Topic: Start-up Assistance

How to Start a Business Webinar Series

Congratulations on taking the first steps towards starting your own business! Did you know that small businesses are the economic engine of Massachusetts, driving growth and most job creation?

The Massachusetts SBDC Network has created a webinar series specifically designed to provide new business owners with an overview of the information and tools needed to evaluate and develop a new business venture.

The training series consists of three required classes (sessions 101, 102 & 103) and an optional financing session. Each session will be offered monthly, so if you miss or can’t attend a session, you can register for the session the following month. The speaker for the series will be a Massachusetts SBDC regional director or business advisor.

Registration links for the 101 session are listed below. Registration details for other sessions will be provided after completion of the 101 session.

There is no charge for these workshops, but pre-registration is required. A Zoom link for the webinar will be emailed to you immediately after registration from centeric@clients.msbdc.org. Please add this email to your safe sender list.

If you have questions on this series, please contact the regional office hosting the event. Contact details are under ‘facilitated by’ on the registration form.

• How to Start a Business 101: The Basics (1.5 hours)
  1st Thursday and 3rd Thursday of the month
  Topics include: characteristics of an entrepreneur; learn from those before you – reasons why businesses fail; the life of a business owner; SBA basics; four different methods to write a business plan; creating your elevator pitch.
• How to Start a Business 102: The Numbers (1.5 hours)
  2nd Thursday of the month
  Topics include: understanding the importance of reading your business’s numbers – what story is it telling you; real scenario looking at a company’s KPIs and drawing a conclusion and decision on what should be done next based on the numbers; the three financial reports (profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet) and an example of how to use the reports to calculate a return on equity percentage; present your elevator pitch to everyone on the webinar for critique (optional)
• How to Start a Business 103: Steps to Launch (1.5 hours)
  4th Thursday of the month
  Topics include: creating a 100-year plan (discuss vision (core values, purpose, mission), discuss strategy, discuss tactics); choosing your business structure; mechanical steps to creating your legal business; additional steps to launch your business
• How to Start a Business 104: Business Financing (optional – 1.5 hours)
  3rd Tuesday of the month
  A representative from a local bank will discuss lending options for small businesses; a SBA representative will discuss the agency and how to use its resources

Topics include: characteristics of an entrepreneur; learn from those before you – reasons why businesses fail; the life of a business owner; SBA basics; four different methods to write a business plan; creating your elevator pitch.

Speaker(s): Nancy Gerardi, Regional Director of the MSBDC Northeast Regional Office.