Development center schedules business boot camp

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State University’s Small Business Technology and Development Center will present its FastTrac Business Bootcamp in Arkadelphia beginning Monday. The series of six seminars is designed to help new and existing business owners connect to the ideas and resources they need to be successful.

Each seminar will be from 5:15-8:15 p.m. in the Southern Bancorp Training Room. The $60 application fee includes all six seminars. The bootcamp is sponsored by Southern Bancorp, Clark County and the city of Arkadelphia.

Session 1, Monday: Starting a Business in Arkansas

This seminar prepares participants for the intensive business planning process, identifies major steps crucial to starting a business, discusses key issues that affect business success, and addresses startup requirements and common pitfalls. The speaker is Leah Hasley, Henderson SBTDC business consultant.

Session 2, Tuesday, Sept. 21: How to Write a Business Plan

No matter how large or small, all businesses should have a written plan. A business plan helps define concepts, evaluate the competition, analyze markets, determine risks and estimate financial potential. Business plans are required to obtain small-business loans. This indepth seminar discusses the business planning process in detail. Leah Hasley is the speaker.

Session 3, Monday, Sept. 27: Ten Tips for Better E-Marketing

This seminar will offer some tested tips and tricks to make e-marketing communications more deliverable, trackable and effective. Topics include blogs, best practices for e-mail marketing, and improving organic search rankings through better writing. The speaker is Megan Knight of Flex 360.

Session 4, Monday, Oct. 4: Human Resources Management

This training will provide an overview of the many aspects of human resources management. Training will be provided on the Fair Labor Standards Act, diversity, effective recruiting, effective hiring, retaining employees and competing for good employees. The speaker is Kelly Massey, director of Henderson’s SBTDC.

Session 5, Tuesday, Oct. 12: Quickbooks

Small-business owners with little or no experience with Quickbooks will learn to set up a new company, chart account overviews, work with lists and view transaction records. The speaker is Linda Massey, CPA.

Session 6, Monday, Oct. 18: Cutting Edge Marketing

These marketing tactics will help business owners weather the toughest times. It tells how to position a business so it can propel to new heights. The seminar will cover topics such as the importance of understanding customers and how to better meet their needs, branding, emarketing, 18 monumental secrets of a true marketer and the steps needed to put it all into action. The speaker is Kelly Massey.

For additional details or to register, call (870) 230-5184.

Tri-Lakes, Pages 60 on 09/09/2010

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