2012 Small Business Toolkit

Springf ield Area Chamber of Commerce

small
business TOOL KIT

®

www.springf ieldchamber.com

The Springfield Area Chamber of
Commerce has more than 2,000
member businesses, firms and
organizations.

But did you know that the majority of
our members are small businesses?

It’s a fact. Businesses and organizations
with fewer than 25 employees comprise
nearly 80% of the Chamber’s
membership.

We’re committed to helping Springfield
area small businesses succeed. On the
pages of this booklet, you will find a
sampling of the many benefits,
programs and services available to
you as a small business member of
the Springfield Area Chamber of
Commerce.

“60-Minutes to Success”
Chamber Small Business Council
Sponsors Lunch Seminars for
Business Owners

We are dedicated to improving businesses by
providing education to benefit business
professionals. Explore “60 Minutes to Success”
to learn the latest management, finance,
human resources, legal, marketing and sales
techniques through an array of seminars and
educational workshops to benefit you as well
as your employees. These informative sessions
are presented by members for members.

Goal of Seminars:
• To provide tools, education, resources & visibility for business
owners & managers to improve their business.
• Each seminar is focused on a key segment within business
operations.
• There are three presenters per seminar, each with a specific
topic to cover within the seminar or as a panel discussion
group.
• Participants leave the seminars with key take-aways that
make a difference in their immediate and long-term
performance.

2

Employee
Motivation
and
Teambuilding:
Take Care of Your People So They
Can Take Care Of Your Business

February 1, 2012
11:45 a.m. - 1p.m.
202 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway

This fast-paced, hands-on session will
provide attendees with the framework
and sample implementation for two
different exercises designed to create
cohesiveness among teams of varying
sizes.

Panelists:
Brett Baker, Trust Point Management
• Observe a sample team-building exercise and debriefing
that is suited for small groups of 5-20.
• Learn the basic principles of “treasure mapping” and its most
common application for use with sales teams.
• Discuss exercise uses and adaptations outside of the sales
department.

OTC Customized Training Specialist
• Participate in a sample team-building exercise and debriefing
suitable for groups of 20-75
• Discuss exercise uses and adaptations for groups of varying
sizes and who are seeking different outcomes

Register at www.springfieldchamber.com

4

Employee
Management –
Hiring/Firing:
How To Recognize Liability, How To
Avoid It, And How To Insure For It

April 4, 2012
11:45 a.m. - 1p.m.

This value-packed session will provide
attendees with practical information
and strategies to identify, prevent and
protect their companies from claims,
complaints and liability associated with
employee hiring and firing practices
and procedures.

Panelists:
Legal: Daniel Wooten, Neale & Newman, LLP
• Employment-at-will doctrine
• Major employment laws affecting employment
• Liability exposure of employers

Training: Lynette Weatherford, Human Resource
Advantage, LLC
• Importance of workforce training, policy manuals, counseling
and documentation
• Important aspects of workforce training, policy manuals,
counseling and documentation

Insurance: Mark Adkins, Mark E. Adkins Insurance
Agency, Inc.
• Should I insure for potential employment practices liability,
and if so how?
• Is it or can it be included in my current commercial general
liability coverage?
• What is the difference between “claims made” coverage forms
and “occurrence” coverage forms?

6

Using
Marketing
Magnets To
Build Your
Business In The
New Economy:
Why Personal Branding And Content
Marketing Is Important For Your
Business In The New Economy

How To Use Online Marketing To
Boost Sales For Your Business
June 6, 2012
11:45 a.m. - 1p.m.

This session will show you how to
attract customers to your business
using the new rules of video, social
media, blogging and your website.
Use web 2.0 tools to tell the story
of you and your company and
increase sales.

Panelists:
Steve Visio, Heligonix, Inbound Marketing Specialist
How Personal Branding and Content Marketing Can Be Used
To Build Your Business
• Personal Branding and why it’s important for your business
• How personal branding ties into content marketing, SEO,
and your online presence
• Using your personality to build your Personal Brand
• Why a Content Strategy will become your best friend
Handouts: Social Media Daily Checklist

Brett Curry, Curry Marketing, CEO Online Marketing
Giant, LLC, Leader of “Marketing that Works
Mastermind Group”
The Three Most Important Steps To Get Found Online, Convert
Customers, And Bring Customers Coming Back For More
• How pulling targeted traffic to your website will build online
sales
• Using SEO to bring targeted traffic to your website
• Converting website “viewers” to “buyers”
• Turning one-time customers into repeat buyers and raving
fans

8

Financing
Options For
Small Business
Owners

August 1, 2012
11:45 a.m. - 1p.m.

Small business financing has been
impacted by recent government
regulations and the economy. This
session will teach you how to make a
good impression when approaching
a lender, by identifying what they will
be looking for in a loan request and
aligning those objectives with your
plan for success.

Panelists:
A Representative from Commerce Bank
A Representative from Rural MO, Inc. (RMI)
David Hamm, CPA,CBI,BCI, Murphy Business & Financial
Corporation
• How has lending been impacted by the current economic
climate?
• Financing options for small businesses
• What will a lender want to see from you and your business?
• How will a loan improve your ability to do business?
• What lender is right for your needs?


10

Five Mistakes
Business
Owners Can’t
Afford To Make
In This Economy
& Three
Marketing Tips
To Breathe
New Life Into
Your Business
October 3, 2012
11:45 a.m. - 1p.m.
Location to be determined.
11

Companies across the country are
hurting with little relief in sight, so
what is a small business to do? Learn
what successful businesses are doing
to make the needed changes to grow
in the new economy. Attendees will
walk away with action items that can
change their bottom line before the
year ends.

Panelists:
Randy Mayes, Professional Trainer:
• Learn effective strategies and action plans based on your
natural talents, abilities and interests.
• Expect “out-of-the-box” ideas, with guidelines to help.

Chris Brewer, Online Marketing Giant:
• Discover how local businesses are attracting new customers
and getting leads.
• Learn from case studies how local businesses are competing
and winning everyday with social media strategies, internet
searches and email marketing.

Gary Rogers, Kingsley Group Brokers:.
• Leave with a checklist to help find obvious bottom line
savings to improve cash flow immediately.
• Learn how to spot the early warning signs that can help
avoid dangerous trends in your business or organization.
• Find out what works, what doesn’t and how to know the
difference before it’s too late.

12

Fraud
Prevention:
What You
Don’t Know
Could Be
Putting Your
Business At
Risk
November 7, 2012
11:45 a.m. - 1p.m.

This eye-opening presentation will help
you gain awareness about opportunities
for fraud within your organization and
provide you with information on how you
can protect yourself and your business.

Panelists:
Laurie Adams, U.S. Bank Treasury Management and
Payments Consultant
• Review types of fraud protection
• Discuss best practices to avoid employee fraud
• The importance of proper office controls and audit

Tammy Young, CPA Roberts McKenzie, Mangan &
Cummings, PC
• Testimonial of how fraud affected a clients business
• Questions the client wished they would have asked their
advisors
• Next steps a business takes after being a victim of fraud

Forensic Auditor from KPM office
• Identifying fraud through financial reporting .
• Different types of financial reporting and how CPA might
identify internal fraud
• Costs associated with proving fraud has occurred


14

Online Tools
for Business

www.springfieldchamber.com/toolkit
15

The Springfield Area Chamber of
Commerce offers even more
comprehensive resources for small business
owners and managers online. Visit
www.springfieldchamber.com/toolkit to
take advantage of this member benefit!
Here are some highlights of what you will
find there.

Business Planning and Assistance
This section provides great resources for businesses of all sizes
and ages. The information is aimed at existing businesses, as
well as potential entrepreneurs.

Funding Programs
It’s one of the most popular areas of the site, helping to prepare
business owners to go into a bank or to talk to a federal or state
agency about a loan. Many businesses go into these situations
unprepared, with the result being a negative response from the
agency or, if a loan is possible, a higher interest rate. To overcome
these barriers, visit the Your Funding Toolkit section of the site.
There you will find step by step instructions to make sure you are
prepared before you apply for a loan. There is also information
on how to get a free Dun & Bradstreet number, the importance
of having three years of tax returns, a banking history, Paydex
scores, trade reporting, and more.

Employer Assistance
This section includes an extensive list of free resources designed
to help companies hire new employees. It also offers information
on compliance and a handy tool called “New Employee Email” to
help you get all the information you need to new staff members.
Here’s how it works. After you’ve made a new hire, you simply
type the new employee’s email address into a form and click
16

“submit.” Your new employee will be sent all the forms and
brochures that are required including W-4, I-9 and state with-
holding forms. You also have the option of sending a time sheet
and workplace safety information.

Marketing and Selling
Marketing and selling are key to the success of any business/
organization. This section has a myriad of tools designed to
help businesses market their products more effectively. There’s a
separate section on improving sales, and another section on
selling on the internet.

Disaster Planning and Recovery
Planning for disaster can be critical to the continued existence
of a business and takes very little time. This section focuses on
the steps a company can take to protect its information and its
operations and also offers a broad range of actions that a
business can take to recover from a disaster.

Government Requirements
This section provides forms, instructions and due dates to help
you and your business meet the government requirements
of your type of business. The section includes information on
collecting and filing sales tax returns, paying quarterly estimated
income tax, complying with environmental laws, preparing
annual tax returns, filing 1099’s for independent contractors,
paying use tax, filing business personal property tax returns and
requirements specific to corporations and LLC’s.

17

Additional
Small
Business
Resources
Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
417-862-5567
www.springfieldchamber.com

Springfield Missouri SCORE
417-890-8501
www.score.org

Missouri State University Small Business and Technology
Development Center
417-836-5685
www.sbtdc.missouristate.edu

Drury University Edward Jones Center for Innovation
& Entrepreneurship
417-873-7458
www.drury.edu/ejc

Missouri Business Resource Library
www.missouribusiness.net/sbtdc/library

Springfield-Greene County Library Business Library
417-883-5341
www.thelibrary.org/mindbus
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®

For more information contact
Rob Dixon or Brent McCoy
417-862-5567
www.springf ieldchamber.com

2012 Small Business Toolkit

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