Catawba Valley Community College Small Business Center

CVCC Corporate Development Center

Hickory

Every new venture has to work the complex decision of what legal structure to choose for the business. This course breaks down this decision into its essential characteristics simplifying the decision -making process. An in-depth discussion is presented about the pros and cons of such structures as the sole proprietorship, partnership, "c" or "s" corporation, and the limited liability company (LLC). As part of this course, a legal structure wizard ranks the best structure to choose for your business based on a series of questions that account for risk, complexity, types of ownership, and so forth. Once you have selected the best structure, the course then presents each of the forms that are necessary to file and set up your business from a legal requirements perspective. A final section of the course deals with employees and the legal implications surrounding this important responsibility. Each of the forms needed to successfully hire and manage employees is presented.

Speaker: Small Biz U, On-Line Training

This course is about the craft of creating a plan for your business. The business plan is the essential document used to raise money for a business and communicate your business vision and strategy to your management team, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. This ten-part course walks you through the details and tactics of creating a comprehensive plan while helping you avoid the critical planning mistakes that plague most business plans. As an added bonus, this course comes with Activeplans Business Planning Software which helps you create a plan narrative and financial projections through a simple step-by-step approach--a $40.00 value by itself!

Speaker: Small Biz U, On-Line Training

This course provides the advice and strategies of the some of the leading entrepreneurs concerning what it really takes to start a new venture. Starting A New Business moves you through the important tasks of building a strong foundation for a business to the more tactical aspects concerning marketing, managing, and money. This course will also show you how to protect your ideas, how to hire employees, how to find out what licenses and regulations may apply, as well as, provide more than 50 resources of free information that are available to you in making your new business a reality.

Speaker: Small Biz U (On-Line Training)

Marketing for the 21st Century small business is more dynamic and challenging than ever. To stretch your marketing dollars, it’s critical to focus on your target markets and identify strategies Discover how to most effectively and efficiently use the many marketing tools available. Gain insights to understand and reach your customer, analyze your industry and business environment and focus on low-cost marketing techniques to promote your business.

One way to expand your market is to sell products online. This session will explore the features of well-known e-commerce hosts such as the eBay Store and Amazon.com, as well as other options for creating an online store. PayPal and other payment gateways will also be discussed.

Learn how the big guys create powerful images and powerful messages so that they best their competition and reach their intended targets. You will learn what is meant by branding and begin to create a unique image for your new company.

Amazon and Etsy provide strong platforms for on-line sales, with infrastructure to support many business functions. This seminar shows attendees the pros and cons of working with Amazon and Etsy, and provides direction for getting started with these well-established platforms.