LEWISTON, Idaho – The North Central Idaho Small Business Development Center at Lewis-Clark State College has scheduled eight workshop offerings throughout the region for November, including six in Lewiston.
Topics for workshops during the month include entrepreneurship, doing business with the government, building customer loyalty, starting a business, writing a business plan, QuickBooks reports, and small business tax deductions.
Pre-registration is required for all workshops. To pre-register or for more information for any of the workshops call 208-792-2465, email isbdc@lcsc.edu, or visit the website www.lcsc.edu/sbdc. All Lewiston workshops will be held at the North Central Idaho SBDC offices, located at 406 Main St.
The first workshop is on entrepreneurship and the business model canvas and is on Oct. 4 in Lewiston at 5:30-8 p.m. The workshop will look at how to describe, design and pivot a business model. There is a $20 registration fee and the workshop will be taught by Barbara Leachman, Region II director of the SBDC.
The next workshop is on doing business with the government and will be offered on Nov. 5 in Grangeville and on Nov. 6 in Lewiston. The Grangeville workshop runs 8:30 a.m.-noon and will be held at the Super 8 hotel, located at 801 SW 1st St. The workshop is free and will be taught by Lee Velten. The half-day workshop includes orientation on registrations, certifications, processes, and resources. It will review requirements for doing government contracts and the assistance that is available to businesses. A contracting officer from the U.S. Forest Service will provide details about the agency’s procurement practices.
The workshop will be held at the same time on Nov. 6 in Lewiston.
A step-by-step approach to building customer loyalty is the topic of the workshop on Nov. 8, which runs 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Lewiston. Todd Broadman will be the instructor and the workshop has a $20 fee. Broadman will discuss frameworks to guide and test initial hunches about what motivates customers.
Also on Nov. 8 will be a workshop on easy business starts, which will be at 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the LCSC Outreach Center in Orofino, located at 416 Johnson Ave. The workshop will feature Chris St. Germaine, director of Clearwater County Economic Development. There will be discussion on how to understand the language and key parts of a website, how to described a product or service provided, and thoughts about cyber security. The workshop has a $10 fee.
On Nov. 13, a workshop on how to write a business plan will be at 5-8 p.m. in Lewiston. Leachman will be the instructor and there is a $20 fee. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop or pen and paper so they can write their business plan during the workshop. Leachman will discuss a 10-step process in writing that plan and turning it into action.
The next workshop is on QuickBooks reports. It will be held at 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Nov. 15 in Lewiston. Accountant Su Brown will be the instructor and there will be a $20 fee. She will discuss the various types of reports and graphs QuickBooks has to offer and how to create them.
The final workshop of the month will be on small business tax deductions on Nov. 20 at 5:30-7 p.m. in Lewiston. Brown will discuss common business expenses that are tax deductible and the general rules for deducting them. She’ll cover when meal, travel and entertainment expenses can be deducted and the difference between employees and independent contractors. The workshop fee is $20.