The Small Business Management Program

SBM is a nine-month program (September-June). Three-hour classes are held once a month, and will be held simultaneously in Newport and Lincoln City – connected by live two-way video.  The 2-hour monthly one-on-one advising sessions are flexible around your busy schedule, with early morning, midday, or evenings sessions available.  We will meet with you at the Oregon Coast Community College location nearest you, or via Zoom or phone. There are also make-up classes available if you miss a class.

Cost of the Program

The SBM Program is $900. However, thanks to generous support from Lincoln County and former SBM participants, all businesses paying out-of-pocket will receive a local scholarship for 1/3 of the cost, reducing the total to just $600, or $200 per academic term. Scholarships may available and can make this class affordable – even free, for some businesses. (In recent years, the City of Lincoln City has offered scholarship support to businesses located within Lincoln City. Ask us for details!) Note that a $50 registration fee is required of every registrant, regardless of payment plans. 

More about the Program

Learn relevant business concepts to help you to identify and prioritize outcomes. You will learn from proven business coaches on how to develop a plan and achieve your goals. SBM content applies directly and immediately towards improving your business. 

Not all businesses are candidates for the SBM, but if your business doesn’t fit the program, have no fear. The SBDC offers a number of classes and workshops – and confidential one-on-one business advising – to help you meet your business, personal and financial goals. Find out if the SBM is right for you, by completing this online application. 

SBM Schedule:
2nd Thursday of Each Month (*Expect occasional exceptions due to holidays etc.)
Times TBD by vote of interested businesses.

 

Program Sessions

Here’s a list of the session topics for SBM for the 2022-2023 year:

Goal-Setting & Profitability

In the first session, you’ll meet your fellow SBM participants, the SBDC staff, and get comfortable. Then we’ll talk about profitability: what it means, and how to achieve it. 

Fundamentals of Business Finance

During the pandemic (remember those days?), many businesses in Lincoln County missed out on generous grants because they didn’t have meaningful, accurate, and actionable financial statements. In this session we’ll review the key financial statements your business should be keeping and answer your questions about how to create, interpret, and use them to improve your day-to-day operations. 

Profit Mastery & Breakeven Analysis

This session is a deeper dive into how your different financial statements relate to one another along with a close look at one of the cornerstone exercises every entrepreneur should know how to conduct: a break-even analysis. 

Taxes

The past few years have seen legislation at the state and federal level that has fundamentally changed the way many of us calculate and pay taxes. This session will also look to pending tax code changes that may loom on the horizon.

Marketing

Explore the ever-changing media landscape, learn about new tools and resources, and share best practices for marketing in this most-unusual marketplace we call The Oregon Coast. 

Business Law

Should your LLC become an S-Corp? Do you really need so much liability insurance? Is that competitor’s logo looking more and more like your own? Topics like these will be on the agenda, along with a lively Q&A session, as we explore business law with a Lincoln County attorney. 

Cybersecurity & Insurance

Ransomware is not the hottest Spring fashion trend; it’s costing real businesses real money, right here in Lincoln County. Learn about this and myriad other online threats, and how to protect yourself and your customers’ data.

Personnel Management

“The employer generally gets the employees he deserves,” observed J. Paul Getty. Get the employees you deserve, and keep them, with the help of this course. 

Personal Selling & Marketing

Our guest lecturer on the vital topic of personal selling is one of the very best. This is a class to invite a key manager or front-line customer service employee to attend with you. 

Wealth Creation & Exit Strategies

All good things come to an end. How do you plan to exit your business? 

 

To learn more, call the SBDC at 541-994-4166

Course Description

The Small Business Management program (SBM) is designed for the owners of businesses who are established, and are ready to begin working “on” their business, not just “in” it.  This unique combination of classroom learning, one-to-one coaching from an adviser, and networking has one goal: making you and your business more successful.

Over a nine-month period, the SBM program covers management topics with a customized curriculum and helps you to identify and prioritize outcomes and develop a plan to achieve them. Topics include: Business Assessment, Strategy and Planning; Marketing Essentials; Financial Statements – Are you making any money? Financial Ratios – What are they and what should I be watching for? Digital Marketing; Human Resource Management Law; Changes to tax laws and document retention, business legal issues,  Leadership Skills for Great Customer Service; loans and much more

Business owners will benefit from classroom sessions by learning from seasoned professionals and their peers who own small businesses. The one-to-one advising provides the small business owner with coaching by a professional business adviser, with a focus on their particular goals for the year.

PREREQUISITES

Operating an existing business in which learning can be applied. (preferably in business for two years with at least one employee).  We do work with solo business owners, artists, real estate agents, handymen, construction, photography, fishing, retail, and much more. 

OUTCOMES FOR THE COURSE

Each business will set their own goals and outcomes with their Business Adviser in their first advising session following the first class.

 All SBM participants are considered full time, non-academic students and are granted the benefits of this status. You are encouraged as part of this program to be working “on” your business – not just “in” your business. This includes, in addition to the class instruction, advising sessions, and assigned homework, developing systems and plans that will enhance the efficiency and profitability of your operation. The time commitment for this program is 510 hours per year or approximately 10 hours per week.

The SBM program is a non-academic business education program for adults. Adult education is results-oriented. The goal of the SBM program is to first expose you to new ideas, and to help facilitate the implementation of those concepts within your business. At times, you might be lost or confused, especially during some classroom sessions. The purpose of the advising sessions held each month is to help you relate the materials covered in class to your specific needs.

You will be awarded a certificate of participation at the end of the year. There are no tests and no grades, but there are some basic expectations.

1. 1. 1. Class Attendance: You will make every effort to attend class. Where that is not possible, you will notify your Business Adviser and schedule an advising session to obtain the missed materials. This should not happen more than three times in the year or you may be asked to leave the program.
      2. Advising Attendance: While the recommended advising structure is two hours each month, it is expected that you will utilize a minimum of four hours of advising per term (Fall, Winter, Spring), regardless of how many sessions have been held in other terms. Your Business Adviser will work with you to ensure that monthly advising sessions can be held during a time of day when you are free from other concerns and are able to focus your attention. These can be in person at our office or at your business, or on zoom 
      3. Accounting Records: Successful businesses have good accounting records. Businesses entering the SBM Program must commit themselves to having a solid accounting system that is up to date by the end of the first year of classes.