The big take away from the first event in the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce’s new speaker series: business owners should have a marketing plan.
Pamela Clausen is a self-employment counsellor and trainer with Community Futures Central Kootenay — she helps people develop their business plans and then supports them in their first year of business with counselling, training and support. At Friday’s luncheon speaker event — put on in partnership between the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures — Clausen gave business owners tips on marketing and using social media, and emphasized the need for a marketing plan. But marketing is just one of the things she’s able to help her clients with.
“I teach marketing, sales, customer service, cashflow [and] business planning to my clients,” she explained to the News.
Community Futures also offers free community counselling appointments in Castlegar on Wednesdays for anyone with business questions.
“So, startups, existing businesses, people who are maybe just thinking of entrepreneurship, and we hold them at the chamber, and people do need to register,” Clausen explained. To set up an appointment, call 250-352-1933, ext. 100.
While Friday’s talk was organized in partnership with the chamber, Community Futures also offers a variety of training on its own.
“We offer all kinds of workshops,” said Clausen, “Everything from basic computer use, bookkeeping, marketing, sales — those ones are really popular, the marketing and sales, because everyone wants to know how to sell their business — but we have Photoshop courses, we have Shopify courses.”
Community Futures releases a small business training schedule every quarter. The next courses they have coming up in Nelson are Photography for Small Business on March 28, Bookkeeping Basics on March 29 and Business Plan 101 on March 31. For more details, or to register, contact the Community Future Central Kootenay office in Nelson at 250-352-1933, ext. 100.
The chamber will also continue to offer training opportunities in Castlegar, which will take place once a month. But to attend, you do have to be a chamber member.
“It’s really for people to sign up,” said Tammy Verigin-Burke, executive director at the chamber. “For as low as $105 a year, they can go to all of these things.”
The topics for the events are being decided based on feedback received by the chamber.
“It’s directly come from our business walks that we did,” said Verigin-Burke. Topics were also inspired by members’ phone calls to chamber staff.
The next event coming up is a free succession-planning workshop, which will take place on April 6, from 6-9 p.m. at the Sandman Hotel. For more details or to register, visit bbaprogram.ca or call 1-855-510-2227, ext. 5.
