Food business workshops at the Harbor District Market, plus 2-day social media training
Beaufort County Community College has upcoming free small business workshops to help you understand the fundamentals, as well as technological developments in the field. Our food business series at the Harbor District Market will tune in to the special needs of that industry. All other workshops listed below are held in Building 8 on BCCC’s main campus. Call 252-940-6375 to register or click links to do it online.
Social Media Management (Part 1 & Part 2)
This is a two-day, 12-hour class about managing professional social media when it is your job do so. Topics include: defining the perfect customer and the desired result, map 1: the social media marketing space, there is no “on THE internet;” there is only “on YOUR internet”, social site characteristics, content creation and curation, and improve your image(s). Participants who complete the class will understand how to reach their ideal customer and achieve their business goals using social media marketing; recognize the common features across all social platforms, as well as how to create, manage and distribute content on a sustainable basis; see the value of images in their marketing material and know how to create better images and video; and develop a preliminary social media marketing plan, including a policy identifying the voice of the business on social platforms.
On the second day, topics will include: tools for social media marketing; plan, policy, and managing liability, reviews and reputation, understanding the numbers, map 2: how YOUR business uses the social media marketing space, and review. Participants who complete the class will have an approach for soliciting reviews from customers and for responding to challenging reviews, know how to objectively evaluate the success of their marketing efforts, and leave with a clear understanding of how their business can use social media marketing to achieve their business goals.
As a prerequisite, participants should have a fundamental skill using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and an understanding of Instagram, Snapchat, blogging and YouTube.
These are all day sessions running from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 5.
Food Business Series – With Annette Dunlap
Annette Dunlap will lead this special series at the Harbor District Market. Dunlap is the creator and managing director of AB Dunlap Consulting, a company that specializes in community development, small business, and agriculture & food. She retired from the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, where she worked as an agribusiness developer. Prior to joining NCDA&CS, Annette owned a management and marketing consultancy, focusing on financial institutions, medical practices, and locally owned businesses. Annette holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. Annette is a published author of three non-fiction books and over 100 newspaper and magazine articles. She lives with her husband in southeastern Cumberland County, where they raise cattle.
Getting Started in a Food Business
Do you have an old family recipe that you would like to develop into a business? Love baking, and think you can generate some income from your goodies? “Getting Started in a Food Business” is an introduction to taking your recipe from the kitchen to the marketplace. In this three-hour workshop, you will learn: The types of recipes you can make yourself to sell to the public; how to get inspected to go into production; guidelines for packaging and labeling; ideas for finding the right kind of market for your product; basics of product pricing; and what to do if you cannot process your product yourself. Topics covered include: regulatory basics, what to expect when you’re inspected, packaging and labeling basics, marketing basics, and financial basics. This workshop will run from 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10.
Tips for Growing Your Food Business
In this workshop, we go into a deeper dive into finding and developing retail markets, marketing planning, and cash flow analysis. Upon completion of the workshop, attendees will have learned: Opportunities, challenges and limitations of targeting supermarkets; ways to identify non-traditional retail markets; how to approach decision-makers; how to create a pro forma spreadsheet; how to calculate a gross and net profit; and how to make business decisions based on financial data. Topics covered include: resources for placing products inside major supermarkets, tools for locating non-traditional retailers, how to prepare a presentation package to meet with decision-makers, purpose and value of a pro forma, data to include in a pro forma, calculation of gross and net profit percentages, and decision-making based upon financial performance. This workshop will run from 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17.
This workshop covers the basics of tax compliance ranging from registering your business, to withholding from employees, and sales and use tax requirements. Information will be provided on a program for businesses that have fallen behind on sales and use, withholding, and other trust taxes.
At the end of the seminar, there will be a question and answer session with the presenters and networking possibilities with other business owners. Don’t miss this great opportunity. The presenter will be a N.C. Department of Revenue staff member. The workshop will run from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 12.
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