UHV SBDC workshop to teach language of accounting, finance
One of Joe Humphrey’s favorite sayings is “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and that often applies to entrepreneurs trying to build successful businesses.
“When a small business owner first starts out, there’s always a learning curve,” said Humphreys, director of the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center. “That’s why the SBDC is here, to help entrepreneurs find ways to build knowledge and equip themselves for success.”
Crossroads entrepreneurs soon will have another opportunity to learn essential skills for success in the Profit Mastery: Creating Value and Building Wealth workshop. The two-day course will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 9 and 10 in Room 308 of the Victoria College Emerging Technology Complex, 7403 Lone Tree Road.
Profit Mastery focuses on showing small business owners how to increase their earnings through a better understanding of financial information. The workshop is made up of several video modules. After each module, attendees have time to review and apply what they learned to their own business’s information.
“Accounting and finance professionals have their own jargon,” Humphreys said. “Learning it can be like trying to speak a foreign language. But if entrepreneurs can learn the language, they will simplify their dealings with those professionals and help them get loans or other needed resources.”
The course has received a positive response from attendees, Humphreys said. One business owner even requested that the SBDC train his entire staff. Others have seen their businesses improve through their understanding of how to build and maintain wealth.
“I would highly recommend Profit Mastery to any small business owner,” said David Arnold, owner of DE Web Works and a 1999 UHV alumnus with a bachelor’s in computer science. “Business owners don’t typically start a business for the sake of being in business. They start a business because they are passionate about what they do. Most of the time they aren’t passionate about the numbers that make their business run. Profit Mastery is like boot camp for business owners to learn how to read the numbers and understand them. Even if they don’t do the books, they will learn how to talk to the people who do.”
There is limited space available, so those interested should register as soon as possible by contacting 361-582-2575 or rachel.nessel@victoriacollege.edu. The workshop costs $395, which includes lunch and materials. The Texas Workforce Commission Skills for Small Business program is available to help pay for the class.
The UHV SBDC offers assistance on starting, growing and financing a business; contracting opportunities; and recovering from a disaster. It also helps new businesses start and existing businesses expand through a combination of consulting and training in areas like market identification, raising capital and developing a business plan. Most of its services are free to area small business owners. The center serves Aransas, Bee, Calhoun, DeWitt, Gonzales, Goliad, Jackson, Karnes, Lavaca, Refugio and Victoria counties.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
