Free Entrepreneurship Series
Need help starting and growing your business? Don’t miss this FREE entrepreneurship series at the Carroll County Public Library, Taneytown Branch.
- Take one or take them all.
- Classes are free but registration is required.
This free series on business and entrepreneurship essentials is for anyone with a business idea and provides:
- Comprehensive Knowledge: Gain a well-rounded understanding of what it takes to start and run a successful business.
- Practical Skills: Each session provides practical skills and tools. Learn how to create a business plan, estimate start-up costs, and prepare financial statements.
- Hands-On Workshops: Apply what you’ve learned. This hands-on approach helps reinforce your understanding and give you confidence in your abilities.
- Networking Opportunities: Network with other aspiring entrepreneurs, share ideas, and potentially find collaborators or mentors.
- Expert Guidance: The courses are likely led by experienced professionals who can offer valuable insights and advice based on real-world experience.
Business and Entrepreneurship Essentials
Thursday, April 3 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Discover how to protect personal and family assets by forming or changing a business structure. This course guides you through various types of business structures, how to form them, and the risk implications of each. Additionally, a workshop on completing a self-assessment is included. By the end of this course, students should understand the various types of formal business structures and their variations, choose the appropriate business structure for their needs, reduce and/or eliminate personal risks, and navigate and complete the legal and regulatory process to properly form their business at both the state and federal levels.
How to Create a Business Plan
Thursday, April 10 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Uncover the importance of having a business plan for creating a new business or supporting an existing one. Start with a one-page business plan and then work towards completing a full business plan. Learn techniques on how to pitch your business to various audiences. By the end of this course, students should understand the proper format and various sections needed for a business plan, create a formal business plan, and prepare a pitch presentation.
It’s All About the Money
Thursday, April 17 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Master the skills to estimate and model start-up costs and future profits and losses. This course provides examples and templates to help understand the meanings within various accounting statements, including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. By the end of this course, students should be able to identify and estimate start-up costs and ongoing capital needs, prepare a 3-year pro forma profit and loss statement, prepare a starting balance sheet, and prepare a 3-year cash flow statement.
Defining Your Products/Services and Market Segments
Thursday, May 1 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Dive into the importance of branding and defining your products or services while building target markets for them. Learn how to differentiate and create and define product/service benefits to attract potential customers. By the end of this course, students should be able to create product/service brands using differentiation, identify target market segments for each brand, and utilize tools to access these target markets.
Marketing and Sales Basics
Thursday, May 8 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Explore how to market and sell your products or services, including creating a website, using social media marketing, and utilizing point-and-click hyperlinks to get attention and sales. By the end of this course, students should be able to build messaging content for various social media and other marketing forums to match with target markets, purchase available website domains, create website landing pages, and use hyperlinks for streamlining marketing communications.