Happy New Year to all!
In a previous column, I suggested that West Hawaii’s business community experts, with their wealth of knowledge and skills, “pay forward” some of that expertise to the rest of the community and share themselves as resources. And that’s just what they did. They did it by responding generously to my suggestion in the form of volunteering as guest instructors for our 2017 workshops. We’ve got quite a lineup this year: 21 workshops across a range of topics!
In addition to our regular SBDC staff-led workshops, “How to Start a Business in Hawaii,” offered five times this year (the first on Jan. 25) and “How to Write a Business Plan,” offered three times (the first on Feb. 23), we also have “Understanding Financial Statements” (April 12).
Then our guest instructors fill up the rest of our roster. These include Ann Chiodini, CPA, sharing her years of accounting and bookkeeping knowledge in “Introduction to Bookkeeping for Business Owners” on Jan. 11; Sam Baker, owner of a computer services business and IT blogger on the very current and crucial issue of “Cybersecurity for Small Business” on Feb. 8; and Greg Ogin, Kona’s commercial leasing pro, on “Introduction to Commercial Leasing,” a problematic topic of great interest and concern to many local businesses on March 8.
We get into the topic of local sustainability and what it takes to develop that on May 10 with “Buying Local: Beyond Words to Policies and Actions,” presented by Dennis Flemming, executive director of the Hamakua Institute. Dennis, with work experience in New Guinea, Africa, and multiple points in between, literally brings a world of international economic development skills to his audience. George Darby, the Oahu and SE Asia based patent attorney who presented last year’s successful workshop on patents and copyright, follows that this year with “Legal Aspects of Digital Media: Intellectual Property Rights and Contracts” on June 7. Our creative, local arts community should find that of special interest.
This year we split our introduction to QuickBooks class that we held last year into two sessions, as the topic is so big and detailed. Part 1, “Introduction to QuickBooks” will be held on July 12, and Ann Chiodini, CPA, will again pitch in to lead that course. This will be followed by “QuickBooks, Part 2,” offered by Laurie Darleen, owner of PT Bookkeeping and the QB expert who presented the QuickBooks course so successfully last year.
We get into the very important topic of how a business identifies and presents itself to its customers and the public at large with “Branding Your Business for Success” on July 26, conducted by Alex Mitchell, owner of Pivotal Shift, a consulting firm specializing in this crucial area of business strategy. Our embarrassment of riches continues with “Grow Your Business with Social Media” on Aug. 8. Our instructor for this ever-evolving topic that sort of goes right past so many of us (I speak for myself here) is Maly Romero, owner of Blue Guava, a social media firm, who has led many a company into this brave (?) new world.
We come into the home stretch of 2017, and get ready to fix what we didn’t do so well this year for next year with “Strategic Planning for Your Business: Finishing the Year Strong to Kick off 2018” on Sept. 27, led by Stephanie Beeby, business coach and owner of In Flow CEO. Then, we’re back to the digital world and today’s key business, you-gotta-have-a-website mantra, with “Web Design: Get More Customers with Word Press” on Oct. 11, presented by Harrison Tsai, long-time website developer and world traveler.
Last, but by no means least, we confront the elephant in the room underlying all these topics: “Are You Ready to be an Entrepreneur” on Oct. 25, led by Sophia Schweitzer, owner of Space Beyond Words, a life coaching company. This workshop leads attendees on a personal exploration of their own willingness and capacity to be successful business owners. The life is not for everyone, but you may be one of the ones it fits like a glove, albeit with some handy tailoring.
So there you have it; our lineup for 2017.
Local businesses have also come forward to lend financial support as sponsors for these workshops as well. These include Central Pacific Bank; American Savings Bank; Aloha Insurance; ProService; Darl Gleed, Attorney; Jacob Burill, CPA; and Hawaii Trust and Estate Counsel; with other sponsors pending. The SBDC thanks these and all the local experts who generously give their time and share their skills, paying it forward to the community and all paddling that same canoe.
Visit www.hisbdc.org for registration details and check your email throughout the year for upcoming workshops.
Hawaii SBDC Network is funded in part through Cooperative Agreement No # SBAHQ-13-B-0048/0001 with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of Hawaii at Hilo. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.