This Month at SBBC

October Highlights at SBBC

Our Small Business BC Awards Celebration is right around the corner – do you have your tickets yet? Join us on November 1 to celebrate and connect with some of the province’s most exceptional small business leaders.

Did you know that you can explore Small Business BC resources by topic? From Starting or Growing a business to Market Research and Business Planning, we’ve got you covered.

This October, we are excited to celebrate Small Business Week. We have six webinars that are either free or cost $10 to join. Our upcoming webinar, 5 Strategies for Meeting with a Lender, is perfect if you want to connect with lenders and grow your business to the next level.

Whether you join us for live education or raise a glass with us at our upcoming Awards celebration, we hope to see you soon.

Here are all the educational highlights for October at SBBC:

Education in October

Start Smart: Basics of Starting a Business – Package (October 9 and 16)

Start Smart: Basics of Starting a Business

Session 1 – October 9, from 10 am to 12:30 pm – Hybrid *
Session 2 – October 16, from 12 pm to 1:45 pm – Virtual only
Price: $49

*Registrants have the choice to join online or in-person at SBBC’s Vancouver office.

Ready to turn your great idea into a business? Our Start Smart Package delivers the basics you need to get started on the road to success. This two-part series covers basics like business structures, how to register a business, employee standards, and how to ensure your start-up is tax compliant.

This package includes two live sessions and access to our Steps to Starting a Business in BC e-course.

What Will I Learn?

Resources needed during the start-up phase
Understanding the business registration process
Basic requirements of starting a business
Basics of WorkSafeBC and your responsibilities as an employer
Tax compliance and how to handle BC provincial sales tax (PST)

Mental Health Disabilities: How to Be an Inclusive Employer (October 10)

Mental Health Disabilities: How to Be an Inclusive Employer

Thursday, October 10, from 10 am to 10:45 am
Price: Free

The conversation about mental health in the workplace continues to evolve. Small business employers are becoming leaders in the conversation as they learn about mental health conditions, non-visible disabilities, and ways to accommodate their workforce.

This short webinar will introduce you to key concepts to help you understand mental health, illness, and disability in the workplace. You will leave feeling more confident about mental health-based disabilities and starting conversations to support your team.

Irene Cordero, from Brave Sinergy, is an expert who is passionate about breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health by normalizing dialogue about it. Join us and better equip yourself as a small business leader to support mental wellness in the workplace.

What Will I Learn?

Working definitions of mental health and mental illness
How stigma affects persons with non-visible disabilities
How to normalize and talk about mental health in the workplace
How to ask for accommodations as someone with a disability

5 Strategies for Preparing to Meet with a Lender (October 10)

5 Strategies for Preparing to Meet with a Lender

Thursday, October 10, from 1 pm to 2 pm
Price: Free

For entrepreneurs and business owners, securing funding is a major step toward achieving financial goals. This webinar is designed to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming loan approval process and give you five strategies to improve your chances of securing a loan. From presenting yourself as a trustworthy borrower and preparing key documents to learning how to work effectively with financial professionals — by the end of this session, you’ll feel more confident and prepared to meet with lenders to secure the funding you need for your next steps.

What Will I Learn?

How to assess your actual business loan needs
Understand your credit score and how to improve it
How to write a personal net worth statement
How to use your business plan to secure funding
How to build important professional relationships

Smart HR Strategies for Small Business Owners (October 23)

Smart HR Strategies for Small Business Owners

Wednesday, October 23, from 10 am to 11 am
Price: $10

Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into your business helps you attract success and side-step potential pitfalls. In this webinar, you’ll learn actionable insights for embedding a DEI lens into every facet of your business. No matter where you are in your business journey, this session will provide you with the foundation and strategies to integrate DEI practices from the ground up. For Small Business owners who wear many hats, HR tends to be one area where they feel ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of a modern workplace. Learn directly from an HR expert and save time and money running the HR aspects of your business.

What Will I Learn?

Understand the business case for DEI
Implement inclusive language and receive a pdf takeaway
Develop actionable DEI strategies to support staff and clients

AI Assisted Content Generation for Social Media Marketing (October 23)

AI Assisted Content Generation for Social Media Marketing

Wednesday, October 23, from 1 pm to 2 pm
Price: $10

Have you used AI to boost your small business marketing yet?

Whether you’re new to the world of artificial intelligence, or you’re curious to learn about the available tools, this webinar is ideal for you. Presented by Ira Rotenberg, this practical webinar will detail how AI tools can enhance your social media marketing efforts. Discover how AI can assist with generating content like articles, videos, graphics, music, and images – helping you to take your marketing to the next level.

In this fast-paced session, Ira will explain the basics of prompt engineering and demonstrate best practices across several platforms. While AI offers powerful tools, Ira will also discuss the limitations while emphasizing the importance of human creativity and strategy in achieving the best results.

What Will I Learn?

How AI can help you find efficiencies and improvements in your social media marketing
Instructing AI Copilots and Tools using Prompt Engineering
Demonstrations of the types of content that can easily be generated
The limitations of AI
Refining your AI strategy

Improving Accessibility for Small Business Staff and Customers (October 24)

Improving Accessibility for Small Business Staff and Customers

Thursday, October 24, from 10 am to 10:45 am
Price: Free

Learn how IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Language) principles can help businesses become more inclusive, attracting more customers and skilled workers.

Join Gina Martin from Diverse Abilities in this short webinar as she makes accessibility approachable and practical for small business owners like you. Gina will cover the disability spectrum, how to communicate, interact, and assist with persons with disabilities, whether colleagues or customers, and introduce accessibility tools for everyday situations.

This webinar takes a down-to-earth approach and makes accessibility relatable to the everyday. You will walk away with an enhanced understanding of disability, workplace accessibility, and tips for building a more inclusive business.

What Will I Learn?

How to provide support for staff and customers with disabilities
Best practices for fostering inclusive interactions and environments
Practical steps for improving accessibility in business settings from offices to retail and beyond

Small Business Taxes: A Simple Guide to Getting Compliant in Year One (October 24)

Small Business Taxes: A Simple Guide to Getting Compliant in Year One

Thursday, October 24, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm
Price: $10

In the start-up phase, there’s so many things for an entrepreneur to focus on. As you tick items off your to-do list, it’s vital to stay on top of your sales, income, and corporate tax obligations. Don’t fall into the trap of waiting until tax season.

In this exclusive tax webinar, join Helina Patience CPA, CMA, a tax expert from Entreflow Consulting Group and learn how your small business can stay tax compliant from the early stages. You’ll gain valuable insights into key tax considerations and learn how to create a streamlined tax documentation process that will keep everything organized and stress free.

By registering for this webinar, you’ll learn effective ways to maximize your tax deductions and make informed decisions that will benefit your small business finances in the long term.

What Will I Learn?

An understanding of the latest small business tax laws and regulations
Best practices for staying fully compliant and up-to-date with your tax obligations
How to calculate your tax obligations to avoid penalties and fines
How to avoid intentionally (or unintentionally) breaking tax regulations
Key tips for developing an effective tax documentation process

Intro to Designing Accessible Websites and Documents (October 25)

Intro to Designing Accessible Websites and Documents

Friday, October 25, from 10 am to 11 am
Price: Free

How accessible is your website? You may not be aware, but over 27% of Canadians have a disability. Many of these disabilities make navigating websites difficult. It doesn’t need to be this way. There are many simple and cost-effective ways to improve your website accessibility. This webinar is the perfect place to start.

Hear Josie Breuls, Graphic Designer at Small Business BC, as she teaches you the fundamentals of website accessibility. You’ll discover what it means to be accessible, why it matters, and simple steps you can take to get started.

You’ll also learn about common errors in web accessibility, your legal obligations, and the positive impacts accessibility will have on your business.

What Will I Learn?

Common accessibility errors and how to correct them.
Tools to help improve your website accessibility
Your website accessibility obligations
The benefits of becoming more accessible

Video Marketing to Grow Your Business (October 25)

Video Marketing to Grow Your Business

Friday, October 25, from 1 pm to 2 pm
Price: $10

Short video is taking over the internet. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram have made it easier than ever to record quick, high-quality videos and share them with a massive audience. Is your business making the most of this opportunity?

Join Adera Angelucci for this fascinating webinar on video marketing. You’ll learn how to use video to tell your unique story, and engage with your target audience in ways that feel genuine and aligned with your business values. Adera will take you on a tour of the basics of social media, content planning, and simple video creation using your smartphone.

You’ll also receive tips on overcoming the fear of self-promotion, how to embrace new strategies, and celebrate your small wins. You’ll leave empowered with practical techniques and actionable steps to start marketing your business right away.

What Will I Learn?

The basics of storytelling in marketing
Practical, authentic marketing techniques
Developing confidence in using social media for marketing
How to create better videos

Other Useful Resources

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Financing and Grants

Confused what financing options are available for your small business? Looking for grants you can apply for? Visit our Financing and Grants page to start untangling the knot.

Learn More

Starting a Business

Whether you’ve spotted a gap in the market, or you want to turn that side hustle into something longer term, our start-up resources are the perfect place to begin.

Learn More

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Growing Your Business Online

Step into the e-commerce space and grow your business online. Discover the grants, resources and expertise you need to step up your digital game.

Learn More

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Room Rentals

Small Business BC offers convenient and affordable meeting room rental spaces at our Vancouver office located near City Hall. We have a variety of light-filled spaces to rent, ranging from large boardroom flex spaces to welcoming meeting rooms.

Learn More