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Small Business Connections February 2013
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Welcome to Small Business Connections!
The Illinois Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee Community College is here to serve your small business needs. We offer free business counseling to entrepreneurs and business owners, as well as a variety of small business workshops.
Call us today at (630) 906-4143 to learn how we can help you start or grow your business. |
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Small Business Spotlight |
Recipreo 
How many times have you been told that you ought to be on Facebook? But once you have that Facebook page, then what? Mike Czerwinski and Matt Vittal, co-founders of Recipreo have an answer for you. Recipreo makes it easy for businesses to get more out of their Facebook page. Using Recipreo, a business can automatically push offers out to their fans, who in turn can easily share the offer with their friends.
Recipreo helps businesses build a referral network while giving consumers a reason to talk about them. By exchanging Likes for coupons, and automating the process, Recipreo helps small business owners put their business Facebook page to work with a minimal amount of time, effort and cost. At the consumer end, prospective shoppers can scan a list of local Facebook pages to find businesses and offers easily without a lot of searching.
Mike is the creative talent, and Matt the technical genius behind Recipreo. Together, they also own MetaLOGIC Design, a website design and internet marketing company located in Batavia. Based on feedback from their customers, they believed there was a better way to do Facebook marketing, and started working on solving the problem.
Mike explains the magic behind the business: "Recipreo was created from our work with small businesses for the past four years. Most businesses know they should be marketing themselves on Facebook, but lack either the time, money, or technical skills to create an effective Facebook marketing campaign. Recipreo was created with the mindset that it must get results quickly, extremely easy to use, and at a price point small businesses can afford.
There are some companies that allow you to create an offer in exchange for a Facebook Like but they either only reside on a Facebook tab, require expensive ads to promote it, or need a large email marketing database to be effective. These existing solutions don't always fit the small business owners' needs of being easy, fast, and affordable.
The offers created through Recipreo are very easy to share with friends, which leverages the business owners' network of current customers/followers, getting more exposure and increasing revenue generating opportunities."
As Recipreo was coming to fruition, Mike and Matt sought the assistance of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Waubonsee to develop a go-to-market launch strategy for the product, work on positioning details, and formalize their long term development plan.
"The SBDC has been extremely helpful. Their advice and counseling has really helped us move forward in the right direction," said Mike.
Recipreo completed their pilot project in December, made changes to the site based on feedback from their pilot customers, and launched to the general public in January. Learn more about Recipreo at www.recipreo.com. Try it out as a shopper, or sign up your business for a free trial. Or, you can reach Matt or Mike for questions at (800) 379-1141 or info@recipreo.com. |
| Biz Buzz | |
Charge Up Your Business! Plug in to 
your Small Business Development Center
Perhaps it's been awhile since you visited the Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee. Or maybe you've been here recently, but never investigated all the resources available to you. We're launching several new programs in 2013, and want to make sure you are aware of everything we have to offer.
NEW in 2013
Online classes for start-ups and business owners. Now you can take classes at your convenience, and complete them at your own pace. Choose individual classes, or take advantage of a price break by signing up for either the Start Strong or Grow Strong series
3-Steps to Start-Up. Starting with our Entrepreneur QuickStart, this program is designed to get your new business idea moving forward quickly, giving you everything you need to move from concept to OPEN as quickly as possible.
Mastermind Groups - Join one of our new Mastermind groups with 4-5 other non-competitive business owners, and transform your business in just 13 weeks. Stay tuned for more details.
New resources for Retailers! In addition to our existing Step Into Retail class, we will be holding a series of Retail clinics to help give your retail business a boost.
- Retail Merchandising: 10 Effective Tips for Successful Merchandising
- Date: March 7th
- Time: 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
- Growing Your Retail Business: Keep Your Store Thriving Year After Year
- Date: May 2nd
- Time: 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
- Beyond Your Storefront: Sales Strategies to Reach New Customers & Gain New Sales
- Date: June 13th
- Time: 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Business as Usual
In-person classes. As always, we continue to offer a variety of popular workshops at our Aurora, Sugar Grove or Plano campuses. Check out the current schedules for upcoming classes.
One on one advisory services - If you are a business owner, or have completed our start-up programming, call us to schedule an appointment. Our staff consists of experienced small business owners, so we know the challenges you face. Whether you are solving a specific problem, have questions, or need a sounding board for your plans, we can help. We will do a comprehensive assessment of your business to pinpoint areas where we can help. You can meet with us (or call or email) as often as you'd like - so add us to your advisory board! We also make house calls, and will come to your business if you prefer.
Marketing Boot Camp. It's not until fall, but mark your calendar for our day long Marketing Boot Camp on October 3. This is an opportunity for you to spend a day exercising your creative brain for the benefit of your business. Stay tuned for more information.
Business Tools
Take advantage of our great line-up of subscription-based business tools at no cost. These resources would cost you a pretty penny if you paid for them yourself:
We are continually evaluating new tools and programs to help you build your business. If you aren't sure how we can help you, call or email us and we'll figure it out together. |
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Biz Bitz
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The State of Small-Business Lending 
As we begin the New Year, New York Times reporter Ami Kassar shares some perspectives on where we stand in terms of access to capital and what will happen with small-business lending in 2013.
Banks are not really an option for start-ups. The alternative financing industry is growing rapidly, and more businesses are willing to pay the price of the alternative lenders to be able to get their capital.
There are some indications that the price of alternative lending may be coming down a bit as the industry gets more competitive, but there is still a wide discrepancy in pricing between bank loans and alternative loans.
To read more on Amy Kassar's State of Small-Business Lending click here for the full article. There are many links to other great articles within her article on the topic.
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Use Video to Market Your Business 
Video tells a story, and stories connect people. Video leads to an emotional trigger that plain text cannot. Show your passion, tell your story, and bring out what's unique about you and your company or organization. With guidance from Video Production Professional Nancy Hanna, this 4-session workshop will teach you how to create, edit, and use video to get your messages across to the most people, with the greatest impact, at the lowest cost. For more information and how to register please click here.
Entrepreneur YOU Learn how to overcome fear and make the dream of starting your own business come true! This unique one-day workshop led by Holly Katko will give you the tools you need to start your own business and the confidence to make it happen. Holly is the author of Entrepreneur You and a recipient of the Influential Women in Business Award presented by the Daily Herald Business Ledger. Saturday, April 6, 2013
9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sugar Grove Campus, Academic and Professional Center
$125 Register Now for Entrepreneur YOU Retail Merchandising Nicole Leinbach Reyhle  Hear from internationally recognized retail expert and founder of Retail Minded Magazine - the nation's only retail lifestyle publication geared entirely towards independent retailers. Reyhle has been featured in Crain's Chicago, Forbes.com and other retail publications. She offers unique support for small independent retailers, and is dedicated to delivering practical education that retailers can take back to their stores. Reyhle is a resident of Fox Valley and is passionate about working with local merchants. In this workshop you will learn 10 merchandising tips to help maximize your retail space and customer experience. Gain practical insight on how to strengthen your retail environment through merchandising, with a focus on displays, point-of-sale, customer interaction and more. Discover retail tips, tricks and tools that can strengthen your store appearance and increase sales - plus create a stronger consumer experience. Thursday, March 7, 2013 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Aurora Campus, Room 319 $35 |
| Get Smart: Small Business Workshops at Waubonsee |
 Starting Your Business in Illinois ($30)
Thur., Feb. 7, 6-9 p.m. (Plano)
Tue., March 12, 6-9 p.m. (Aurora)
Thur., April 11, 6-9 p.m. (Sugar Grove)
Wed., May 8, 6-9 p.m. (Aurora)
Business Challenge Workshop ($15)
Thur., April 25, 8-10 a.m. (Plano)
Marketing for Small Business ($30)
Tue., Feb. 12, 6-9 p.m. (Aurora)
Thur., Apr. 18, 6-9 p.m. (Sugar Grove)
Is Franchising Right for You? ($30)
Wed., March 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Aurora)
Social Media Marketing for Small Business ($30)
Thur., April 4, 6-9 p.m. (Sugar Grove)
Google for Business ($30)
Wed., April 24, 6-9 p.m. (Aurora)
Facebook for Business ($15)
Thur., March 7, 12-1 p.m. (Online)
Wed., May 7, 7-8 p.m. (Online)
Register at Waubonsee Tickets
Tue., Feb. 19, 6-9 p.m. (Aurora)
Tue., Feb. 26, 6-8 p.m. (Aurora)
Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law ($30)
Tue., May 7, 6-8 p.m. (Aurora)
Register at Waubonsee Tickets
How to Use Video to Market Your Business ($249)
Sat., March 2-23, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. (Aurora)
Check seminar details for the full list, class descriptions, locations, ticket numbers, and pricing. To sign up, complete and submit the registration form. For additional information call the Illinois SBDC office at (630) 906-4143.
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A variety of QuickBooks and Excel classes are available to meet your small business accounting needs. Click here for complete class descriptions, locations, dates, times and costs.
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Illinois SBDC at Waubonsee Community College
Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA or DCEO.
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