If you are in the early stages of starting a small business, or if you have started up your business and realized you missed a few things - you have come to the right place.

Join retired attorney Frank Farmer in a discussion of the ‘nuts and bolts” issues that should be considered when starting and operating a small business. Frank will discuss topics including the need and usefulness of developing a business plan; selecting a business organizational structure; fictitious name registration; licensing; hiring employees vs. independent contractors; obtaining tax identification numbers and other related topics.

Need to know how to build your LinkedIn company page?

Want details on how to create your banner and logo images?

Understand the differences from your personal profile?

Learn about special features you can use?

Need strategies and tips to leverage your company page to:

• Build awareness?

• Gain authority?

• Grow your business?

Would you love some free analytics?

Know how to engage your employees?

Do you need access to capital to help you achieve your business goals? Did you know the Small Business Administration offers a variety of funding programs for all kinds of small business ventures and Duquesne SBDC has a team to help you get ready for a discussion with a lender?

Please join John Higgins, Duquesne SBDC, and SBA Western Pennsylvania Lender Relations Specialist, Lynn Ann Vozniak, for an overview of SBA lending programs available to small business entrepreneurs. Plus, a unique lender perspective insight to the online lending platform called Lender Match, that can partner your financial needs with an SBA-qualified lender.

SEO/Website Specialist Emily Keenan and Intake Market Research Expert Dominic Proietto will guide you through how to conduct effective competitor analysis to gain a strategic advantage. In this webinar, you’ll learn:

• How to analyze competitors and identify gaps in the market

• Techniques for leveraging SEO and market research data

• How to position your business strategically based on research insights

This 40-minute session will provide actionable advice on using competitor analysis to strengthen your business, followed by a 20-minute Q&A.

Corry Riley, PennWest Clarion SBDC Business Consultant, will answer your Tax questions during this monthly Zoom session.

Corry can help you...

• Understand your Schedule C

• Employees vs Independent Contractors

• What tax deductions and credits are available for small businesses

• Sales tax reporting and collection

• What records and documents to keep for filing purposes

• How to handle IRS audits and inquiries

• Other tax-related questions

Ready to take your small business beyond U.S. borders? Join us for this introductory webinar where we’ll cover the fundamentals of exporting. Learn how to assess your export readiness, navigate the export process, and tap into international markets. Discover how exporting can increase your sales, diversify revenue streams, and create new opportunities for growth. Perfect for small business owners looking to expand their market reach globally.

QuickBooks is one of the most powerful bookkeeping tools for small business owners. Presented by Wilke CPAs & Advisors, this course is intended for existing QuickBooks users who want to better understand how to generate and interpret key financial reports. Topics covered to include: • Entering Transactions • Bank Reconciliations • Running Reports • Profit & Loss Statements • Balance sheets • and much more!

Your business is set up and ready to go. Before you make those first sales, you need to have a basic knowledge of Pennsylvania sales tax: Who needs to be registered to collect? What items are taxable? When does sales tax need to be charged? Where do I file and pay? How do I keep proper records? You will also learn about exemptions, use tax, and resources to help you every step of the way as your business grows. Presenter: Representative from the PA Department of Revenue

In this session, Carly, Bethany, and Hayden will guide you through how digital tools can transform your business. You’ll discover:

• How to enhance customer experience through digital strategies

• Key digital tools to improve operational efficiency

• Steps to future-proof your business

Congratulations!

Your company has grown enough that you need help. As an entrepreneur, you likely didn’t start your business so that you could manage finances or inventory or people, but you are required to in order to keep the doors open. In this workshop, you will learn several key steps to hiring the right person and to set up your employment details correctly. It’s a blend of purpose and culture with policy and procedure. 

Participants will learn:

• Why selection is so critical and a few key steps to take before posting that job

• How to ensure that an employee’s first day, week, and month is successful

• Action items to handle employment “requirements” that will de-stress the process

During the presentation, we will provide attendees with a better understanding of Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) certifications as they apply in the government marketplace. We will discuss aspects of the program to help businesses determine if certification is right for them, including:

• Eligibility requirements

• How certification fits into state & federal contracting

• Where/how to get certified

• Recent program updates

Accurate bookkeeping serves as the foundation of your business’s accounting and financial systems– impacting the growth and success of your business. Bookkeeping Basics, presented by Wilke CPAs & Advisors will introduce attendees to bookkeeping best practices for business.

Topics covered to include key action items related to:

• Creating a Chart of Accounts

• Recording Transactions

• Bank Reconciliations

• Planning for Taxes

• Accounting Software Options

• and much more

Find Buyers and Partners, your next customer may be in another country.  Developing export partnerships with distributors in foreign markets can be a highly effective way of achieving business growth. Reliable distribution partners can offer in-depth local market knowledge, an established customer base, and logistical capabilities.

Each year more than 80,000 international buyers attend key trade shows in the U.S. spending billions of dollars on U.S.-made products.  

Prepare your company to gain from interacting with international customers.

Learn about how to find foreign reps and prepare to attend your next international show.

 The topics will be the following:

• Country selection and Free Trade Agreements

• Ways to enter a country

• Finding a sales rep in another country

• Exhibiting at a Foreign trade show

In this session, Lynne McGeehan, Assistant Program Coordinator, Wesley Holye, Digital Content Specialist, and Haley Gravish, Social Media Specialist, will discuss how to maintain productivity and foster strong communication in remote and hybrid work environments. You’ll learn:

• Effective communication strategies for remote teams

• Tools and methods to boost and maintain productivity

• Best practices for managing distributed teams

This session is designed to provide practical strategies that can enhance your team's performance, whether you’re operating fully remotely or in a hybrid setting.

The FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional, outside sales employees and certain computer employees.

This webinar will provide important information on the following:

• An overview of the Executive, Administrative, and Professional (also known as EAP) Exemption requirements

• 2024 Final Rule important dates and the changes made under this 2024 Final Rule, to the standard salary level, the highly compensated employee (referred to as the HCE) total annual compensation level, and the Updating Mechanism.

• Review of the requirements that were not changed by this Final Rule

• Share detailed information about new materials and resources available on the 2024 Final Rule website

Register today!

Speaker: Karen Welton, Community Outreach & Resource Planning Specialist, Pittsburgh District Office, U.S. Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division

All successful small businesses recognize the importance of having a team of trusted business advisors. This includes professionals such as attorneys, accountants, bankers, and, of course, commercial insurance professionals. This informative event will provide you with invaluable insights into transferring business risks and highlight the significance of insurance in safeguarding your assets. 

During this session, our focus will be on protecting your small business in today's ever-evolving business landscape. We will explore the purpose of insurance for small businesses, familiarize you with key insurance terms, discuss different types of insurance companies, explain the insurance process, and delve into the topic of insuring business owners and employees. Additionally, we will touch on the importance of specialty insurance. 

We will also showcase real-life examples of how business insurance applies to various industries. Please bring any questions you may have about your specific insurance needs, as we will provide expert guidance tailored to your circumstances.

Running a small business today involves more than just delivering great products and services - it means protecting your business from the growing risks of online and offline scams. This 30-minute webinar dives into savvy, practical approaches to safeguard your business from a variety of common tactics. You'll learn how criminals target small businesses, often by exploiting unsuspecting employees, to steal sensitive information. From phishing emails to information breaches, we'll cover what you need to know to protect the value of your company and your reputation. You’ll leave with straightforward tips that are easy to implement and will give you peace of mind in today's tech-driven world.

You have an idea for a new business but are wondering where to start. Is the idea worth pursuing? How can you tell if it is or isn’t? Maybe you don’t even have an idea, but know you want to start a business.

This session will help you develop a strong business idea by walking you through simple steps to determine if your idea is feasible and if not, how to make it better.

Steps covered will include:

• Considering your business ideas  (What type of business do you want to start?)

• Assessing your resources  (How much will this endeavor cost, both financially and in time spent?)

• Reviewing industry regulations  (Every industry has them!)

• Defining your target market  (Who are you going to sell to? Hint - it’s not everyone!)

• Identifying your competitive advantage  (What do you have to offer that your competitors don’t?)

• Writing a business plan  (Yes, it is important!)

AI is not one-size-fits-all. Discover a range of AI tools like Perplexity.ai and Claude 3, and learn how to choose the right ones to address your specific needs and challenges.

If your business is NOT producing raving fans & repeat customers, your marketing messaging is probably the problem. Learn a new approach to social media marketing that gets straight to the heart of your audience and takes the pressure off posting! Each participant receives a fill-in-the-blank Content Creation Workbook to apply to your specific business, which makes showing up on social media consistently your new normal. Take the guesswork out of promoting your business online.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• uncover the emotional benefits that your products or services provide

• use frameworks to reach marketing message clarity that attracts your dream customer

• learn a simple, applicable content idea strategy that makes content creation easy & FUN

To get people to come to your website you must pro-actively market it. Learn ways to promote your small business site. By the end of this webinar, you will have a better understanding of website traffic and its different types, core marketing strategies that drive website traffic, and how the use of machine learning and website technology can impact your traffic.

This session will be presented by Cary Baskin, a SCORE Chester & Delaware Counties volunteer and owner of the Marketing Department in Malvern, PA.