Small businesses looking to increase sales and profit, reduce dependence on the domestic market and stabilize seasonal fluctuations should consider importing and exporting. With nearly 96 percent of consumers living outside the U.S. and two-thirds of the world?s purchasing power in foreign countries, opportunities await U.S. small business.
Go where the customers are. There is significant opportunity for small businesses to profit through importing and exporting operations.
Do you have what it takes to become a successful international business? Are you ready to make international sales? Importing / Exporting offers great opportunities but requires preparation and planning.
This four hour course is taught in two parts, by international experts from the Georgia Small Business Development Center, a resource partner of the SBA. Each part is two hours in length with a two hour break between parts.
Part one will aid you in assessing your readiness, understanding what you need to know and consider before pursuing an international strategy.
Part two will introduce you to those topics needed to develop and implement your strategy: international pricing and costing issues, proforma export quotations, payment terms, and risk assessment.
Course Outline
? Defining Your Business
? Strengths/Weaknesses Analysis
? Tools
? Building Your Team
? Knowing Industry Terminology
? Selecting a Product
? Finding Markets
? Finding Buyers
? Finding Suppliers
? How to Talk To Suppliers
? Do I need a license to Import/Export?
? How do I protect myself as a Middleman?
? Calculating Landed Cost
? Understanding INCOTERMS
? Developing a Pro Forma Invoice
? International Terms of Payment
Learner Outcomes
The workshops will help you gain the knowledge to develop and implement an international plan. You will become acquainted with the key components of an effective import / export plan. The instructors will raise questions you should answer to complete your plan and provide the resources to help you answer those questions.
Topics include:
Organizational and product readiness
Market research
Guidance for developing your strategy and marketing plan
Promoting your products in target market
Complying with US and foreign regulations (Be More Profitable Than your Competition)
How your products or services compare with others in your industry can make a huge difference in how profitable you are. The typical approach is to ?out feature? your competition, however, there is an alternate targeted marketing strategy known as Blue Ocean fishing. You will learn how to separate yourself from your competition and reduce your costs in the process. In the end, your offerings are made more desirable and more profitable.
In this workshop, you'll create your own Blue Ocean strategy canvas comparing yourself against your competition and exploiting the opportunities you uncover.
Attendees will learn:
The difference between a red ocean and a blue ocean
How to quickly determine where your competitors are not
How to add value to your offerings while reducing cost
How to create a strategy map
Why getting rid of unnecessary features is a good thing
How to find and exploit needs your customers have but haven?t asked for
DURATION: 2 Hours
FEE: Free
About our Instructor
Peter Hildebrandt is a serial entrepreneur and product development professional. Having started and sold several small businesses and consulted with many large companies, he loves business. His startups have included 3D molecular modeling, weather forecasting, gourmet brownies, photo processing software, and more.
From 2000 until 2013, he was responsible for long-range research, product development, product marketing, and intellectual property for a division of Steelcase (a Fortune 500 company). He currently owns a manufacturing business (Aria Lights) which makes music stand lights for professional musicians and a consulting practice (Covetability) which helps companies choose the right products to build. The DeKalb Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee speaks on behalf of the business interests of DeKalb County industry ensuring that DeKalb County remains a place that is competitive locally and statewide.
This committee meets monthly on the 1st Thursday of each month from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. One of the challenges faced by a business owner is deciding if a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or an employee. This webinar will focus on the information that needs to be considered when trying to make this decision. Topics covered include definitions of each classification, resources to help an employer make the decision and updates on recent regulations. Business owners who are looking for information and resources on classifying workers should attend.
Course Outline
Definition of an Independent Contractor & a W-2 Employee
Pros and Cons of Independent Contractors versus Employees
Internal Revenue Service guidelines
Penalties for misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor
Resources and recent updates
Learner Outcomes
Attendees will learn more about the areas to consider when classifying workers.
Attendees will be given information on resources to help with the decision-making to determine independent contractor versus employee. In today's dynamic and competitive business landscape, organizations must navigate an ever-evolving environment while striving for long-term success. The ''Introduction to Strategic Planning'' class is a comprehensive two-hour session designed to equip participants with the fundamental knowledge and essential tools required to develop and execute effective strategic plans. In this engaging and informative class, participants will begin to demystify the world of strategic planning, exploring its principles, methodologies, and practical applications. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur, a mid-level manager, or an experienced executive, this course is tailored to cater to a diverse audience with varying levels of strategic planning experience.
Course Outline
What is a Strategic Plan & Why is it Important?
How to Create a Strategic Plan for Your Business
how to monitor your strategic plan and change it as necessary to achieve your strategic objective
Learner Outcomes
At the end of this session, participants will:
have a clear grasp of what strategic planning entails, its significance, and its role in organizational success.
understand how to conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to assess internal and external factors that impact their business
be able to identify strategies to monitor progress, evaluate results, and appropriately make modifications to their strategic plan. Join us for a ribbon cutting at Planet Fitness to celebrate the grand opening of their newest Lithonia location! Tours of the gym will be offered to those interested. The DeKalb Chamber Membership Committee helps to plan and evaluate the Chamber's overall programs and membership offerings including, but not limited to, workshops, seminars, and networking events. Also works to recruit and retain current and new members by managing and auditing the Member Contact Timeline, offer innovative ideas, and ensure all members are having a valuable experience.
This committee meets monthly on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Some meetings may have been adjusted from their original schedule due to holidays or Chamber events. Are you thinking about becoming your own boss? Our Starting a Business Course covers all areas that are involved in starting your own business. This class will cover important tools and resources a business owner needs to establish a solid foundation during its early formative years. Often, new business owners ''don't know what they don't know''. This class will equip you to be able to ask all the right questions as you are planning and forming your brand new business.
Course Outline
Getting Started
Is your Business Idea Feasible?
Financing Your Business
Building Your Team
Operating Your Business Legally
Putting it all Together
Learner Outcomes
Detailed understanding of how to determine the feasibility of your business idea or framework using market research and competitive analysis
Basic knowledge of how to estimate start-up expenses for your business and overview of options for start-up financing, and requirements to pursue financing options
Ability to differentiate between different legal structure options for business formation
Overview of important individuals to include on your team when making plans and executing business formation Today?s customers heavily rely on the internet to make their purchase decisions. This makes it critically important to make sure that your business is noticed online.
You cannot afford to leave your digital marketing to chance. You need to conduct a comprehensive audit to determine which of your marketing efforts work and which need to be overhauled or even scrapped.
In this Live Online Workshop, you will walk through audit tools that evaluate SEO, social media, website content, and promotional efforts.
In addition, you will learn how to:
Track your metrics
Look for gaps in your sales funnel
Assess your workflows and processes
Perform a conversion assessment
And more
You'll leave equipped with the resources and tools to strategize, execute, and adapt your audit to ensure you are hitting your goals.
Fee: FREE
About Our Instructor
Ricardo Berris is a Serial Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker and Coach. He is the founder and CEO of the
MI Group of Companies
, MI Group USA, MI Group Colombia and MI Group Bahamas. They provide digital marketing and software development solutions for non-technical businesses throughout the Caribbean, North, Central, and South America. The company is particularly focused on supporting businesses looking to grow locally and internationally through digital marketing and software development technologies.
He has led successful projects with various organizations worth over $100 billion combined, including Government Departments, Retail Banks (Fidelity, First Caribbean), Hotels (Courtyard Marriott, Warwick, Ocean Clubs), Quick Service Restaurants (McDonald?s, Burger King, KFC, Domino?s), Universities (Florida National University, Nova Southeastern).
He is also the founder of the startup Purpusly, a multi-channel platform helping cause-conscious customers find and discover products that support causes they care about and co-founder of Rolle Away Inc. producer of The Belle Booth, a portable all-in-one workstation for beauticians.
Webinar - Develop an Import / Export Business
Webinar - How to Increase Profits and Sales
Governmental Affairs Committee Meeting
Webinar - Independent Contractor or Employee? Get the Facts.
Webinar - Introduction to Strategic Planning
Ribbon Cutting at Planet Fitness Lithonia
Membership Committee Meeting
Webinar - Starting a Business
Webinar - Tools to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Website & Your Social Media
