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9/30/2014 Member News

San Antonio Small Business Development Center: October through December Training Calendar

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Center helps small business owners, entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses

The San Antonio Small Business Development Center (SBDC) invites small business owners and entrepreneurs in San Antonio and surrounding counties to attend one of its many free and low-cost training sessions. The San Antonio SBDC October through December training schedule includes:

October Offerings

Business Start-Up Essentials

At this workshop, SBDC business advisors will present the basics of starting a new business and answer your start-up questions. Topics discussed in this workshop will include evaluating your business idea; business legal structure and name; local, state and federal resources and requirements; and business start-up costs. Attendees will receive a free Small Business Resource Guide.

Friday, October 3

9 a.m.– noon

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $30 | Door fee: $50

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/1DzrjFb

 

Thursday, October 16

4 p.m.-7 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $30 | Door fee: $50

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/1uK9kFM

 

What You Need to Know Before Buying a Franchise

Franchise ownership is one of the fastest growing segments of business ownership, and with good reason. It is affordable, offers a proven method of success, allows for easy entry and provides options for a variety of backgrounds and skill levels. But before you take the plunge attend this interactive session with Stephen Maeker, Senior Franchise Consultant, and walk away with a better understanding of how franchising works and if it’s the right option for you. An important feature of this workshop includes a hands-on look at an actual franchise disclosure document. The document discloses extensive information about the franchisor and is intended to give you enough information to make an educated decision regarding your investment. Key areas include initial franchise fees and expenses, obligations of the franchisor and franchisee, territory restrictions, renewal and termination, franchisor financial statements, plus much more.

Tuesday, October 7

9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

Registration: http://bit.ly/1usJdH3

 

Are You Ready for Commercial Space?

Looking to purchase, rent or lease commercial property? Visit us before you do. This new and exciting workshop is tailored specifically for small business owners looking for the right commercial property to complete their business dream. Discuss basic considerations in commercial real estate such as factors in negotiating a lease or sales price, and how to assess property lease vs. purchase decision. At the end of this workshop you will understand the lease or buying process from beginning to end and know how to develop a letter of intent (LOI).

Wednesday, October 8

5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

United SA Federal Credit Union

5500 UTSA Boulevard, San Antonio, TX 78249

Online fee: Due to the generosity of United SA FCU, this workshop is free

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1uKaKzS

 

The Business Plan

Participants in this workshop will learn how to write a business plan and will begin to write a plan of their own. They will receive an electronic template and resources to guide them through the business planning process. Discussion topics will include business plan basics, feasibility, the structure of a business plan and financial analysis.

Thursday, October 9

9 a.m.-noon

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $40 | Door fee: $60

Registration: http://bit.ly/1wMHvOF

 

Thursday, October 23

4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $40 | Door fee: $60

Registration: http://bit.ly/1u2xHR1

 

Growing Your Sales with Marketing Series

What makes your business products or services different than your competition? Can you describe your target customer? Do you have a written goal-oriented promotional plan to reach your customers? If you answered NO to any of these questions, join us for this comprehensive and interactive two-part session on growing your business sales.

Register for the two-part series and pay only $50 with online payment! http://bit.ly/1t0srJx

Growing Your Sales with Marketing 101

Wednesday, October 15

 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $30 | Door fee: $50

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1uKaKzS

 

Growing Your Sales with Marketing 102

Wednesday, October 29

4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $30 | Door fee: $50

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1pf3Krz

 

How to Create and Implement a Backup Plan

You have lots of important information on your computer, laptop, smartphone and tablet. Computers get stolen, hard drives fail and malware attacks computers. Do you have a good backup plan for all these possibilities? If you don’t have a good plan to backup your data and devices, you’re planning to fail. It’s not a matter of IF your devices will fail, it’s WHEN. Every small business needs a backup plan. Join Michael Espinoza of Technology Coaching where he will cover:

  • Why you need a backup plan
  • How to set up a backup plan
  • The equipment and services for a good backup plan
  • Why imaging is important to your backup plan

Friday, October 17

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/Yj1Te5 

 

Simplify Your Life with a Password Plan

The number of passwords we must remember isn’t getting any smaller. From online banking to social media, we must have passwords for everything we do. Are you guilty of keeping your passwords on sticky notes or always forgetting them? Join Michael Espinoza, owner of Technology Coaching us for a session on password management to learn:

•           How to manage and organize your passwords

•           Share your passwords on other devices (phone, tablet, etc.)

•           Create stronger, more reliable passwords

•           Different tools that can make your daily computing a breeze

Friday, October 17

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1DA0OPP

 

Hiring Key Employees From Abroad

Are you interested in finding and hiring employees from abroad? Join us as we host Alfredo Lozano, attorney at law specializing in immigration and nationality law, as he discusses what you need to know before hiring foreign workers. Alfredo will focus on the top four visas to help small business grow and go into detail on the legal requirements and costs for these visas. He will also discuss common misconceptions and the advantages and disadvantages of hiring from abroad.

Tuesday, October 21

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/Zf9M5J

 

Facebook Marketing for Business

Come join us and Digital Marketing Pro Yusuf Chowdhury and learn the basics of Facebook marketing and how to utilize it to grow your business. You will learn how to setup and optimize your Facebook profile, Facebook business pages and use practical strategies to generate targeted leads.

Thursday, October 23

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/ZfZVg3

Event Marketing & Registration: Increase & Reward Loyalty While Driving New Customers (Webinar)

This presentation will provide a deeper look into the place that events hold as a marketing tool, provide some best practices around promoting the event and go in-depth into best practices for online registration for events. At the heart of small business marketing are the campaigns that drive action – collections of marketing activities that help a small business or organization to achieve its goals and objectives. One important campaign type that many nonprofits and small businesses have used, but would like to learn more about, revolves around Events. When you run an event you want to make sure that you leave ample time for the promotional activities that will drive your registrations, and you want to create and provide an optimal online registration experience. If you have run events or are considering running events, and you’d like to build on your knowledge of these two important elements of running a successful event, this session is for you. Attendees of this presentation will learn:

  • Types of events (more than just fundraisers), goals for events, a quick note on charging or not and events as part of the Engagement Marketing cycle
  • Promoting the event (with a sample promotional schedule and activities)
  • Making the most of an online registration tool, with best practices focused on what information to ask for on registration form, social proof, payment/donation options, etc.
  • Post-event actions, including review of stats and social activity and sending out a survey

Please note: this session will not be addressing best practices around event logistics like venue selection, planning event entertainment or dining options, running fundraising activities like live or silent auctions, etc. It is focused on helping the audience promote their event and streamline the online registration process. Join us and learn some great new strategies to help you promote your next event and set up an online registration process that helps your event succeed. Intended Audience: The content is targeted at the beginner- to comfortable small-business marketer who is looking to build their marketing knowledge or to reinforce what it is they already know.

Thursday, October 23

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1BgooNu

November Offerings

Simplifying Your Life with a Backup and Password Plan

You have lots of important information on your computer, laptop, smartphone and tablet. Computers get stolen, hard drives fail and malware attacks computers. Do you have a good backup plan for all these possibilities? If you don’t have a good plan to backup your data and devices, you’re planning to fail. It’s not a matter of IF your devices will fail, it’s WHEN. Every small business needs a backup plan. The number of passwords we must remember isn't getting any smaller. From online banking to social media, we must have passwords for everything we do. Are you guilty of keeping your passwords on sticky notes or always forgetting them? Join Michael Espinoza of Technology Coaching where he will cover:

• Why you need a backup plan

• How to set up a backup plan

• The equipment and services for a good backup plan

• Why imaging is important to your backup plan

• How to manage and organize your passwords

• Share your passwords on other devices (phone, tablet, etc.)

• Create stronger, more reliable passwords

• Different tools that can make your daily computing a breeze

Tuesday, November 4

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1uMyYK1 

QuickBooks Pro Series

Are you in the beginning stages of using QuickBooks and want to expand your knowledge? Or are you an experienced user and just need more help? Either way, we've got you covered. Attend our unique hands-on QuickBooks Pro Series taught by Certified Public Accountant Richard Garcia who guides participants through QuickBooks and offers basic, practical accounting advice throughout the three-part series. Small business owners will learn how QuickBooks can be applied to their day-to-day business accounting procedures. Participants will also receive one-on-one assistance from UTSA senior level accounting students and UTSA SBDC QuickBooks Pro Advisors during the workshops. This series is offered in conjunction with the QuickBooks Intern Program and allows participants to meet students who could provide free QuickBooks assistance to their businesses. Call the SBDC for more information on this program. The three-part QuickBooks Pro Series, taught in a computer lab, includes “Beginning QuickBooks”, “Working with QuickBooks” and “Customizing QuickBooks”. Each workshop is $100, but if you register for the series you will save $50!

Beginning QuickBooks

Join UTSA SBDC and Certified Public Accountant Richard Garcia for this introduction to QuickBooks. Participants will learn the basic features of QuickBooks and have the opportunity for hands-on practice in a computer lab. Participants will walk away from this workshop with familiarity of the most common QuickBooks tasks and learn about resources to assist them QuickBooks features. Topics covered in this workshop include: setting up QuickBooks, working with lists and working with bank accounts. This workshop is the introduction to the three-part “QuickBooks Pro Series”.

Friday, November 7

9 a.m.-1 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $100 | Door fee: $120

Registration: http://bit.ly/1xpDdji

Working with QuickBooks

In this QuickBooks workshop, Certified Public Accountant and small business owner Richard Garcia completes the introduction to the basic features of QuickBooks and provides more in-depth, hands-on practice in a computer lab. Topics covered in this workshop include: using other accounts in QuickBooks (credit card, asset, liability & equity), entering sales and invoices, receiving payments and making deposits, entering and paying bills, setting up inventory and tracking and paying sales tax.

Friday, November 14

9 a.m.-1 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $100 | Door fee: $120

Registration: http://bit.ly/1namL38  

Customizing QuickBooks

In this advanced QuickBooks workshop, Certified Public Accountant and small business owner Richard Garcia will lead participants through advanced QuickBooks concepts and teach them how to customize QuickBooks to meet their needs. Topics covered in this workshop include: analyzing financial data, doing payroll with QuickBooks, estimating and progress invoicing, tracking time, customizing form and writing letters. Additionally, the instructor, SBDC QuickBooks Pro Advisors and UTSA senior level accounting students will spend individual time with participants helping set up and modify their companies on QuickBooks.

Friday, November 21

9 a.m.-1 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $100 | Door fee: $120

Registration: http://bit.ly/1my8qwY  

Business Start-Up Essentials

At this workshop, SBDC business advisors will present the basics of starting a new business and answer your start-up questions. Topics discussed in this workshop will include evaluating your business idea; business legal structure and name; local, state and federal resources and requirements; and business start-up costs. Attendees also will receive a free Small Business Resource Guide.

Friday, November 7

9 a.m.-noon

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $30 | Door fee: $50

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/1wNtFeV

Tuesday, November 18

4 p.m.-7 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $30 | Door fee: $50

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/1xpDHWO

 

The Business Plan

Participants in this workshop will learn how to write a business plan and will begin to write a plan of their own. They will receive an electronic template and resources to guide them through the business planning process. Discussion topics will include business plan basics, feasibility, the structure of a business plan structure and financial analysis.

Tuesday, November 11

9 a.m.-noon

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $40 | Door fee: $60

Registration: http://bit.ly/1wNtL6r

 

Wednesday, November 19

  4 p.m.-7 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 1.402

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $40 | Door fee: $60

Registration:   http://bit.ly/YjDrJG

 

Social Media Roundtable

Is your business social? From blogging to Facebook, LinkedIn to Twitter, and Yelp to YouTube, learn what social media can and cannot do for your business. At this roundtable, we will discuss which social media channels work for your particular business and what to consider in developing a social media strategy. Topics discussed in this roundtable include: how to increase traffic to your website, how to market your business, how to measure the effectiveness of your social media strategy and monitor your online presence.

*This roundtable is highly interactive; participants should come prepared to share their ideas and learn from others’ strategies.

Wednesday, November 12

            11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1Cth2sE

 

Getting Started with Constant Contact (Webinar)

New to Constant Contact email marketing? At this webinar, we’ll give you an instructive overview of Constant Contact’s tools and features and how to put them to work for you! You’ll learn the basics so you can create successful email marketing campaigns. Topics discussed in this webinar include: setting up your constant contact account, getting new subscribers, creating an email campaign, editing newsletter templates, branding your emails, creating desirable content, importing your email list into your database, tracking and interpreting your results and much more.

            Friday, November 14

            11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1DDfrSo

Starting and Planning Your Business

This session is a combination of Business Start-up Essentials and The Business Plan. Topics include: Starting Your Small Business, Business Legal Structure and Name, Tax Responsibilities, Federal, City, and County Resources & Requirements, Business Plan Basics, Feasibility Process, Business Plan Structure, and Financial Analysis. Take this course and save some hours and money! This class generously underwritten by Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union.

  Friday, November 14

  10 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union

1 Randolph Brooks Parkway, Live Oak, TX 78233

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1wNueFv

Starting and Planning Your Business

This session is a combination of Business Start-up Essentials and The Business Plan. Topics include: Starting Your Small Business, Business Legal Structure and Name, Tax Responsibilities, Federal, City, and County Resources & Requirements, Business Plan Basics, Feasibility Process, Business Plan Structure, and Financial Analysis. Take this course and save some hours and money!

            Thursday, August 14

            10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Online fee: $50 | Door fee: $70

Registration: http://bit.ly/1juNobv

 

Google + For Your Business

Join the UTSA SBDC and Yusuf Chowdhury for this session on Google + and learn how to use Google+ to expand your business and get targeted leads. Yusuf will discuss how to get started, become visible and get found, connect with your leads, use practical and effective strategies and much more!

            Thursday, November 20

            6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1pgwnoi

Managing Your Technology Assets

Do you have an inventory of all your technology? Do you know the serial number and purchase dates of all your devices? When you call for support or repair, do you have all the information you need easily accessible at your fingertips? Join us and Technology Coach Michael Espinoza as he shows you how to put together an asset management system for your technology. You will learn how to access all of your important technology information within minutes. 

            Friday, November 21

            11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1yu9jMr

 

Securing Your Technology from Spyware, Malware and Viruses

Computers are constantly being attacked by all sorts of malicious threats. There’s no guaranteed way to stop all of it, but there are ways to help prevent and cut down on the problems they cause. Join the UTSA SBDC and Michael Espinoza as he exlains how to keep your technology safer and more secure from all these risks.

            Friday, November 21

            1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

UTSA Downtown Campus, Durango Building Room 2.316

501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78207

Fee: None

            Registration: http://bit.ly/1roNOpV

December Offerings

Business Start-Up E