The Online Small Business Workshop (OSBW) is a Web-based workshop designed to provide you with techniques for developing your business idea, starting a new venture and improving your existing small business.

The OSBW will assist you to visualize and develop your business. When appropriate, it will also provide you with links to provincial information. It is organized in five sessions, each focusing on a different area of business. These five sessions and their sub-topics are as follows:

Session 1

• Starting with a Good Idea
• Exploring Business Opportunities
• Forty Concepts for a Small Business
• Evaluating your Ideas
• Protecting Your Idea

Session 2 - Marketing Basics

• Marketing Primer
• Researching Your Market
• Sales Forecasting
• Business Promotion Idea List

Session 3 - Financing Your Business

• Equity Financing
• Long Term Debt Financing
• Short Term Debt Financing
• Alternative Sources of Financing

Session 4 - Planning Fundamentals

• Preparing a Cash Flow Forecast
• Preparing a Business Plan
• Sample Business Plan

Session 5 - Basic Regulations for Getting Started

• Proprietorship, Partnership or Incorporation?
• Taxes
• Becoming an Employer
• Start Up Checklist