The quality of customer service you provide will determine the future success of your business. Whether you are selling a product or service, customers have to be a focus of attention and respect.

This workshop will:

• Emphasize the importance of good customer service and relationship-building
• Review best practices in customer service
• Identify steps for developing your business' customer service strategy
• Introduce techniques for dealing with difficult customers

When your business opens, being able to sell is vital to generating revenue.

One of the most underrated, and challenging, aspects of business is selling. It is vital that you have a sales strategy that encompasses your clients' needs, purchasing agreements, buying cycles and expectations.

This two-part workshop will assist you to gain the necessary sales skills and confidence to go out and get new business.

This workshop will:

• Review the sales process from prospecting to closing
• Identify opportunities to improve sales and marketing
• Introduce techniques for closing the sale and asking for repeat business
• Provide you with tools and templates for measuring sales activity, customers needs, targets and quotas
• Arm you with a plan to implement what was learned

This interactive workshop will help you grow your business!

Knowing who your customer is and having a strategy to reach them is key to your business' success and viability. The more specific you can be in this process, the higher your chance for success.

This workshop will:

• Emphasize the importance of an annual marketing plan and identify its key components
• Provide you with the steps necessary to prepare an annual marketing plan
• Discuss growth options for your business and how to incorporate these into your annual marketing plan

Attend this free information session and learn:

• How to prepare a business plan and financial forecasts
• Sources of small business financing
• Local contacts for both financial and non-financial assistance programs

An orientation of the Self Employment Benefits Program

Please get a referral from your case manager if you are interested in participating in the SEB Program.

Canada has some of the world's most respected business practices. The Canadian Revenue Agency is a leading regulatory body that contributes to establishing and maintaining these standards.

This information session is a must-attend for new entrepreneurs, to gain insight and clarity into the CRA reporting process.

This workshop will:

• Introduce you to the Goods and Services Tax and how to complete your HST return
• Provide guidelines for reporting income for your unincorporated business and claiming expenses
• Review proper payroll structure and applicable deductions
• Introduce you to the CRA's business e-services and My Business Account

Learn how to protect yourself and your business. Join us in a discussion about commercial insurance for your business and learn about personal insurance options regarding your health and the long term sustainability of your business.

This 3-hour information session will help you to determine which insurance options are best suited to your business' success.

This workshop will:

• Introduce strategies to build a relationship with your insurance provider and why that relationship is so important
• Define and discuss commonly used industry terminology
• Review commercial insurance options for small businesses and personal insurance options for the entrepreneur
• Identify insurance options available to meet your needs

When your business opens, being able to sell is vital to generating revenue.

One of the most underrated, and challenging, aspects of business is selling. It is vital that you have a sales strategy that encompasses your clients' needs, purchasing agreements, buying cycles and expectations.

This two-part workshop will assist you to gain the necessary sales skills and confidence to go out and get new business.

This workshop will:

• Review the sales process from prospecting to closing
• Identify opportunities to improve sales and marketing
• Introduce techniques for closing the sale and asking for repeat business
• Provide you with tools and templates for measuring sales activity, customers needs, targets and quotas
• Arm you with a plan to implement what was learned

Attend this free information session and learn:

• How to prepare a business plan and financial forecasts
• Sources of small business financing
• Local contacts for both financial and non-financial assistance programs

Branding is figuring out what makes a company special; how it differentiates from the competition and how it defines who it is and what it wants to be. It's a feeling that people have about an organization with every encounter.

What is your brand?

• Emphasize and define the role that branding plays in marketing, sales strategy, customer service and company policy
• Provide strategy and best practices for introducing your brand into a market
• Introduce tools to help you identify and market the "story" of your brand
• Help you to identify resources available to protect your brand

The quality of customer service you provide will determine the future success of your business. Whether you are selling a product or service, customers have to be a focus of attention and respect.

This workshop will:

• Emphasize the importance of good customer service and relationship-building
• Review best practices in customer service
• Identify steps for developing your business' customer service strategy
• Introduce techniques for dealing with difficult customers

Are you ready to take the first step toward achieving your entrepreneurial dreams?

BLAST Off is a 3-day workshop which guides you through the business development process. At the end of the workshop, you will have a good understanding of business plan components, knowledge of online and community resources to support you, and the skills to create a dynamic business plan. This workshop is geared towards aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom are enrolled in CEED's Self-Employment Benefits (SEB) program.

This workshop will:

• Build your knowledge and understanding of business plan components
• Provide research tools and resources so that you can begin your marketing plan
• Provide information on choosing a business structure
• Introduce you to government regulations that will affect your business, including tax and labour standards
• Introduce financial projections, obligations and resources to integrate into your business plan
• Allow time for Q&A specific to your business situation

This training is primarily for SEB Participants, however it is open for registration to the public.

Canada has some of the world's most respected business practices. The Canadian Revenue Agency is a leading regulatory body that contributes to establishing and maintaining these standards.

This information session is a must-attend for new entrepreneurs, to gain insight and clarity into the CRA reporting process.

This workshop will:

• Introduce you to the Goods and Services Tax and how to complete your HST return
• Provide guidelines for reporting income for your unincorporated business and claiming expenses
• Review proper payroll structure and applicable deductions
• Introduce you to the CRA's business e-services and My Business Account

If it's going to make dollars, it has to make sense!

As a business owner, it's important to understand the information being communicated to you by your financial statements. This workshop will introduce you to key financial statements and terminology.

This workshop will:

• Provide an introduction to commonly used financial statements
• Review key financial terminology including: Assets, Liabilities, and Equity
• Offer tips and techniques to review your bank statements and bookkeeping records
• Discuss the purpose of Debits and Credits

Attend this free information session and learn:

• How to prepare a business plan and financial forecasts
• Sources of small business financing
• Local contacts for both financial and non-financial assistance programs

Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development Incorporated and the Centre for Women in Business (CWB) are working together to help improve your access to small business services.

For your convenience, a Centre For Women In Business business advisor will be available at CEED's office at Suite 107, Tower One, Halifax Shopping Centre on the third Friday of each month to meet individually with clients by appointment.

The CWB advisor will conduct start-up business advisory sessions and provide information about upcoming Centre For Women In Business training and networking events/opportunities. You can also pick up a complimentary pass to a CWB Women's Networking Night!

To book an appointment, use the registration on the right to contact Nikki Matthews (902-421-2333 ext 135) or contact Jennifer Simpson, jennifer.simpson@msvu.ca (902-457-6320) at the Centre for Women in Business.

Are you ready to take the first step toward achieving your entrepreneurial dreams?

BLAST Off is a 3-day workshop which guides you through the business development process. At the end of the workshop, you will have a good understanding of business plan components, knowledge of online and community resources to support you, and the skills to create a dynamic business plan. This workshop is geared towards aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom are enrolled in CEED's Self-Employment Benefits (SEB) program.

This workshop will:

• Build your knowledge and understanding of business plan components
• Provide research tools and resources so that you can begin your marketing plan
• Provide information on choosing a business structure
• Introduce you to government regulations that will affect your business, including tax and labour standards
• Introduce financial projections, obligations and resources to integrate into your business plan
• Allow time for Q&A specific to your business situation

This training is primarily for SEB Participants, however it is open for registration to the public.

When your business opens, being able to sell is vital to generating revenue.

One of the most underrated, and challenging, aspects of business is selling. It is vital that you have a sales strategy that encompasses your clients' needs, purchasing agreements, buying cycles and expectations.

This two-part workshop will assist you to gain the necessary sales skills and confidence to go out and get new business.

This workshop will:

• Review the sales process from prospecting to closing
• Identify opportunities to improve sales and marketing
• Introduce techniques for closing the sale and asking for repeat business
• Provide you with tools and templates for measuring sales activity, customers needs, targets and quotas
• Arm you with a plan to implement what was learned

One of the biggest challenges facing new business owners is time management and organization. New endeavors can have unforeseen challenges, and having proper organization and time management skills can elevate the pressure of tight deadlines.

In this workshop you will learn strategies to organize your time, space and stuff to become more efficient, effective and productive.

This workshop will:

• Provide tips to manage your e-mail more effectively
• Introduce techniques to set up your workspace for maximum efficiency
• Identify strategies to establish organizing systems for improved productivity

In Atlantic Canada, "who you know" is everything. It is a commonly known fact that people do business with people they know and trust.

Dynamic networking is a key component to your business strategy for securing clients, creating awareness, sourcing new products, obtaining business-to-business referrals and gaining industry contacts. It will also help you to build a personal portfolio of contacts to draw upon in the future.

This workshop will:

• Introduce you to the value of networking
• Provide tips and techniques to enhance your networking
• Review commonly made mistakes in social environments
• Allow you to immediately practice what you learn through a mock-networking event

An orientation of the Self Employment Benefits Program

Please get a referral from your case manager if you are interested in participating in the SEB Program.

When your business opens, being able to sell is vital to generating revenue.

One of the most underrated, and challenging, aspects of business is selling. It is vital that you have a sales strategy that encompasses your clients' needs, purchasing agreements, buying cycles and expectations.

This two-part workshop will assist you to gain the necessary sales skills and confidence to go out and get new business.

This workshop will:

• Review the sales process from prospecting to closing
• Identify opportunities to improve sales and marketing
• Introduce techniques for closing the sale and asking for repeat business
• Provide you with tools and templates for measuring sales activity, customers needs, targets and quotas
• Arm you with a plan to implement what was learned

Your intellectual property (IP) is one of your most valuable business assets. When used strategically, it can increase your competitiveness and allow you to reap numerous benefits.

This information session will help you to understand what IP really is and how to protect it.

This workshop will:

• Introduce you to the basic principles of the Canadian IP system
• Provide a general overview of what protection is available, including Patents, Trade-marks, Copyrights, Industrial Designs and Integrated Circuit Topography
• Identify resources to help you get the protection and advice you need

Learn how communication and phone skills can help you to keep customers, grow customers, and get things done.

Everyone has been exposed to poor professional mannerisms over the phone. This workshop is designed to ensure you maintain professional image and remain confident during phone conversations.

This workshop will:

• Provide tips and techniques for professionalizing your day-to-day business communications, including handling complaints calmly and with grace
• Offer strategies for growing your customer base through cold calling and phone sales
• Introduce simple and achievable communication guidelines to improve your efficiency and effectiveness

Beyond the posters, ads and mailing campaigns, this workshop focuses on the small, often-missed, everyday marketing opportunities that can make your business shine.

• Have your ever received a business card that told you absolute nothing about the business?
• What about a brochure that you threw out because it was too hard to read?
• Did you make a business call that was answered by a child telling you that daddy isn't home?

All were marketing efforts gone astray.

This workshop will:

• Explore the basics of marketing from YOUR perspective as a customer
• Identify commonly made mistakes
• Introduce you to resourceful branding techniques easily applicable to your business

Are you ready to take the first step toward achieving your entrepreneurial dreams?

BLAST Off is a 3-day workshop which guides you through the business development process. At the end of the workshop, you will have a good understanding of business plan components, knowledge of online and community resources to support you, and the skills to create a dynamic business plan. This workshop is geared towards aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom are enrolled in CEED's Self-Employment Benefits (SEB) program.

This workshop will:

• Build your knowledge and understanding of business plan components
• Provide research tools and resources so that you can begin your marketing plan
• Provide information on choosing a business structure
• Introduce you to government regulations that will affect your business, including tax and labour standards
• Introduce financial projections, obligations and resources to integrate into your business plan
• Allow time for Q&A specific to your business situation

This training is primarily for SEB Participants, however it is open for registration to the public.

Whether you are hiring your first employee now, or in the future, you need to get prepared. In this workshop you will learn what basic human resources management structures you need to have in place to facilitate growth, stay on the right side of the law, be seen as an employer of choice and improve your bottom line.

This workshop will:

• Discuss your legal obligations as an employer
• Identify the purpose and importance of job descriptions, employee policy and succession planning
• Provide recruitment and selection tips and techniques to find the 'right' employee

Knowing taxation regulations is one thing, applying them to benefit your business is another. Attend this workshop to learn tips and techniques to meet taxation regulations, avoid commonly made mistakes, and save both time and money.

This workshop will:

• Review allowable business expenses
• Overview GST/HST and payroll processes
• Introduce the CRA's anti-avoidance rules
• Discuss the relationship between business structure and taxation
• Introduce you to Canada Revenue Agency submission and filing guidelines

Proper bookkeeping helps small businesses to increase profits, reduce taxes and improve cash flow. An up-to-date system will allow you to easily post transactions as they occur, so you have up-to-date financial information, such as your balance sheet, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll information.

This six-series program will provide both classroom and hands-on experience with the Simply Accounting accounting software.

• Overview of accounting equation and financial statements
• Present typical business transactions (invoicing, purchases, receipts and payments)
• Review Simply Accounting home page and relate to typical transactions
• Chart of accounts and how it relates to financial statements
• Show elements of company set up on Simply Accounting (sample case company)
• Exercise- set up of case company

An orientation of the Self Employment Benefits Program

Please get a referral from your case manager if you are interested in participating in the SEB Program.

Proper bookkeeping helps small businesses to increase profits, reduce taxes and improve cash flow. An up-to-date system will allow you to easily post transactions as they occur, so you have up-to-date financial information, such as your balance sheet, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll information.

This six-series program will encompass both classroom and hands-on experience with the QuickBooks accounting software. Participants will also receive the 2010 Version of QuickBooks and a complimentary one year subscription.

• Introduction to QuickBooks (using forms, lists, registers)
• Getting around in QuickBooks (using the navigator screen, menu bar, icon bar)
• All the accounting you need to know (chart of accounts)
• About assets, Liabilities and equity (financial statements)
• Show reporting capabilities on QuickBooks Accounting (sample case company)
• Exercise - set up of case company

Canada has some of the world's most respected business practices. The Canadian Revenue Agency is a leading regulatory body that contributes to establishing and maintaining these standards.

This information session is a must-attend for new entrepreneurs, to gain insight and clarity into the CRA reporting process.

This workshop will:

• Introduce you to the Goods and Services Tax and how to complete your HST return
• Provide guidelines for reporting income for your unincorporated business and claiming expenses
• Review proper payroll structure and applicable deductions
• Introduce you to the CRA's business e-services and My Business Account

Jumpstart to Facilitation is a two-day workshop that introduces participants to innovative resources and techniques that they can use to enhance their own facilitation styles. Using CEED's four core principles as a framework you will learn how to plan and deliver your training and facilitation to maximize outcomes. Through the process you will gain strategies, tools and tricks of the trade to address common facilitation challenges and meet the needs of multiple learning styles.

If you are a facilitator who wants to build on your current skills and experience, Jumpstart to Facilitation is for you. JF will teach you how to become a more engaging facilitator, as well as improve the quality of experience for your participants.

JF encourages participants to get outside their comfort zone and take it to the next level with fun activities to challenge you and make you think. This experiential training allows you to explore and practice as you learn. Expect the unexpected!

This workshop will:

• Expand your facilitation skills and increase your confidence
• Get hands-on practice facilitating in front of groups
• Learn effective communication approaches to engage multiple learning styles
• Take away tips, techniques and resources to enhance your facilitation at work
• Start thinking entrepreneurially about your training and facilitation

Proper bookkeeping helps small businesses to increase profits, reduce taxes and improve cash flow. An up-to-date system will allow you to easily post transactions as they occur, so you have up-to-date financial information, such as your balance sheet, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll information.

This six-series program will provide both classroom and hands-on experience with the Simply Accounting accounting software.

• Review fundamentals of inventory accounting and how it affects sales and purchases
• Show elements of inventory on Simply Accounting sample company
• Exercise- set up inventory of case company

Proper bookkeeping helps small businesses to increase profits, reduce taxes and improve cash flow. An up-to-date system will allow you to easily post transactions as they occur, so you have up-to-date financial information, such as your balance sheet, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll information.

This six-series program will encompass both classroom and hands-on experience with the QuickBooks accounting software. Participants will also receive the 2010 Version of QuickBooks and a complimentary one year subscription.

• Review fundamentals of accounts receivable, sales, receipts and statements
• Choosing a format for sales forms(available templates)
• Generate customer statements as needed
• Recording and tracking sales taxes on invoices
• Receiving payments and making deposits
• Exercise – record sales, receipts and deposits of case company