Gaining a competitive edge is often linked to grabbing a hold of new information or reviewing what you might have known.  The newly re-opened CNMI Small Business Development Center (CNMI SBDC), under the leadership of Secretary Mike Ada and the Department of Commerce, is pleased to bring you five workshops aimed at improving your business prowess or preparing you as you consider starting a new business sometime in the future.  This high quality training, open to the public and free as it’s partially funded by a USDA Rural Development grant, will certainly be worth your investment of time.

This FastTrac Growth Venture 5-part series will be held at the American Memorial Park’s theater. Please arrive early.  The scheduled series is as follows:

Tuesday, August 17th

Wednesday, August 18th

Sizing Up Your Business
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’re constantly barraged with information, decisions, and opportunities, and when you have time to think about it, you may wonder whether your business is achieving its potential.  This workshop will help guide you through some key questions about your business and help you sharpen your strategic thinking and decision-making abilities to grow your business.

Exploring Growth Opportunities
The most successful entrepreneurs don’t question whether or not they should grow their business, but rather how, when and how much.  This workshop will focus on sales and profitability and help you evaluate growth indicators that show your business’s readiness for growth.

Determine Market Potential
This workshop will focus on assessing your market potential by examining specific key factors:  your ability to compete, duration of opportunity, growth potential and risks and rewards.

Making Strategic Decisions
One common denominator among successful entrepreneurs is their ability to think strategically and make critical decisions about the future direction of their business. This workshop will help you work on your business strategy:  how you plan to accomplish your goals and achieve your vision.

Using Financial Tools
How do you build a budget that supports your vision and strategies?  How do you know if your budget is accurate?  How do you use your financial statements to make financial decisions?  This workshop will help you begin your business financial planning process and/or improve your current financial model.

Denise Mendiola Hertslet is a Certified Small Business Counselor; Certified NX Level Trainer and FastTrac Facilitator; Program Coordinator for the Bank of Guam Women in Business Program; and Program Coordinator for the Microcredit Training Program at the UOG-Guam Small Business Development Center.  She’s also the Executive Director of the Pacific Islands Microcredit Institute that administers the first and only microcredit loan program on Guam. 
 
Over 10 years experience in marketing and business development and management in the public and private sector with an emphasis in training and customer service and over 8 years as a small business owner, including Real Woman Magazine, RW Media, LLC, and I.P. Coffee Co. in Mangilao.  Her other activities include host of the Women in Business Radio Talk Show on NewsTalk K-57, Past President of Soroptimist International of the Marianas, Board Secretary of the Guam Council of Women’s Clubs.  Awards include the 2004 SBA’s Women in Business Champion and 2006 ASBDC State Star.