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Do you dream of starting your own business but aren't sure where to turn? Bill Thomas had a dream and he did something about it. Bill attended SCORE's Simple Steps for Starting Your Business Workshops back in January 2014. Today, he and his wife, Jean, are the proud owners of Goosebumps Exotic Ices. See their story at Goosebumps Exotic Ices Success Story | SCORE

So make your dream into a reality. Register below for the June series of these workshops.

SCORE is offering a comprehensive series of 4 three hour workshops designed to help you get ready to launch your new business. Experts will take you through the key aspects of starting a business:
The concepts involved in assessing a business idea
Marketing your product or service
Understanding business financials and how they work
How to fund and finance your business
Workshops are interactive with examples, supporting resources, and take-away assignments. SCORE mentors are available to work with you outside of class. Workshops are held each Tuesday in June - 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th, from 5pm until 8pm.

Session 2: Business Concept - June 3rd at the Ocala Power Plant Business Incubator
The second workshop focuses on your business concept and step-by-step guidance in researching your idea, your market, and your competition. At the end of the Business Concept workshop, you will be able to identify your target markets, describe your products and services, and collect key competitive information to support your feasibility plan. An example case study for Anne's Nursery is introduced and used in the follow-on workshops as well.

Session 3: Marketing Plan - June 10th at Belleview Public Library
The third workshop provides you with an introduction to marketing communication methods and tools to maximize your customer reach. The discussion in the Marketing Plan workshop covers pricing strategies, positioning, the difference between features and benefits, and different marketing strategies. At the end of this session you will know how to: outline your marketing strategy, test your marketing message, choose the right sales channel, and exercise your marketing strategy.

Session 4: Financial Projections - June 17th at the Ocala Power Plant Business Incubator
The fourth workshop uses exercises to help you better understand financial concepts. This session reviews sales and prices, financial risks and rewards, true start-up costs, ongoing operating expenses, setting benchmarks for tracking progress and the organization of all your financial information. Using a hands-on approach, you learn how to use your financial model to forecast sales revenue and building solid pro-forma financial forecasts.

Session 5: Funding Sources - June 24th at Belleview Public Library
The final workshop offers information on how to finance your small business. In this session, discussion includes sources of funds, accounting the six C's of credit, banking relations, ratio analysis, and monthly preparation and review of financial statements. A bank loan officer will give an inside view of how a banker assesses the merits of business plans and loan application. At the end of the series, you will have all of the tools necessary to decide whether or not to launch your small business.

These workshops build on the introductory Simple Steps Basics workshop but you can benefit even if you have never taken Session 1.

Pre-registration is required due to limited class size. The total price of all 4 workshops is $95 which can be paid using a credit card or PayPal account or by mailing in a check. Alternatively, you can register for individual workshops at a price of $30 each. Please register by going to the link below and get your ticket electronically. simple steps workshop starting business | SCORE

SCORE is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to helping people start or grow their small business. We have a chapter of SCORE right here in The Villages.