Business Development Workshops

• About the Workshops
• Cost and Registration
• Workshop Calendar
• For More Information

About the Workshops

The Economic Development Division partners with the Center for Women & Enterprise, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and local organizations to provide financial literacy and business development programs and services to Cambridge residents, entrepreneurs, and businesses. Through the Best Retail Practices Program, the Division also hires retail specialists to work with Cambridge retailers and restaurant owners to improve their establishments’ interiors and marketing strategies.

Cost and Registration

All workshops are free for eligible Cambridge participants unless otherwise noted. Non-income eligible participants may pay a small fee per workshop upon attendance.

Go to eligibility guidelines .

Pre-registration is required for all workshops. Unless otherwise noted under the workshop description, to pre-register and to determine your eligibility status, please call Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or by email at rholmes@cambridgema.gov or Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654 or psaffari@cambridgema.gov.

Workshops will be held at the 2nd floor Community Room at Cambridge City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Cambridge unless otherwise noted.

Workshop Calendar

• February
• March
• April
• May

We also offer Financial Literacy Workshops.

February

Cambridge Business Assistance Info Session

Staff from the City’s Economic Development Division will discuss the variety of programs that the City offers to residents and business owners interested in starting or growing their business. Learn about future workshops and commercial programs available.

• Date: Monday February 6, 2012
• Time: 6:30 P. M to 7:30 P. M.
• Cost: Free to all.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: City of Cambridge Economic Development Division Staff.

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Best Restaurant Management Practices - Advanced Learning for Experienced Restaurateurs

Your restaurant is off and running, surviving the industry’s otherwise high failure rate. This 2 ½ -hour workshop, presented by a seasoned restaurateur, is designed to help you move from “surviving-to-thriving.” You will hear solutions to the common challenges of managing inventory, staffing, purchasing, interior design and marketing. Pre-registration is required.

• Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012
• Time: 8:30 A. M to 11:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free of charge for eligible Cambridge restaurateurs; $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: NELSON, a consultant team with specialists in restaurant management, interior design and marketing.

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Steps to Starting Your Own Business

This workshop is ideal for those in the early stages of starting a business or those thinking about owning a business. Topics include: legal structure, choosing a name and identity, obtaining an employer identification number, licenses and permits, insurance and much more!

• Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
• Time: 6:00 P. M to 8:00 P. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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March

QuickBooks for Restaurant Owners

Do you feel as though you don’t fully have your hand on the financial reins of the business? This seminar will present financial profiles of typical restaurants and discuss the challenges faced by owners in establishing internal financial systems. The workshop will cover topics such as looking at financial metrics to understand what your average check should be, break down elements of a bookkeeping system, go over sample transactions such as sales tape entry, drawer cash outs and more using QuickBooks.

• Date: Thursday, March 1, 2012
• Time: 9:00 A. M to 11:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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Sidewalks that Sell

Sandwich boards, sidewalk sales and outdoor café space are just a few ways to use the sidewalk to help promote and grow your business. Come learn the step-by-step permitting and licensing process to use the sidewalk in front of your store.

• Date: Wednesday, March 7, 2012
• Time: 9:00 A. M to 10:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to all.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: City of Cambridge staff.

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Using QuickBooks to Prepare to Get a Loan

Join us for this specialized QuickBooks Boot Camp to find out what bankers look for and how to prepare and present your case when applying for a loan to grow your business. This seminar teaches you how to organize and present financial data to a bank. This workshop will cover how to tell a story with your financials and why the story is important when applying for a loan, look at sample financial statements that led to successful bank financing, how to analyze financial statements from a banker’s perspective and questions that will arise in a potential banker meeting.

The instructor recommends bringing your business’ Profit and Loss and month-by-month Balance Sheet to class so you can apply techniques to your own data.

• Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012
• Time: 9:00 A. M to 11:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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Enhancing Your Marketing Strategy

You already employ basic marketing strategies for your business, and you’re ready to take your efforts to the next level. This class will provide you with strategies you can immediately apply, including engaging your customers and prospects to increase word-of-mouth and sales, using social media to grow brand awareness, how to maximize your email marketing efforts and much more.

• Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012
• Time: 8:30 A. M to 10:30 A. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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QuickBooks Tricks to Track Customer and Job Profitability

In QuickBooks, you can track the profitability of each job and customer by seeing which customers costs you more to deliver services and what aspects of the contract takes up the majority of costs. This workshop will cover topic such as tracking of job and customer profitability, how to set up jobs/contracts and link them to estimates, purchase and sales orders, invoices to enable profitability reports and much more!

• Date: Thursday, March 15, 2012
• Time: 9:00 A. M to 11:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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Using QuickBooks for Inventory Management

Interested in tracking inventory in QuickBooks? This workshop is designed for businesses that do not have a point-of-sale system but need to track purchased and assembled goods. We will cover all basic functions needed to get started, some best practices and the customization of reports to provide the managerial tools to better manage working capital investments in inventory. Topics will include inventory vs. non-inventory components, how to configure assemblies, stock levels and the planning reorder process and more tools in QuickBooks for inventory functions and adjustments.

• Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012
• Time: 9:00 A. M to 11:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s Small Business Tax Workshop

This workshop is designed for the tax novice. Topics include registering your business with the DOR, meeting employer responsibilities, reporting business income, filing sales and use tax returns, sales tax responsibilities and more.

• Date: Thursday, March 29, 2012
• Time: 10:00 A. M to 12:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to all.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: Register with the Department of Revenue by calling 617/887-6367.
• Presented By: Brian Lynch, Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

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April

Restaurant Start Up Assistance

Thinking about opening a restaurant? Learn about the steps to starting a food service business from city departments.

• Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2012
• Time: 9:00 A. M to 10:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to all.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: City of Cambridge staff.

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Become a Vendor with the State – Tips and Tools from the State’s new Supplier and Diversity Office

State agencies purchase millions of dollars worth of products and services from small, minority and/or women-certified business. Come and hear about the State’s new Supplier and Diversity Office formally known as SOMWBA and learn how to certify your business. This free information session will present the requirements for state certification of (MBE) minority-owned, (WBE) women-owned and (DBE) disadvantaged businesses.

• Date: Thursday, April 5, 2012
• Time: 10:00 A. M to 12:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free to all.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: Register at: http://www.somwba.state.ma.us/WorkShop/xss_main.aspx?workshopid=24 .
• Presented By: Massachusetts Operational Services Division.

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Advanced Retail Marketing Best Practices - Advanced Learning for Experienced Retailers

The retail environment is always in flux dependent on fashion, the economy, and a shifting competitive climate. This 2 ½ -hour workshop, presented by marketing, communications and customer experience experts, will focus on developing a clear marketing strategy for your business using the latest communications tools and tactics and will conduct in-class constructive critiques of your real world marketing practices, helping you take your business to the next level. Pre-registration is required.

• Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2012
• Time: 8:30 A. M to 11:00 A. M.
• Cost: Free of charge for eligible Cambridge businesses who have previously completed the Best Retail Practices Program; $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: NELSON, a consultant team with specialists in restaurant management, interior design and marketing.

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Selling Not Telling: Listening to our Customers

In this interactive workshop, we will discuss effective sales techniques. Whether you are in a formal or informal setting, there are several key elements that apply to any sales situation. Participants will learn how to ask customers the right questions, plan an effective sales presentation, handle customer objections and shorten the sales cycle to close the sale.

• Date: Thursday, April 26, 2012
• Time: 6:00 P. M to 8:00 P. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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May

Business Demographics Workshop

Understanding your market and customer base is a key ingredient to every stage of your business. City staff will give an overview of the Cambridge population and commercial districts.

• Date: Monday, May 7, 2012
• Time: 6:30 P. M to 7:30 P. M.
• Cost: Free to all.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: City of Cambridge.

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More than Just a Website: Extending Your Reach Online

At this workshop learn easy-to-implement tips to help you improve your online visibility, build your brand, and grow your website traffic. Topics discussed will include making your website more intuitive for visitors, engaging in social media effectively and the mystery of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In this workshop students will have the opportunity to submit their existing website for critique during the session.

• Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2012
• Time: 10:00 A. M to 12:00 P. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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Harness the Potential of Mobile Applications for Location-Based Marketing

What does it mean if people “check into” your business online? It means they love you! Location-Based Marketing (LBM) is the term for marketing your business using mobile location apps such as Foursquare, SVNGR, Google Latitude and Facebook Places. In this workshop, we will review the major LBM mobile applications, how to use location-based applications to expand business and how businesses are harnessing the power of users that love you enough to share it on their social networks. This workshop will be of particular interest to businesses of all types with brick-and-mortar locations.

• Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012
• Time: 6:00 P. M to 8:00 P. M.
• Cost: Free to eligible Cambridge residents and business owners, $20 for others.
• Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Directions and Map.
• Preregistration: To pre-register please contact Rona Holmes at 617/349-4637 or rholmes@cambridgema.gov or call Pardis Saffari at 617/349-4654.
• Presented By: Center for Women and Enterprise.

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For More Information

For more information, please contact Rona Holmes, rholmes@cambridgema.gov, at 617/349-4637. The Community Development Department TTY line is 617/349-4621.

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