SCL Biz: Everything Business in Sonoma County

Many of us now take email for granted, but if you want to polish and make the most efficient use of your email, try Send: the essential guide to email for office and home, by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, Knopf 2007. “A breezy, one-sitting wall-to-wall read packed with actual—and frightening—examples of e-mails gone horribly wrong, Send is thoughtfully indexed and scrupulously annotated, making it a perfect candidate for any office bookshelf. In addition to highly practical chapters, such as “The Anatomy of an Email,” with 10 subchapters on everything from the “To:” line to the sign-off, the book contains many amusing factoids and sidebars. (Did you know that the first spam message was sent in 1978?)” Bookpage, May 2007.

More material on email and business communication.

“Youth Business Week California (YBW) is a hands-on learning experience in advanced business concepts, corporate citizenship and financial literacy that educates high school students about teamwork, leadership and the real-life business world during a week-long program. Students are immersed in discussions, decision-making exercises, lectures, computer simulations, and work groups led by local business leaders while building their “company” from the ground up. ”

Sonoma State University will host YWB 2007 from June 17-22. For more information and registration or call (707) 544-4700.

The San Francisco Business Times is sponsoring the Most Influential Women in Business Awards dinner to honor more than 100 Bay Area women. RSVP by June 5.

June 14, 2007, 5:30pm – 9pm
Westin St. Francis Hotel, 335 Powell Street

For more information and to register online.

Well, it sounds simple, but anyone who does the books for a small business knows it is much more complicated and mistakes can cost big time, so let Daniel Sitarz, author of Small business accounting simplified, Nova Pub. 2006, be your guide to good practices.

More small business accounting material in the Library.

Entrepreneur.com has a great website with sixty sample business plans that you can view for free. From an Auto Repair Parts Store to a plan for a Wedding Consultant business, you can get ideas to help with your own business plan.

The Library has a great collection of books to help you with your business planning, and most of them also have sample plans to get you started. For more help , visit the SCL Biz Guide to Starting a Business.

Recent and very interesting stories in the North Bay Business Journal described the success entrepreneurs found by winning government contracts through qualifying for the Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development Program ["The 8(a) Program -- named for Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act – is a business development program created to help small disadvantaged businesses compete in the market place. It is also designed to assist such companies in gaining access to federal and private procurement markets."] The Federal Technology Center in Sacramento helped one business owner qualify for the 8(a) Program. The mission of the FTC is “to promote economic development by facilitating technology transfer between government and the private sector, and by helping small businesses successfully compete for government contracts.”

The SCL Biz Guide to Internet Resources has more websites for you.

Sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, this Breakfast Forum will feature Keith Woods, the CEO of North Coast Builders Exchange.

Friday, June 1, 2007, 7:00 Registration
Program 7:30-9:00 am
Sonoma Golf Club, 17700 Arnold Drive

Registration Form

Forbes.com now has a website just for entrepreneurs, with articles on finance, law, management, sales, and much more. Be sure to check out the ‘Boost Your Business’ competition with a $100,000 prize.

Entrepreneurs and Small Business News and Information

The May 28, 2007 issue of Fortune has excerpts from Stanley Bing’s new book, Crazy Bosses: Spotting Them, Serving Them, Surviving Them, Collins 2007. He describes various species of crazy bosses: the bully, the paranoid, the narcissist, the wimp, the disaster hunter, etc., and suggest ‘things you can do.’ We have other books to help you deal with a crazy boss or maybe you are the crazy boss and would like to know how others see you?

• A survival guide for working with bad bosses: dealing with bullies, idiots, back-stabbers, and other managers from hell, by Gini Graham Scott. Amacom, 2006
• Lion taming working successfully with leaders, bosses, and other tough customers, by Steven L. Katz. Sourcebooks, 2004.
• The allure of toxic leaders: why we follow destructive bosses and corrupt politicians – and how we can survive them, by Jean Lipman-Blumen. Oxford University Press, 2005.
• Winning with the boss from Hell: guide to life in the trenches, by Shaun Belding. ECW Press, 2004.

Check out more books on Managing Your Boss and get help with the SCL Biz Guide to Managing A Business.

Show off your business at the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce Business Expo 2007!

Thursday, May 31, 2007 4-7 pm,
Veteran’s Memorial Building

For more information and registration or call Jaime Smedes at (707) 545-1414, ext 5.

The Small Business Administration has many programs to help you start and grow your own business and, as we all know, money is crucial. Sort out the alphabet soup of 7(a), CDC 504, microloans, disaster loans, and international trade loans with this snapshot of the various SBA loan programs available.

See the SCL Biz Guide to Internet Resources for more websites.

Presented by the North Bay Leadership Council, the keynote speaker will be Dr. Robert Eyler, Chair of the SSU Economics Department and Director of the Center for Regional Economic Analysis, discussing the ways in which changing demographics in the North Bay are creating a new world for employers, local governments and community-based organizations.

Thursday, May 24, 2007, Registration starts at 7:00am & Program from 7:30am-9:30am
Sonoma County Sheridan, Petaluma
For more information and reservations, call (707) 283-0028.

If you are starting a new business, self-employed, an independent consultant, or have a home-based business, the full title of this book says it all: Small time operator : how to start your own business, keep your books, pay your taxes and stay out of trouble!, by Bernard Kameroff, Bell Springs Pub., 2007, 31st ed.

Check the SCL Biz Guide to Starting a Business for more great books and websites.

“The North Bay Business Journal will honor outstanding women in the North Bay for their success and contributions to the business community as leaders, innovators and visionaries.” Keynote Speaker: Laura Alber, President, Williams Sonoma.

Thursday, June 21, 2007; 5:30-9:00 p.m.
Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa, Santa Rosa

For more information and to register online.

Sonoma County has a wealth of farmers’ markets – great opportunities for growers and crafters. In addition to the open all year Santa Rosa Market, in the Veterans Building parking lot Wednesday & Saturday mornings, check Sonoma County Farm Trails for a year round guide to farms and local seasonal farm markets, including dates, times, locations, and vendor information.