Seminars/workshops, Textbooks/Software & Consulting services

SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS

Our specialty is business planning. We develop and present professional business workshops for universities and colleges, civic organizations, corporations, trade associations, and business oriented conferences. We believe that you are the expert in your industry. Our job is educate you in the "business of doing business."

In addition to authoring the award winning publications above, Linda Pinson, owner of Out of Your Mind...and Into the MarketplaceTM has developed six workshops to educate small business owners. Each one stands alone to provide comprehensive information and development of skills in a particular area. As a workshop series, they will serve as a comprehensive overview of business development including start-up, accounting, marketing, pricing, and business planning. We can also provide presentations on home-based business and women's business issues.

Our presentations are very interactive. We do not believe in talking "at you." We think business is a serious subject, but we also think that education should also be a fun experience. We encourage active participation of attendees and we believe that the only dumb question is the one that goes unasked. We also provide extensive handouts to keep you from getting writer's cramp trying to write everything down.

We do not have a set schedule for our workshops. We go where we are needed when we are needed. Workshops are arranged at your convenience and tailored to your needs. If you would like us to present one of our regular workshops for your organization or if you would like us to develop a program to specifically meet your needs, please write us, email us, or contact us by telephone.

The following is an overview of six seminars that we have developed to help new and existing small business owners operate more effectively:

1. BE YOUR OWN BOSS: STEPS TO SMALL BUSINESS START-UP
• Finding a Business
• Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents
• Legal Structures
• Business Licenses, DBAs, and Resale Tax Nos.
• Home-Based Business
• Choosing a Banking Institution
• Financing & Recordkeeping
• Marketing, Advertising, Publicity

2. KEEPING YOUR BOOKS: The Secret to Growth & Profit
• Functions & Types of Recordkeeping
• General Records and Deductible Expenses for Small Business
• Developing Financial Statements
• Federal Taxes for Which You May be Liable
• Free Publications Available from IRS
• General Recordkeeping Schedule
• Analyzing Financial Statements

3. MARKETING: Developing and Implementing a Winning Marketing Strategy.
• Market Analysis
• Developing a Marketing Strategy
• Sales and Distribution
• Packaging, Pricing, and Branding
• Database Marketing
• Sales Strategies and Sales Incentives
• Advertising, Public Relations, and Networking
• Customer Service
• Implemention of Marketing Strategy
• Assessing Marketing Effectiveness

4. IS YOUR BUSINESS VIABLE?: Pricing/Costing Your Product or Service
• Definition of Business Viability
• How a Product or Service is Priced
• Researching the Market to Determine "Price Ceiling"
• Looking Realistically at Costs - "Price Floor"
• Understanding the Importance of Cash Flow
• Determining Viability through use of Formulas
• Adjusting of Components to Create Viability

5. PROPELLING YOUR COMPANY INTO THE FUTURE: Write a Winning Business Plan
• Purposes of a Business Plan
• What Investors Look For
• Format for Your Plan
• Statement of Purpose
• Part I - The Business
• Part II - Marketing
• Part III - Financial Documents
• Supporting Documents
• Keeping Your Plan Up-to-Date
• Presenting Your Plan

6. BUSINESS PLANNING THROUGH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY
• Using AUTOMATE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN software in a computer laboratory
• Marketing and Financial Research via Internet hot links
• Learning to use the software
• Developing of your marketing plan
• Developing your financial plan with pre-formatted, pre-formulated, and linked (integrated) financial statements
• Planning your financing with Amortizing software
• Preparing to present your plan to a lender or investor
• Includes one-on-one guidance by business planning experts
• Pre-requisite: Basic computer literacy


TEXTBOOKS & SOFTWARE

We know that your time is your most valuable commodity. Our books are different from others on the market today in that the information is step-by-step, concise, and easy to understand. We write in a textbook teaching format so that you do not have to wade through volumes of extraneous material to get to the needed information. All of our books are complete with index and comprehensive resource sections. The books are currently in libraries throughout the United States and are being used as required and recommended course materials by colleges, secondary schools, and economic development agencies and in corporate retraining programs. They have been translated into foreign languages (Spanish, Italian, Chinese, etc.). Our latest release is a Spanish edition of Anatomy of a Business Plan entitled Anatomía de un Plan de Negocio.

TITLES:

• Anatomy of a Business Plan (also available as an eBook)
• Automate Your Business Plan (Software)
• Steps to Small Business Start-Up
• Keeping the Books (also available as an eBook)
• 18 pasos para desarrollar tu negocio (also available as an eBook)
• Anatomía de un Plan del Negocio (also available as an eBook)


SOFTWARE:

Our company's primary focus is on business planning. Based on our best selling book, Anatomy of a Business Plan, Automate Your Business Plan (2009 version) for Windows® 2000, ME, XP, and Vista, is a stand-alone business planning software, complete with full powered word processor and spreadsheet program, for IBM PC or compatibles. It requires no specialized computer background and will enable you to quickly and effectively produce a professional quality business plan. Features include: master plan building, file portability with Word and Excel, pre-formatted, pre-formulated, and linked (integrated) fully customizable spreadsheets, an interactive research web page with "hot links" to sites where you can get marketing and financial information, and a loan amortizing program for projecting principal and interest payments. To complement our Spanish language edition of Anatomy of a Business Plan (Anatomía de un Plan de Negocio), we have also developed a full set of financial spreadsheets that have been translated into Spanish. For our Mac users, we have a complete set of financial spreadsheets in Mac for Excel format. In addition, with software such as Virtual PC, Mac users can also read our regular program.

BUSINESS PLAN CONSULTING SERVICES

We specialize in business plan consulting and have worked with individuals, small companies, and major corporations. Our view on business planning is that it is a very serious process. The future success of your venture will depend on how carefully you plan. We do not promise any quick fixes. Taking the short cut in business planning now will keep you from reaching your goals later on. We can provide you with complete business planning services. If you choose not to write your own plan, we can write it for you. However, we prefer to work with you in the development of your plan. You are the industry expert. We are the business planning experts. Together, we can create a plan for you that will serve as a guide for the life as your business and one that will also put you in the driver's seat when it comes time to go to a lender or investor.

Our specialty is in strong financial planning and financial statement analysis. It has been our experience that the development of a financial plan is the most difficult part of the planning process for most small business owners. Preparing your financial documents is actually a very logical process...and we can safely walk you through that process and help you create a credible and defensible plan for your company. When we have finished working together, you will not only have a great plan......you will have completed an educational experience that will serve you well as your business continues to move forward.

How do we charge??? You will be billed an hourly fee. The more work you do, the less we will have to do. Most of our customers require from 6-10 hours of our services. The idea is that we will be there for you when you need us.

We can work with you either locally or through electronic communication. We will hold your hand through the entire business planning process. We will provide you with materials and resources, get you started, examine your plan at intervals, tell you what you need to do next, and continue the process until you have completed a plan that will work for your company.

Are you interested in our Business Plan Consulting Services? Email Us

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