decide what kind of website would best fit your needs.
• Understand the process of having a website built and published to the web.
• Know the pitfalls to be aware of before contracting a web designer.

Facilitator: PJ Abode