Seminar Descriptions

Arkansas Sales & Use Tax and Arkansas Business Tax Incentives
This seminar is designed to inform business owners of current sales tax laws, help them to prevent overpayment of sales tax, educate them about the increased audit risk that they all face due to increased compliance audits anticipated in the future and to show them how to protect themselves from failure to comply with the new regulations. The seminar will also discuss State of Arkansas incentives and tax credits that are available to many eligible businesses.

Big Marketing Ideas for Small Budgets
It is essential for start-up and existing businesses to do some type of marketing to publicize their product or service. In fact, everything done in order to promote a business is considered marketing. This workshop gives creative and resourceful ideas for marketing your business and provides insight on how to understand customer needs and find the means by which to satisfy those needs on a small budget.

Blogging: What's In It for Your Business?
How would you like your product or service to be in the top 10 Internet search engines? Did you know that dozens of businesses have been quietly exploiting a new Internet technology to do just that? This seminar will introduce you to web logs (blogs) and show you how to use simple, low-cost resources to position a product or service far ahead of its competitors. Learn why blogging is the important business skill of the decade.

Business Financing Options
This seminar will explain how and where to get financing for prospective and existing businesses. Credit requirements, places to go for funding, and the Small Business Administration's loan guarantee program will be presented.

Buying or Selling a Small Business
Buying or selling a business can be a very complicated process. Learn how to find the right business to buy or prepare your business for sale. Potential buyers and sellers will find out how to determine its proper value, make or accept an offer, as well as negotiate and close the deal.

Cash Flow Planning for Small Businesses
Cash planning is a key to business survival. Learn the concepts of short and long term cash budgeting. Do you know your cash needs for next year, next month, tomorrow? Don't gamble with your business' money. Learn to take control of your cash planning now.

Design Your Own Web Page I
Designing a web page for your business is easier than you think! Participants will develop a basic small business website and professional quality "pages" using hypertext markup language (HTML). A comprehensive workbook and disk with an HTML editor and clipart is included in the fee! Participants should have worked with word processing and Internet browsers.

Design Your Own Web Page II
Do you need to learn how to create online order forms and simple shopping carts? This seminar was designed for you! Learn how to checkboxes, radio boxes, drop down boxes, hidden fields, and more. Also, gain knowledge about configuring a basic shopping cart.

Disaster Preparedness for Small Businesses
Have the recent hurricanes got you thinking about your business' level of preparedness in the event of a disaster? This seminar will provide you with the background information and basic planning tools to increase the survivability of your business. Learn about local hazards, how to prepare for future disasters, and most importantly, what assistance will be available following a major disaster.

Get Going with Generational Marketing
Recognize the true marketing potential of small business by learning about generational marketing. This seminar will give demographics, influences, and ways to target each generation within your target market.

How to Write a Business Plan
All businesses need a business plan. A business plan will help you define your concept, evaluate the competition, determine risks, and estimate your costs. This seminar will explain and illustrate the business plan format for existing businesses.

Ideas to Assets: A Practical Guide to Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights
This workshop will provide the legal fundamentals for the acquisition of patents, copyrights, and trademark rights. You will also be taught how to protect those intellectual property rights, and how to react to other claims of infringement of such rights.

Intermediate QuickBooks Pro I & II
Take an in-depth look into QuickBooks Pro and put this popular computerized accounting program to work for your small business. Each session covers different aspects of QuickBooks.

• Session 1 - teaches how to use the advanced features found in accounts receivable and payable, and inventory.
• Session 2 - instructs how to handle the more complex issues in payroll and how to correct previous mistakes in QuickBooks.

Internet Marketing
How would you like to make more sales by targeting specific, qualified customers? This three-hour seminar will teach you the basics of database marketing. Learn how to organize a customer database and exploit it like the big businesses. Your registration fee includes hands-on computer practice in Microsoft Access.

Introduction to QuickBooks Pro I, II, & III
Learn this popular computerized accounting program, hands-on! Introduction to QuickBooks introduces this popular accounting software program to small business owners with little or no experience using it. Participants must be comfortable operating a personal computer in a Windows environment. Each session will cover different aspects of QuickBooks.

• Session 1 - addresses setting up a new company and chart of accounts, writing checks, and bank reconciliation.
• Session 2 - covers inventory, adjusting and reporting inventory, invoicing, and accounts payables and receivables.
• Session 3 - teaches how to set up necessary information to set up and use payroll features, originating paychecks, and other issues.

IRS Small Business Tax Workshop I
This workshop teaches small business owners about the basic tax aspects of managing a small business. The basic types of business organizations, business tax returns, recordkeeping requirements, basic financial statements, and accounting methods will be explained. Also covered is the payment of personal income, social security, and Medicare taxes with estimated tax payments (1040 ES).

SBA Loan Program Workshop
The U.S. Small Business Administration's loan guarantee program has helped thousands of small companies get started, expand, and prosper. Learn about business financing alternatives and opportunities, credit requirements, and other services provided by the SBA.

Starting a Business in Arkansas
The "Starting a Business in Arkansas" workshop is recommended to anyone considering starting a business. Many of the questions entrepreneurs have about starting a business are answered in this three-hour workshop. This seminar is designed to prepare you for the intensive business planning process. Find out the major steps crucial to starting a business, identify key issues that affect your business success, and discuss start-up requirements as well as common pitfalls you may face as an entrepreneur. Learn what to do before you open the doors in order to be successful!

Understanding Financial Statements
This seminar is for the small business owner and manager. The seminar takes an in-depth look at the numbers on your balance sheet and income statement in order to help you better understand what is happening to your business. Topics include: understanding the financial position of a business and the presentation of numbers, as well as how to use the numbers in evaluating business profitability.

8A SBA Seminar
If your company is owned by individuals who are socially or economically disadvantaged, you may qualify for certification in the U.S. Small Business Administration's 8A Program. The 8A Program seeks to level the playing field for those individuals, helping them compete and win government contracts. Topics include: eligibility, benefits available to certified firms, documentation required to submit an application and certification procedures.