FINANCIALS FOR BUSINESS PROPOSAL

NOTE: This seminar was originally scheduled for March 11th.

This seminar will assist you in completing the financial data required on your business plan.

Mr. Sirbaugh will discuss where to find the information necessary to complete the plan.

It is not necessary to attend the "Writing A Business Proposal" seminar to attend this seminar.

NOTE: A discount of $10 for this seminar is available if paid five days prior to session date.

Online registration can be made at http://www.virginiasbdc.org/workshop.aspx

You will need to call the office to give us your credit card information or send us a check.

INSURANCE ISSUES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Our facilitator will discuss insurance needs for different types of businesses. How much insurance do you need? What kind of insurance do you need? If you are carrying only the minimum amount of liability insurance on a vehicle that is required in your state -- it leaves you vulnerable. On the other hand paying $500 a year for theft insurance when your property is only worth $1,000, will bleed cash from your business and get you very little protection in return. Know your lender's limits; if you don't have enough to cover your loan on a building, the lender might insure it himself and charge you a greater amount than if you insured it. Learn all the ins-and-outs of insurance and their coverages.

Don't wait until you have a loss to decide what type of insurance coverage you should have had. Protection of company assets and coverage for key personnel will also be discussed at this seminar. Question and answer period.

Get your insurance questions answered at this seminar.

NOTE: A discount of $10 for this seminar is available if paid five days prior to session date.

Online registration can be made at http://www.virginiasbdc.org/workshop.aspx

You will need to call the office to give us your credit card information or send us a check.

Driving Sales from the Floor

Retail businesses in the Winchester, Frederick County, Shenandoah County, Warren County and Clarke County region will be able to get training on how to Drive Sales from the Floor on April 7, 2010.  The Lord Fairfax Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is teaming with the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber and the Old Town Development Board to bring retail sales training assistance to the business of the area at the George Washington Hotel.

In a recent study conducted in a mystery shopping by the SBDC it became evident that shop owners need assistance in training themselves and their staff on how to interact positively and productively with shoppers and potential customers.  To address this need the SBDC is bringing in a retail specialist on the state SBDC staff.  Marc Willson has developed a program that shares retail sales methods with businesses owners.  Some of it will be philosophy and some of it will be techniques.  The content comes from Marcs rich retail background and corporate training programs he has come into contact with over the years.

Marc Willson brings 35 years of experience to bear helping retail, restaurant and tourism-related small businesses refine and promote their concepts to the public.  In 1975 Willson started his retail career as co-owner of the largest distributor of Earth Shoes in the U.S. Since then he has held executive positions with retailers such as Britches of Georgetown, Crown Books, Circuit City, The Bicycle Exchange, Ecampus.com and Storetrax, Inc.  Most recently he traveled to Dallas, Texas to open the worlds first energy efficiency store for Current Energy, LLC, a company funded by Ross Perot, Jr.

Bill Sirbaugh, Director of the Lord Fairfax Small Business Development Center, said Shop owners have been dealt a double blow.  The economy combined with the feet of snow we have had this winter has presented a great challenge to our shops.  We want to help them recover as much as possible and to do that they need to Drive Sales from the Floor.

Sirbaugh added, Local shops do a great job of greeting customers but they then become unsure of what to do next.  They each want to help the shopper and provide a great service but theyre not sure how to go about it.  We want to bring in Marc to give the shop owners the benefit of his experience. He has accumulated an arsenal of effective sales techniques.

M. Willson said, Each person that comes in the door is a potential buyer and we have to learn how to convert that browser to a buyer and to make them thank you for it.

The Top of Virginia Regional Chamber and the Old Town Development Board also both recognize the challenge facing their retail membership this year and they want to become part of the solution for them.  They are working with the SBDC to provide the venue for the program and the George Washington Hotel is volunteering their site to assist the area businesses in this training.

If you have a business that depends on meeting the public and selling something to the public you can benefit from this program.  You can get registration information by calling the SBDC at 540 868 7093.  An early bird rate is available until March 30 for chamber members, OTDB members and SBDC clients of $45, for all others the cost is $65.  After March 30 the cost is $75.

You may register online at http://www.virginiasbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=70300015, please call 540-868-7093 to pay by credit card.

LEGAL ISSUES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

WORKING WITH FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

What kind of useful information can a non-accountant gain from looking at financial statements?

Are you looking to purchase an existing business? You'll need to look over the financial statements to see if the business is viable.

This seminar will assume you already have a balance sheet and income statement, but that you want to learn how you can use them to better manage the business.

NOTE: A discount of $10 for this seminar is available if paid five days prior to session date.

Marketing Your Business

Learn what marketing can do to boost your small business.

Learn the tools to build the strategy, setting the marketing strategy and plan the marketing strategy.

TAXES AND LICENSES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Each level of government reserves the right to regulate and/or tax your small business.  So, depending on your geography and the product or service you offer, you may have to work with local, state, and federal authorities for both proper licensure and the payment of appropriate taxes and fees.

This seminar will help you navigate this otherwise confusing maze of regulations and give you the contacts and resources that can answer your specific questions.

This seminar is lead by Brian Davet, CPA, of Rutherford and Johnson, P. C. of Winchester.

QUICKBOOKS I and II

This two-day course is designed to accomplish the following:

SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS BOOKS

 Do you have what at it takes to manage the bookkeeping for your business? Even if someone else 'keeps the books', you should know what is recorded in your bookkeeping system, because you are the responsible business owner/manager.

There are two reasons to keep good financial records. First, you need to be able to tell the govenment how much money you made. Second, you need to know how the business is doing both against your profitability goals and against your cash flow needs. This seminar will teach you the fundamentals and recommend tools and resource to make the job easier.

Angela Rudolph, CPA with Rutherford and Johnson, PC, will lead you through setting up the books for a business. We will be using the 'cash basis' for bookkeeping systems.

NOTE: A discount of $10 for this seminar is available if paid five business days prior to session date.

PAYROLLTAX FORMS WORKSHOP

W-2,  ^W-4,  VA-2,   IRS,  deposit payroll taxes,   your checking account balance, VA4 ,  VA5, 940, 941, 1099, 1098, forms.......forms........forms

    ARE YOU TEARING YOUR HAIR OUT BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?

Payroll taxes can be intimidating unless you know the rules. Let us assist you in learning how to fill out those forms! Please bring a handheld calculator to this session.

Angela Rudolph, CPA, with the firm of Rutherford and Johnson,will faciliate this seminar. 

This workshop was originally scheduled for March 4th.