The DeKalb Chamber Small Business Committee assists the Chamber with recruiting, educating, and mentoring small businesses. Create and identify opportunities for growth and facilitate partnerships to improve small business programs. Help identify opportunities in the public and private sector.
This committee meets monthly on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. This Live Online Workshop can be a game-changer for a small business owner. It is designed to arm you with essential financial skills.
Knowing accounting basics helps you make smarter decisions:
- Track income and expenses accurately
- Understand profit vs. cash flow
- Set realistic budgets
When you become familiar with the lingo of Financial Professionals, terms like P&L, COGS, and Depreciation become understandable. You can:
- Ask better questions
- Spot red flags
- Collaborate more effectively with your accountant or CPA
With a focus on for-profit accounting principles, this interactive session will leave you with practical knowledge to boost your confidence in evaluating and making decisions in areas such as hiring, pricing, and financing.
By participating in this workshop, you're not just learning, you're investing in the success of your business. Imagine having a team of enthusiastic brand advocates promoting your business for free. It?s possible with growth marketing, a proven strategy that transforms customers into loyal brand ambassadors. In this class, you?ll learn how to harness the power of data-driven customer-centric marketing to acquire and retain customers, set marketing goals that make sense for your business, create engaging marketing collateral tailored to each stage of the buyer?s journey, and track and optimize your marketing campaigns for maximum impact. If you're ready to transform your customers into true brand ambassadors and boost your word-of-mouth referrals, this class is for you!
Course Outline
What is growth marketing?
The importance of your brand
Understanding how people decide what to buy
Setting realistic and measurable marketing goals
Creating content that connects with your customers
Evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns
Learner Outcomes
Attendees will learn how to:
Leverage the fundamentals of growth marketing
Understand their customers
Set realistic marketing goals
Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with marketing goals
Optimize digital content for increased traffic and conversions
Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns Starting a business can be overwhelming, especially when you don?t know what you don?t know.
Whether you?re just starting to brainstorm your idea or ready to turn your passion into a profitable venture, this class will give you a roadmap to success. You?ll learn what you need to start a business in Georgia, from assessing the feasibility of your idea to marketing, finding financing, building a team, and operating legally. You?ll leave with actionable steps, essential tools, and resources to start your business on a strong foundation. Small businesses are the backbone of America; this class will help you start yours.
LEARN HOW TO:
Determine the feasibility of your business idea using market research and competitive analysis
Estimate start-up expenses for your business and identify requirements for pursuing start-up financing options
Differentiate between different legal structure options for business formation
Identify who you should include on your team when making plans and executing business formation
Navigate the steps to start your business in the State of Georgia Effective leadership is essential to well-run operations but you cannot lead strategically if you are constantly putting out daily fires.
As a small business owner, it is easy to get buried in the friction of managing calendars, project tasks, and contractor execution. True operational effectiveness happens when you stop reacting as a solo operator and start building scalable systems. Led by Renee Hastings, this impactful one-hour session provides practical tools to streamline workflows, delegate with confidence, and manage remote teams seamlessly. You will learn proven strategies to establish clear performance expectations, maintain accountability, and reduce daily friction so you can focus on long-term business growth.
LEARN HOW TO:
Prioritize strategically. Build a concrete framework to evaluate your daily workload, streamline operations, and delegate low-leverage tasks to maximize team productivity.
Balance remote accountability. Establish crystal-clear performance expectations and communication cadences that keep contract and virtual teams completely aligned.
Handle workflow bottlenecks. Apply professional, fair, and timely communication tactics to confidently address chronic operational delays and execution issues before they escalate.
Align systems with growth goals. Design a repeatable operational structure that reduces daily friction and gives you the freedom to focus on big-picture business development. Join the DeKalb Chamber for a ribbon cutting at Highland Oaks Decatur. Highland Oaks is more than a residence ? it's a thoughtfully designed community where every individual is valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. Set on a beautiful wooded property on Highland Place, they are creating a space that feels genuinely like home.
Their approach blends warm, upscale interiors with compassionate, person-centered care ? because the people who call this home deserve nothing less. Come prepared to hand out your business cards!
Coffee & Connections is FREE for DeKalb Chamber members to attend and $25 for non-members. Light refreshments and coffee will be provided. It's often said failing to plan is planning to fail.
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Your competitive advantage in business is achieved by planning for success. In this webinar you will learn four essential strategic planning methods that will assist your company in meeting goals, higher sales, employment retention and more.
LEARN HOW TO:
Use SWOT analysis and learn its limitations
Implement a Porter's Five Forces analysis to better understand your strategic positioning
Implement a 6(C) analysis to view opportunities for competitive advantage
Use Red Water/Blue Water to find ways to innovate by offering new value propositions to your customers, thereby growing your business A business plan is more than just a document ? it?s your roadmap to success.
A strong business plan helps keep you focused, reach your goals and is critical if you plan to seek financing for your business. Many business owners don?t have a business plan because they just don?t know where to start. This class breaks down each section of the business plan, from the executive summary to financial projections, with tools and resources to guide you along the way. Whether you?re just starting a business, need funding, or just finally have time to focus, this class will help you create an effective business plan to guide your business for years to come.
LEARN HOW TO:
Use the business plan tool or template that works for you
Understand and explain who your target customer is
Start with your company description and proceed step-by-step to finish your business plan
Strategically position your business using a written plan
Incorporate a strong financial foundation into your business plan Financial Fundamentals for Business Owners will aim to improve the financial decision making of small business owners. The program content is designed to educate business owners on the importance of good financial data and how to use that financial data for both tactical and strategic decision making. This program will cover the process around good recordkeeping, the tools to use, the reports to be derived, how to analyze the numbers to improve cash flow and profits. Participants will also gain a better understanding of how banks/lenders evaluate their businesses and capital requests.
Course Outline
Accounting and Record Keeping Basics
Understanding Financial Statements
Analyzing Financial Statements
Improving Cash Flow and Increasing Profits
Establishing Financial Controls
Forecasting
Becoming Bank Ready and Financing Options
Learner Outcomes
Participants will learn how to understand and interpret data on financial statements.
Participants will learn strategies for improving cash flow and increasing profits.
Participants will learn how to implement financial controls in their business.
Participants will learn how to become ''bank ready'' and gain an understanding of financing options.
Course Outline
What COVID-19 has and hasn?t changed for Small Business taxes.
Overview of accounting best practices.
Seven tax tips to help your business.
Learner Outcomes
Understand best practices in business record keeping that?ll help you all year.
Learn the top seven tips for making sure tax season is a breeze.
Small Business Committee Meeting
Workshop - Accounting for Non-Accountants
Workshop - Convert Customers to Cheerleaders
Workshop - How to Start a Business in Georgia
Workshop - Operational Excellence: Streamlining Systems and Leadership for Growth
Ribbon Cutting at Highland Oaks Decatur
Coffee & Connections Networking Event at SouthState Bank Decatur
Workshop - Improved Planning = Improved Profit
Workshop - Writing a Business Plan
Workshop - Start-Up Business - Financial Plan
