Part One: Sharpen Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Lesson 1: Assessing Self-Employment for Success

Goal     hide

Identify your personal and business skills and to examine possible business ideas or types of business interests as to the feasibility of the ideas.

Objectives

• Assess your entrepreneurial skills.
• Assess your business management skills.
• Evaluate business ideas as opportunities based on your identified interests and abilities and the market potential.

Handouts

1. Suggested Questions for Home-Based or Micro Business Panelists
2. Do You Have What It Takes To Start a Home-Based or Micro Business?
3. Business Ideas
4. Rate Yourself: Are You Ready To Start a Business?



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Lesson 2: Spotting Opportunities among Scams

Goal     hide

To provide the background and basic information on business scams (a fraudulent business scheme, a swindle) and fraud related to small business opportunities.

Objectives

• Better understand about small business schemes and scams.
• Identify major types of small and home-based business scams.
• Better evaluate the legitimacy of business opportunities.

Handouts

1. Case Study #1
2. Case Study #2



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Lesson 3: Working and Living in the Same Space

Goal    hide

To accommodate business needs in the home space while minimizing family conflicts.

Objectives

• Identify the space needs of your home-based business, considering the type of business and activities conducted in the home
• Identify potential conflicts between family/household and business needs for space
• Develop an action plan to accommodate business needs in the household space while, to the extent possible, preventing household conflict



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Lesson 4: Developing Time-Management Tactics

Goal    hide

To develop skills in time management.

Objectives

• Identify how time is currently being used.
• Determine priorities for time use.
• Develop time use plans based on priorities.
• Identify things that interfere with effective time use.

Handouts

1. Take the Time Quiz
2. How Do You Use Your Time Now
3. Goal Setting Worksheet
4. Seasonal Tasks
5. Sample Weekly Plan
6. Dividing the Day Handout
7. Daily Schedule
8. Time Management Tips



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Lesson 5: Professionalism Pays

Goal    hide

To create awareness of the importance of a professional image, the role it plays in the success of a home-based business, and the practices that demonstrate professionalism.

Objectives

• Learn about the correlation between professional business practices and the financial success of a home-based business.
• Learn, understand, and apply professional business practices in the operation of your business.
• Understand the importance of employing a serious but positive attitude as they develop your business.

Handouts

1. Business Management Practices That Indicate Success
2. The Professional Business Telephone



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Part Two: Get Down to Business

Lesson 1: Writing a Business Plan

Goal    hide

Learn how to write business plans.

Objectives

• Learn the reasons for preparing a business plan.
• Learn the components of a business plan.
• Learn the format of a business plan.

Handouts

1. Business Plan Outline
2. Sample Marketing Plan - Boat Buddies
3. Cash Flow Worksheet
4. Sources and Uses of Funds Statement Projected
5. Income Statement
6. Projected Balance Sheet



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Lesson 2: Setting the Right Price

Goal    hide

Learn how to determine the price to charge for a product and/or service.

Objectives

• how to calculate total costs.
• how to calculate a profit margin.
• the difference between wholesale and retail pricing.
• how to use break-even analysis.
• the psychological factors that impact pricing.

Handouts

1. Overhead Expenses Exercise
2. Pricing Worksheet



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Lesson 3: Choosing the Best Business Structure

Goal     hide

Make informed decisions about the choice of a legal structure for your businesses.

Objectives

• Explain the importance of choosing the legal structure of your business.
• Provide information and comparisons about the four basic forms of business structures available to most business owners.
• Encourage you to work with professional advisers to help make informed choices.

Handouts

1. Choosing the Legal Structure for Your Business



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Lesson 4: Adhering to Regulatory Requirements

Goal    hide

Become familiar with regulatory issues that affect home based businesses.

Objectives

• Where to locate local codes, regulations, and policies that affect home-based businesses.
• The importance of being on good terms with neighbors.
• How to work with local zoning boards and commissions.

Handouts

1. Do Your Own Research on Local Laws, Regulations, and Perceptions
2. General Information about Permits and Variances
3. Decision Considerations
4. Basic Requirements for Home-based Businesses
5. The Local Costs of a Home-Based Business: Positive or Negative Impact?



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Lesson 5: Managing Inventory

Goal    hide

To help you identify wholesale sources for purchasing new products or business supplies that will help you prepare for success and profit in your business.

Objectives

• Learn where you can purchase raw materials and business supplies wholesale.
• Learn planning and management skills that will enable you to deal effectively with wholesalers.

Handouts

1. Managing Inventory Procurement/Buying Wholesale



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Lesson 6: Deciding on a Distribution Channel

Goal    hide

Learn basic information about different distribution methods for marketing products and services and for them to obtain information to locate additional resources.

Objectives

• Learn about different methods of distribution.
• Learn about resources for finding additional market distribution information.
• Recognize that selection of marketing methods is an ongoing, ever changing process as the business and economic climate changes.
• Learn that distribution is an integral part of a business plan/marketing plan.

Handouts

1. Distribution Methods for Marketing Products and Services
2. Consignment Agreement



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Lesson 7: Selling Secrets

Goal    hide

Develop or improve salesmanship skills. Sales, in any business, are key to the success of that business. This text is designed to be taught in a one-hour segment, unless role-play scenarios are included to enhance the application of technique.

Objectives

• Define salesmanship and why it is important your business.
• Explain the value of relationships in selling.
• Differentiate retail and wholesale selling.
• Use a variety of communication techniques in selling.
• Recognize customer responses.
• Know the steps in closing a sale.

Handouts

1. Ten Commandments of Creating Sales
2. Effective Salesmanship
3. Selling Secrets Miniature copies of transparencies with space for notes
4. Building a Relationship in Selling



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Lesson 8: Gaining the Customer Satisfaction Edge

Goal    hide

Understand the role of excellent customer service in your business operations.

Objectives

• Understand the relationship between customer service and customer satisfaction.
• Identify the qualities of excellent customer service.
• Learn how to handle difficult customers.
• Enhance communication skills.

Handouts

1. A Listening Test
2. Customers Evaluate Service Quality on Five Points
3. Telephone Customer Service Tips



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Part Three: Plan as You Expand

Lesson 1: Targeting New Markets

Goal    hide

Understand the basics of marketing and advertising. The session will create awareness and understanding of the basic principles of marketing by enabling you to understand that marketing is more than advertising or selling; the marketing process begins well before the product or service is developed.

Objectives

• Understand the need of planning ahead for the marketing and advertising of the business's product or service.
• Develop a systematic process of analysis in determining customer wants and needs, competitor strengths and weaknesses, and the business's competitive advantage.
• Develop an effective advertising program that matches the competitive advantages of the business with the needs and wants of the customer through an advertising medium the customer relates with.

Handouts

1. How Marketing Helps Increase Sales
2. Rules of Marketing
3. Marketing Differs from Selling
4. Customer Profile Form
5. Who Is the Competition?
6. Checklist - Factors Important to Customers
7. Ten Steps to Developing an Advertising Strategy
8. Advertising Score Sheet
9. Road Signs: Content, Visibility, and Letter Size of Advertising Advance Sign
10. Worksheet #1
11. Worksheet #2
12. Worksheet #3
13. Worksheet #4



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Lesson 2: Your Online Presence

Goal    hide

Learn how to create an online presence, sell your products and services electronically, and utilize online applications for marketing.

Objectives

• Learn what people are currently buying and selling online.
• Discover what eCustomers want from a retail website.
• Find out how to get started in building a web store.
• Choose and purchase a domain name.
• Understand web hosting options.
• Learn design and technical considerations for retail websites.
• Discover SEO.
• Understand the factors to consider for an online catalog and ordering system.
• Learn about online merchant accounts and payment processing.
• Recognize the importance of online customer communication.
• Incorporate web stats and analytics.



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Lesson 3: Incorporating Social Media into Your Marketing Strategy

Goal    hide

Learn how to develop and implement a social media strategy as a means of online marketing and to determine if social media can and should play a role in achieving your marketing objectives.

Objectives

• Become familiar with the world of marketing online via social media applications.
• Identify the parts of creating a social media strategy.
• Identify the most popular social media online tools and applications currently available.
• Determine if and how social media can be incorporated into your business marketing plan.



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Lesson 4: Keeping Tabs on Cash

Goal    hide

Introduce the advantages of simple record keeping.

Objectives

• Basic elements of a record keeping system.
• Records needed to meet tax requirements.
• How to track business profitability in a timely manner.
• The importance of keeping a record keeping system.

Handouts

1. The entire text of this chapter may be used as a handout, either by itself or with other home-based business materials.



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Lesson 5: Recruiting, Training, and Motivating Employees

Goal    hide

Develop a plan for finding and keeping employees who are assets to your business and are satisfied in their jobs.

Objectives

• Understand the importance of securing and maintaining informed and satisfied employees as a key to satisfied customers.
• Learn and understand the procedures taken in finding and in selecting employees.
• Learn, understand, and apply the principles of effective employee relations.

Handouts

1. Recruiting, Training and Motivating Employees
2. Where To Find Employees
3. Conducting an Interview
4. Employee Checklist
5. Example #1
6. Example #2



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Lesson 6: Insuring against Catastrophes

Goal    hide

Assess your risks and develop strategies to manage those risks.

Objectives

• Recognize the importance of risk management for your business
• Understand risk management strategies
• Define insurance types and their relationship to a home-based or micro business
• Assess risks and determine management strategies for individual businesses

Handouts

1. Liability Insurance Needs for the Home-Based or Micro Business
2. Home-Based Business Liability Insurance Information (Sample of Survey)
3. Risk Management



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Part Four: Boost Your Bottom Line

Lesson 1: Calculating Financial Ratios

Goal    hide

Introduce you to ratio analysis.

Objectives

• Know about a few key ratios used for industry-wide comparisons.
• Be able to calculate key ratios.
• Have the names and addresses of the sources for industry averages.

Handouts

1. Calculating Financial Ratios
2. Income Statement
3. Balance Sheet



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Lesson 2: Getting Your Just Deductions

Goal    hide

To introduce you to relevant income tax regulations.

Objectives

• To walk you through the process of completing IRS Schedule C: Profit or Loss from Business - a tax form designed for sole propritiorships.
• To help you understand the rules surrounding some business deductions and to inform them of some recent Supreme Court decisions governing home office deductions.
• To help you organize your financial records.

Handouts

1. Schedule C
2. Home Office Worksheet
3. Getting Your Just Deductions Text
4. IRS Publication: # 587 - Business Use of Your Home



  

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Lesson 3: Searching for Capital

Goal    hide

Introduce you to some of the ways of acquiring outside capital.

Objectives

• To acquaint you with some sources of outside capital.
• To highlight some types of loans offered by commercial lenders.
• To present one method of preparing a loan package.
• To supply some tips on establishing and maintaining a working relationship with a commercial lender.

Handouts

1. Money Needs for the First Three Months
2. Cost-of-Living Budget
3. Cash-Flow Projections



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