Horizons Provides Resources for Entrepreneurs
Posted: Sunday, December 5
By Terri Elders
Approximately forty people gathered at the Institute for Extended Learning on Saturday, October 3 to share and learn about new strategies for starting up and marketing a local business. The event, sponsored by the Colville Horizons, drew interested participants from surrounding communities as well as Colville.
Jeni Forman, marketing director from Hearth and Home kicked off the morning’s presentations by encouraging entrepreneurs to watch for new opportunities to expand their distribution. She emphasized the four “P”s of marketing: product, place, promotion and price.
James Steen, who recently opened Maverick’s, a Colville restaurant, discussed the benefits of dry runs and of training employees thoroughly. “Never underestimate the power of word of mouth in small towns,” he advised.
IEL instructor Rick Hansen reminded business owners to consider their customers. “Most business people have expertise in their products but sometimes forget about the customer. What does the customer want? What is the business really selling? It’s not just the product, but the benefits that having that product will bring.”
Tri-County Economic Development District director Leslie Jones discussed the free business training that will be offered at the facility’s new location in South Town Plaza. The new business incubator program, North East Washington Business Development Services, will launch a series of five classes on consecutive Saturdays, beginning October 23, from 9 to 12. The first session, conducted by Scott Douglas, SCORE representative, will be free.
Debra Kollock, Stevens County WSU Extension director, outlined the history of that program, and its outreach and engagement in Stevens County since l936.
Elliott Edwards, co-owner of Hachisoft, opened his address by providing definitions commonly associated with technology buffs: geek, gork and dweeb. He emphasized that entrepreneurs need to be obsessive, “just like geeks.” He described how technology is changing the way the world views marketing, including how social marketing systems such as Twitter can track customers and customer satisfaction.
Vicky Broden briefly introduced the basic ideas behind Blue Ocean strategies in creating a niche for businesses. Blue Ocean Strategy is a business strategy book that illustrates the high growth and profits an organization can generate by creating new demand in an uncontested market space, or a "Blue Ocean", rather than by competing head-to-head with other suppliers for known customers in an existing industry
The last presenter, Jody Collins, who is attending Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Academy in Portland, OR, demonstrated pie crust making techniques and served participants slices of several varieties of quiche.
“We want to thank everybody who attended this event. We found the comments and evaluations useful for planning future events,” said Sue Poe, current Colville Horizons chairperson. “Further, we are most appreciative for the continuing partnerships we have with WSU Extension and the IEL. We especially thank Pastor Kays of the Church of the Nazarene for allowing Jody Collins to prepare his pies in the church kitchen.”
According to Poe, the PowerPoint presentations soon will be posted on the Horizons website, http://www.colvillewa.org/ .
