Innovation Muskoka, an initiative from Muskoka Futures, is welcoming the end of winter with a couple of seminars of particular interest to business people, plus a special workshop for the writers in our area.
On Monday, March 1, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Nipissing University, 125 Wellington Street in Bracebridge, noted business expert Donna Douglas will walk business owners through the complexities of learning how to cost and price goods and services. This is one of the most challenging aspects of business success.
Participants in this workshop must come prepared with their own calculator, pencil, eraser, the approximate cost of running their business and their household for one month.
Douglas has been directly involved in the start-up of over 1,200 businesses in the Barrie area since 1995. A true entrepreneur herself, her journalism beginnings secured her the position of editor of the Barrie Banner when she was just 24 years of age. Owner of her own communications business and a 20-year instructor with Georgian College’s School of Continuous Learning, Douglas brings to her clients the experience of having walked the walk, and offers unparalleled care and support for the small business owner.
On Monday, March 8, the program welcomes Dr. Dusty Papke to the podium. An accomplished and sought-after speaker, educator, and presenter, Papke is president of D. L. Papke & Associates, a Muskoka-based company that provides advisory services to small-and medium-sized businesses. He is accredited by the Institute for Independent Business and is a certified innermetrix consultant. Papke has worked with numerous companies of all sizes to help the owners achieve the business they imagine.
His seminar, The Seven Stages to Business Success, will help you identify what stage of the success cycle you are currently in, and what you can do to launch, grow, or turn around your company. He welcomes his clients to learn how to reclaim lost income and regain control of their business, while conquering the frustration that often accompanies business ownership.
The session will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Nipissing University
A real treat awaits the writers – published or unpublished – who attend The Insider’s Guide to Getting Published. Cynthia Good, past-president and publisher of Penguin Books Canada, and current Director of Creative Publishing at Humber College, will offer her extensive knowledge on the ins and outs of the publishing world. Held at Best Western Hotel, 86 Howland Drive in Huntsville on Thursday, March 18 from 7 to 10 p.m., this workshop will address the topics that writers want to know: the low-down on the current publishing scene, agents and editors, query letters and proposals, what’s selling, the decision-making process by publishers, and more.
All three of these seminars are offered by Muskoka Futures to the community free of charge, but registration is limited, so book your spot now. Information is available on the website (a click-to at the bottom of the home page), so visit www.muskokafutures.ca or just e-mail innovation@muskokafutures.ca.