Creating opportunities for people to live, work, & thrive on the Lower Cape | |
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Inside Scoop - December 2023
Bringing you the latest tools to help your business.
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2023 was busy for the Business & Credit Team!
We worked with over 250 businesses, providing free 1:1 consults on business planning, cash flow projections, record keeping, digital marketing, and more. Over 200 business owners and entrepreneurs were low and moderate-income year-round residents, women, LGBTQIA, persons of color, veterans, and immigrants. We also made eight microloans totaling $230,000, allowing Lower Cape small business owners to start and grow their businesses.
As you focus on your 2024 business goals, give yourself the gift of learning how the CDP Business & Credit Programs can help you. Schedule a meeting with Pam and Tricia over Zoom, in person at the CDP office, or our regional office hours at the Brewster Chamber of Commerce, Chatham Works, The 204 Cultural Ars & Municipal Building in Harwich, and Provincetown Commons.
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Did you know that December is National Write a Business Plan Month?
A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You’ll use your business plan as a roadmap to structure, run, and grow your new or existing business. It’s a way to think through the critical elements of your business.
Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners. Investors want to feel confident they’ll see a return on their investment. Your business plan is the tool you’ll use to convince people that working with you — or investing in your company — is a smart choice. Take advantage of the Small Business Administration’s resources to help you write a business plan.
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How does access to child care affect your business?
The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce is collecting input from our members on how access to early education and child care affects your business. Survey responses will be shared in aggregate form or via anonymous quotes, and no individually identifying information will be released publicly about you or your business.
Take the survey here!
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Inside Scoop at a Glance
CDP Workshops
Artists - Workshops & Gatherings
Food Related Workshops, Grants, and Opportunities
General Business Workshops and Information
Other Resources for Business Owners & Entrepreneurs
CDP's Small Business Services - Regional Office Hours
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To learn more about these workshops and programs, and other topics important to your business, please see below. As always, if there is a business topic that you need more information or assistance, please reach out to us and we will help find resources to answer your questions.
We look forward to working with you!
Pam & Tricia
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CDP Small Business Referral Program
Refer a business and earn a chance to win a $100 gift certificate
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Each month anyone who refers an entrepreneur or business owner to the CDP will be entered into a drawing to win a $100 gift certificate from a local business. We will draw a winner on the 15th of each month.
- Be sure the person you refer to the CDP tells Pam or Tricia that you referred them
- One entry per referral - refer three businesses, earn three entries. etc.
- Drawing will be held on the 15th of each month
- CDP Staff, Board Members and Advisory Council Members are not eligible to participate in the referral raffle program (although we welcome your referrals!)
Congratulations to the December 2023 Winner
Nick Muto who will receive a $100 gift certificate!
REFER A BUSINESS TODAY!
YOU MAY BE JANUARY'S LUCKY WINNER!
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CDP Workshops in January 2024 | |
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The Business of Doing Small Business Roundtable
January 10, 2024 10-11:30 AM (virtual)
Being a small business owner means being responsible for making decisions across a wide variety of fields with many having long lasting consequences. Everything from how to legally structure your business, to what type of insurance is best, to establishing a banking relationship and ensuring your business is sustainable.
Join the CDP, WECAN and Amplify POC Cape Cod as we present an impressive panel of local experts to guide you to make decisions to help your business thrive!
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QuickBooks Online
January 11, 18, & 25, 2024
9:30-11 AM (virtual)
Join Crystal Mucci, owner of CRM Bookkeeping & Consulting and a SCORE Subject Matter Expert, and the CDP to learn how to correctly set up your QuickBooks Online and then how to navigate the program. Topics include how to: write checks; collect money; estimate; invoice; track time; pay bills; make bank deposits; run reports; set up budgets; set up loans; buy and depreciate equipment; send out collections letters; turn estimates into invoices; memorize transactions and more. The final workshop will include a Q&A session, to address items that participants may need further work on.
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Artist Workshops & Gatherings | |
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A Musician's Guide to Gigs
January 8 & 9, 1-3 PM (virtual)
Individual artists are essential to a vibrant arts and culture ecosystem, but developing a successful creative career has unique challenges. That's why the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod offers the Creative Exchange Capacity Building Grant Program, a six-month cohort program providing Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket artists with the entrepreneurial support they need to grow and thrive in the cultural sector.
The ultimate goal of this program is to increase the long-term financial resiliency and business success of artists.
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Cultural Organizing for Artists
February 21, 6-8 PM (virtual)
Artists are often engaged in multiple ways in their communities: as creative businesses, cultural organizers, activists, and participants of social justice initiatives. This organizing work—when scaled—often involves managing relationships with city government, working with grassroots organizations, and participating in advocacy or policy-making. This workshop will present participants with various ways artists collaborate with city government and policy-making, what it means to have a civic role in our communities, how we can move power alongside the community, and how to build more robust cultural ecosystems.
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Workshops offered in collaboration with | |
Food-Related Workshops, Grants, & Opportunities | |
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Farm Business Planning Course
January 9 and following seven weeks
6-8:30 PM (virtual)
In this course, you will learn how to:
- Create a mission and vision for your business
- Develop a budget and a plan to fund your business
- Create a marketing plan for your business
- Set goals and create a timeline for your farm business to grow
- Weave those elements together into a cohesive business plan
Each evening session includes information and activities to help you write your farm business plan. Graduates of the course can apply to join New Entry's Incubator Farm Program. The course is recognized by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) as fulfilling one of their financial management training requirements.
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Santander’s Cultivate Small Business
Like a Mini MBA for Food Businesses
* Info Session January 10, 5-6 PM *
* Apply by January 14 *
This program is open to food businesses of all types, including restaurants, food trucks, bakers, food tech, and packaged goods companies. It’s ideal for people who have been running their food business for at least a year and want to strengthen their skills, knowledge, and peer network. The 12-week virtual program runs from March 28 to mid-June with graduation on June 27, 2024.
What does the program provide?
- Live virtual classes taught by Babson College MBA professors
- Curriculum built for food business owners
- Connections to industry experts in the food industry
- A network of fellow food entrepreneurs
- Capital grants ranging from $2,500 to $13,000
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Wholesale Readiness Program
for Food Entrepreneurs
January - May 2024 (virtual)
Are you an early-stage, but established food entrepreneur selling a consumer packaged good (CPG) or value-added product? Are you primarily selling direct to consumer and ready to begin selling to stores (or more stores!) in your region? Join this program for food entrepreneurs to learn from industry experts and entrepreneurs like yourself who have grown their CPG brands in the Northeast. You'll learn:
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- Cost Analysis, Pricing & Profit Margins
- Market Analysis, Branding & Marketing
- Sales Strategy & Developing Relationships with Store Buyers
- Working with Food Distributors
- Production scaling
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General Business Workshops and Information | |
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Key HR Principles for Small Businesses
December 14, 9-10 AM
No matter what size company you run, chances are that at some point you will face an HR issue that exposes your business to risks of financial, reputational and other loss. This webinar will explore the top HR practices that are relatively simple to manage and go a long way to guarding against these risks. Participants will leave this webinar with a list of the basic steps they should be taking to avoid legal trouble on the HR front.
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Creating a Successful Exit Strategy
On Demand
Is 2024 the year you leave your business?
You have built a successful business. Now it is time to begin to plan for life after business. This takes planning, in consultation with others.
In this webinar, explore the key elements to building a successful exit strategy.
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Effective Web Sites get Desired Results
On Demand
Your website is your digital front door. In this webinar, explore a step-by-step process for creating an effective website by:
*Outlining the goals of a website
*Exploring best practices for content and creativity
*Looking at examples of great websites, and ones that could use improving
*Offering an overview of the latest tools so you can see how your website is being used.
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Workshops offered in collaboration with | |
Small Business Energy Information | |
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Cape Light Compact
Energy Efficiency for Your Business - Start saving now
As a business owner, you know the importance of reducing costs whenever possible. Decreasing energy use through energy efficiency is a proven way to reduce costs while also enhancing the comfort and productivity of your workspace.
By participating in Cape Light Compact's energy efficiency programs (your local Mass Save® Sponsor), you have the opportunity to choose your path to energy savings. The program designed for you is determined by the amount of electricity you use each year and the type of project you are planning to undertake.
Not sure which path to take, or have questions? Contact Cape Light Compact at efficiency@capelightcompact.org or 1-800-797-6699 to discuss your project.
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WE CAN Free Business Law Consults | |
Free, half-hour legal consults in business law are available each month from WE CAN legal volunteers. Learn about the best way to organize your business, things to consider in drafting partnership agreements, understand your liability exposure, advantages of registering as a women owned business entity, and more. Contact WE CAN to schedule an appointment for a Business Law Consult. | |
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CDP Regional Office Hours | |
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Book an appointment with the CDP's Business & Credit Team for help with your small business during the CDP's regional office hours
throughout the Lower Cape
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The CDP thanks these organizations for the opportunity to use their space to meet with clients and for their demonstrated support of small businesses and entrepreneurs on the Lower Cape. | |
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CDP Small Business Services
How Can We Help Your Business?
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Individual Business Guidance
Are you self-employed, a solopreneur or a small business owner who lives or works on the Lower Cape?
The CDP offers individual business guidance for all types of businesses, including:
*creating business plans, cash flow and other financial statements
*marketing and e-commerce
*business formation and organization
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Individual Mentoring through SCORE
A resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE’s mission is to grow small businesses one business at a time.
SCORE Cape Cod offers individual mentoring across the Cape. The CDP partners with SCORE to offer mentoring on the Lower Cape.
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QuickBooks Help tailored to your needs!
Did you struggle putting your records together to give your accountant?
Do you use QuickBooks but need to learn how it can do a better job for you and provide you with the information you need when you need it?
CDP Staff offers QuickBooks help. Follow the link below and schedule an appointment to get your business on track.
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Follow the CDP on Social Media! | |
The CDP is an equal opportunity provider and employer. | | | | |
