Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Business Plan Series of Workshops

For 2009, SCORE Lancaster is pleased to announce its business planning series of workshops.

For nearly a decade SCORE Lancaster has been building a reputation in Central PA for offering quality business workshops. In 2008 more than 500 people attended our workshops.

SCORE workshops are inexpensive, yet provide high quality content. The whole series of four costs just $60 if you register at www.scorelancaster.org. You can also attend individual sessions for just $20 per session.


2009 Business Plan Series of Four Workshops

Who should attend?

This four part workshop series is for people who are considering starting a new business or existing business owners who want to improve their planning, marketing and gain comprehensive understanding of financial forecasting, control and reporting. The series is also helpful for people seeking financing to start or buy a business as well as existing small business owners who seek financing to expand their business.


“BP-1” Creating a Business Plan

The first workshop focuses on how to develop a good business plan to guide your business startup and to help access funding. Existing small business owners will also benefit by learning proven concepts and tools to improve their planning and business discipline. “BP-1” brings all the basic business processes together to show how to define your business, its goals and the tactics to achieve the goals.

What you will learn:


The essential elements of a good business plan
Why a good business plan is a critical success factor in your business
How to use an on line business planning software program
How to structure your business
How to register your business
How to gather critical information on customers and competitors
Where to find sample business plans

Dates offered:

January 28, 2009
April 1
May 27
July 22
September 23
November 18, 2009

“BP-2” Marketing You, Your Product, Service and Company

This second workshop covers marketing basics -- customer identification, product-service positioning, competitive differentiation, and sources of market information. You will receive excellent handouts and starter software to help guide you through creating your own marketing plan.


What you will learn:

How to define your product or service … and the benefits you provide
How to define and target your customers … and the benefits you provide
How to differentiate you product or service
How to promote your product or service
How to place you product in the market (storefront, Web, mail order, etc.)

Dates offered:


February 4, 2009
April 8
June 3
July 29
September 30
November 25,2009

“BP-3” Creating Financial Forecasts and Reports


This third course uses interactive exercises to help you better understand financial concepts. You will learn how to use a financial model to forecast sales revenue and build pro-forma financial forecasts. You will also learn the basic elements and interrelationships of a Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow statement. Learn how to create a “Breakeven Analysis.”

You will learn how to:


Forecast your revenue and expenses
Create a Cash Flow
Statement
Create a Balance Sheet
Create a Profit and Loss Statement
Create a Breakeven Analysis
Benchmark your company against industry norms
Use an on line financial spreadsheet
Dates offered:

February 11, 2009
April 15
June 10
August 5
October 7
December 2, 2009




“BP-4” Funding Your Business

This final workshop of the series focuses on how to finance a small business. Learn about funding sources and the important criteria in funding approval. A bank loan officer will give an inside view of how a banker assesses the merits of business plans and loan applications. Learn credit requirements and sources of funding.


What you will learn:



Financial Statement Analysis
Basics of accounting and
record keeping systems
The “5 C’s of Credit”
Banking relations
Sources of Capital
How to relate to your banker (a discussion with a banker)


Dates offered:

February 18, 2009
April 22
June 17
August 12
October 14
December 9, 2009


For more information visit http://www.scorelancaster.org/ or call us at (717) 397-3092

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great resource for Lancastrians!

Anonymous said...

I took this series of seminars last year and they were really helpful to me. I recommend them to anyone thinking about starting a business.

JDK