TAMIU-SBDC Offers Diverse Business Workshops for November

The Texas A&M International University Small Business Development Center (TAMIU-SBDC) will sponsor several workshops during the month of November.

Thursday, Nov. 5: Managing Cash-The Small Business Owner's Guide to Financial Control Workshop is scheduled from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Pellegrino Hall, room 116. A $20 fee includes Workbook. Cash flow is what comes into and goes out of a business. Gaining financial control by understanding cash flow is crucial to business success. Tina Rodríguez, business advisor, will review cash–the fuel that runs your business, maximizing your cash flow, tools for speeding up cash collections, overdue invoices, three tools for helping with accounts receivable, cash flow statements, and four short-term financing solutions.

Friday, Nov.6: QuickBooks Workshop: Putting Financial Management to Work for Your Business Workshop, is a hands-on workshop from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Dr. Billy F. Cowart Hall, room 113. Instructors Norma Rodríguez, SBDC business advisor, will go over the steps to create a new QuickBooks company, modify the preset chart of accounts, reconcile a QuickBooks checking account, invoice customers, create sales orders, receive payments from customers and make bank deposits, enter bills into QuickBooks and create and customize QuickBooks reports and graphs. Workshop fee is $50 and includes workbook.

Tuesday, Nov. 10: Laredo…Wide Open for Business Conference will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the TAMIU’s Student Center Ballroom. The goal of the Conference is to provide community leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, and business professionals with an opportunity to learn about economic development strategies, opportunities and resources in Laredo. The Conference is co-sponsored by the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, and the Governor's Office of Economic Development. Registration fee is $50, but FREE to the first 100 people to register compliments of Governor Rick Perry's Office of Economic Development. Come and visit the Exhibit Hall, over 50 small business owners will display their product and/or services.

Wednesday, Nov. 11: Understanding Financial Statements Workshop will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the TAMIU’s Western Hemispheric Trade Center room 125. A $20 fee will include workbook. Instructor Gladys Rangel will help you to understand your financial statements. One statement cannot diagnose a company's financial health, but by putting several statements together, one can make smart financial, investment and management decisions. For lending purposes, statements will help to determine if one can afford to pay a loan, the loan amount, the loan term (number of years), which assets one should buy versus which assets should be financed, and what collateral is available to secure a loan.

Thursday, Nov. 12: Strategic Management Learning System (SMLS) Strategic Analysis Workshop from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in TAMIU’s Western Hemispheric Trade Center (WHTC), room 125. Tina Rodríguez, SBDC certified business advisor, will cover the five steps of strategic analysis. Strategic planning is not just for new ventures, it is an essential approach to evaluating the feasibility and then developing an implementation approach for any new project within any business – a new product or service, penetration of a new target market segment, developing new marketing approaches, and a multitude of other choices available to the business operation. A $20 fee will include workbook.

Thursday, Nov. 12: Understanding Credit and Budgeting Workshop will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the TAMIU Student Center room 120. A $20 fee will include workbook. Tina Rodriguez will go over credit reporting myths, disputing inaccuracies, rebuilding credit and debt management.
Friday, November 13: Keeping the Books: Recordkeeping Basics Workshop from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Student Center room 120. This workshop will provide simple principles to help attendees understand bookkeeping basics. Instructor Gladys Rangel, certified business advisor, will present a comprehensive hands-on tool that will help set up an effective bookkeeping system and keep the right records, maintain records required to prevent tax time disasters, and maximize profits. A $20 fee will include Laura Pinzon’s 7th Edition of “Keeping the Books: Basic Recordkeeping and Accounting for the Successful Small Business,” a $50 value.

Tuesday, Nov. 17: Web Page Designing Part I: Creating a Basic Website Workshop will be offered from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Dr. Billy F. Cowart Hall, room 113. Fee is $20. This hands-on workshop series spans the entire process of building a simple website from the ground up, with plenty of pointers and reference material. Alejandro Quetzeri will lead the series covering: definition and use of the Internet and World Wide Web, all about Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines; email, domain names and creating your own domain name and home pages, including about us, product and services and contact us page components.

Wednesday, Nov. 18: Global Sourcing Essentials Workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at TAMIU’s Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 103. Business is going global and you can reap the benefits. The growing world economy, coupled with expanded international communication, has created tremendous opportunities for businesses to conduct international trade. Your business can begin exporting goods and services around the world, thus expanding your market. Guest speaker Berenice Carmona from the South-West Texas Border Region SBDC International Trade Center will cover the benefits of importing. The workshop is free to the public.

Wednesday, Nov. 18: the Art of Starting a Business: Basic Business Essentials Workshop is free of charge from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Instructor Angelo Piccirillo, SBDC business economic/development coordinator, will present this practical workshop that helps businesses to avoid common pitfalls, evaluate strengths and weaknesses, and the skills needed to succeed. Participants will also explore initial paperwork, assessment process, legal structures and the importance of the business plan. This workshop will be held in TAMIU’s Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 125.

Thursday, Nov. 19: Doing Payroll with QuickBooks Workshop, a hands-on workshop from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Dr. Billy F. Cowart Hall, room 113. Instructor Norma Rodríguez, will go over the process of doing payroll in QuickBooks. The learning objectives include: payroll set-up; payroll schedules; employee information; writing and printing payroll checks and tracking tax liabilities. Workshop fee is $20 and includes workbook.

Thursday, November 19: Strategic Management Learning System (SMLS) Credit and Collections Workshop from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in Western Hemispheric Trade Center (WHTC) room 125. Tina Rodríguez, will cover the five steps of strategic analysis. Strategic planning is not just for new ventures, it is an essential approach to evaluating the feasibility and then developing an implementation approach for any new project within any business – a new product or service, penetration of a new target market segment, developing new marketing approaches, and a multitude of other choices available to the business operation. A $20 fee will include workbook.

For more information or to register for any of these November workshops, call the TAMIU SBDC office at 956.326.2827 or e-mail: sbdc@tamiu.edu or register online at sbdc.tamiu.edu

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu