Piedmont Community College Small Business Center

Business Development Entrepreneurship Center

Roxboro

This will be a Lunch-N-Learn session. Participants must pre-register for attendance. A lunch will be provided to those attending. Completing this class is an important step toward deciding whether or not you should start a business. Business ownership can be an exhilarating, demanding, and lucrative endeavor, but it is not for everyone.

Speaker: Michael Burns

Did you know that food safety regulations really determine a lot about operations, logistics, insurance, distribution, storage, etc. as well as basic cash flow? Find out what kinds of food safety laws are applicable and how they might determine the types of businesses you choose to start. Also, in this seminar you will walk through a farm and business self-assessment. **Please note that this training is at the Public Safety Training Center, 337 Wall Street, Yanceyville**

Speaker: Emily Edmonds, NC Growing Together

One of the biggest challenges for a business owner, or anyone, is not to get caught up in a customer’s intensity. In this seminar, we’ll look at the behaviors that make a person frustrating to deal with, and also at how we can make our responses calming and reassuring to customers, employees and others. We’ll talk about how to communicate clearly and directly so that miscommunication and conflicts reduce your stress level. I always leave time in this seminar for discussion and for people to discuss challenging situations.

Speaker: Emily Ballance

"After completing this training, you will be able to: • Explain the concept of record keeping and why record keeping is important to a small business. • Identify record keeping practices, rules, and tools which are commonly available to a small business. • Explain how these record keeping practices, rules, and tools work. • Identify benefits a small business derives from proper record keeping. • Explain record keeping basics for a small business. • Identify software products available for small business record keeping. • Identify the federal tax reporting requirements of a small business and its owner, and to establish a plan to account and pay for federal taxes. • Identify the general state/local tax reporting requirements of a small business, and establish a plan to account and pay for state/local taxes. • Identify methods for researching the local, municipal, and county reporting/licensing requirements for a small business. "

Speaker: Michael Burns

Maybe you’re newly considering social media for your business or non-profit, or maybe you’ve been struggling to make your current profiles more engaging. In either case, this session will answer your common questions about different platforms, how to build your following, and what to say to drive results. This is a hand-on class in the computer lab. **Please bring your login and password information for all your social media sites.**

Speaker: Melanie Diehl

Food and farming businesses have several marketing avenues to consider as they develop their business plans. In this two hour workshop we will explore two market sectors- selling direct to consumers and selling products in the wholesale market. What are the unique skills required for each sector? What are some certifications and labeling options that can help your business access a larger share of the market? Come ready to discuss your personal business plan and to develop your marketing strategy.

Speaker: Laura Lauffer, NC A&T State University

"Did you know that LinkedIn has surpassed Facebook as the preferred place for providing small business content? With over 467 million users you can’t afford to ignore this powerful eCommerce tool. In this seminar, you will learn how to create a compelling “Online Presence” that will attract customers to you. You will lean the five most important things to do on LinkedIn so that you can be found. We will discuss how to position yourself as an expert and how to increase your visibility on LinkedIn. Create a LinkedIn profile that stands out and positions you as an expert. How to get 500 connections and expand your network. How to stay in-front of your audience and position yourself as an expert with status updates. Harnessing LinkedIn groups to grow your visibility and establish your expertise. Build your personal plan to quickly get result with LinkedIn in only 15 minutes, 2 days a week. LinkedIn can be a tremendously powerful tool to grow your small business and finally get noticed."

Speaker: Nick Hawks