Business in bloom
The daffodils are out. The days are getting longer. The license plates are changing colors.
Just like the flowers, the tourists also seem to know it’s spring.
Whether your business is impacted by visitor traffic, or focuses on local or even international customers, you’re certain to find something of interest in the spring lineup of workshops being prepared at the Oregon Coast Community College Small Business Development Center.
Startup Success
If, like a fresh new bulb, you have a dream of a new business blossoming this spring, you should consider the SBDC’s new three-part Startup Success course. Led by Wendy Ludwig, the class will run Wednesday evenings, May 4, 11 and 18. It will be held live in Newport and streamed to a classroom in Lincoln City, and costs $75 for the series.
The series is ideal for existing businesses with just a few years under their belts, as well as would-be entrepreneurs with an idea and a dream. Participants will delve into their business idea, asking what problems they intend to solve, and in what unique way. They’ll examine how they plan to measure success, and dig into the numbers to examine the idea’s feasibility. The class will cover various business structures, helping you select the best fit for your venture, and will cover marketing strategy and much more.
Marketing that fits in the palm of your hand
Misty Lambrecht’s Instagram Marketing class, $35, is set for April 29 in Newport, will be valuable for businesses of all sorts, but is especially relevant for creatives and visual art-related businesses. The power of the Instagram platform as a marketing tool has become more evident in recent years, as has its convenience. What once took cameras, computers, expensive photo editing software, and accounting tools to accomplish can now be done with an intuitive app on the phone you’re already carrying. While most of us are happy using Instagram to chronicle the exploits of our beach-loving pets or most-impressive spring Chinook catches, it can also hook lucrative customers — here in Lincoln County and far beyond.
Additional resources on tap
The Oregon Coast SBDC is just one of 20 Small Business Development Centers across the state. This term, the center is helping connect Lincoln County business owners with even more workshop alternatives, thanks to the varied offerings at some of its sister centers.
Sessions available from other centers, at oregoncoast.edu/sbdc, include an innovative workshop focusing on technology for the beer and wine industry, plus live online workshops on QuickBooks and a webinar covering some fundamental issues about cybersecurity, about which all small businesses should be aware.
But wait, there’s more
The spring workshop lineup also features classes on business finance (Lambrecht’s “Are You Profitable?”, May 6 in Lincoln City, and Ludwig’s four-part “Financial Fundamentals” course, May 2 through 23 in both Newport and Lincoln City) as well as the return of the popular one-session workshop on WaveApps, May 23 in Lincoln City.
“WaveApps is more and more popular with Lincoln County businesses like contractors,” said the SBDC Director Dave Price. “Misty Lambrecht’s workshop introduces participants to the power of this mobile-phone-based accounting solution, which can soon have them invoicing customers live, on the job site, accepting payments, issuing receipts, and much more.”
These workshops are held at Oregon Coast Community College’s locations in Newport, at 400 SE College Way and in Lincoln City, at 3788 SE High School Drive. No-cost advising is available at these locations, too, as well as the OCCC South County Center in Waldport, or live, via Zoom or phone. For more information, go to oregoncoast.edu/sbdc or call 541-996-6222.