ABC Program Curriculum Summary

Class 1: Strategic Planning for Your Venture:  This first workshop of the program addresses ways entrepreneurs use strategic planning to turn business inspiration - concepts, ideas, assets, and intellectual property - into a profitable company.

Class 2: The Road Map: Writing an Effective Business Plan:  This workshop covers all phases of business plan development, including: identifying objectives, understanding investor criteria, the value proposition, tailoring strategies to a specific market and economic context, and creating the elements of a business plan.

Class 3: Betting on the Jockey: Building the Killer Management Team:  This workshop explains how to successfully recruit and manage a professional business team. The course will also cover how investors, recruiters and entrepreneurs collaborate on the recruitment process, how a business team adds or detracts value from a company, ways to provide creative compensation, methods in identifying a company's needs, and how to manage legal issues.

Class 4: Protecting Your Intangible Assets: Intellectual Property Rights:  Innovative ideas can attract capital, create revenue, and contribute to a company's long-term success, if it is strategically managed. This workshop covers the most crucial legal and business strategies every company should know before exposing its idea to a competitive marketplace, including: licensing, developing a product with an independent contractor, as well as copyrights and trade secrets.

Class 5: Marketing, Pricing, and Your Competition:  A strategy for effective marketing, pricing, and managing competition is an essential element of any business plan. This workshop covers issues such as: defining and segmenting the total target market, customer and competitive analysis, branding, and other marketing fundamentals critical to sustaining your business. The workshop will also lead participants through an exercise on how to think about pricing.

Class 6: Finance and Valuation:  This workshop covers crucial aspects of financial processes for startup companies. Topics include: developing realistic financial assessments, budgeting and forecasting, preparing financials for the business plan, how to be fiscally prepared for foreseeable budget cycles, valuation, and reporting to financial stakeholders.

Class 7: Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Business Presentations:  This workshop will help participants effectively communicate their value proposition to various audiences. Participants will have an opportunity to practice the “elevator pitch” with mentors and peers, so that they can leave with an effective, polished pitch.

Class 8: Attracting Capital: Financing Strategies for the New Venture:  Emerging companies need to know the most realistic options available for financing in the current marketplace. This workshop considers different financing strategies, including VC financing, angel financing, government funding and loans. Participants will learn what is required in approaching each financing source, and how to quickly identify viable opportunities. Alternative strategies are also covered, including partnering with customers, bootstrapping, and leveraging.
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FOR BUSINESS OWNERS & ENTREPRENEURS:

t ABC Series

• Seeks growing businesses that are ready to receive private investment or equity financing

• Provides a informal but focused forum to pitch to potential investors

• Free “coaching” available through the ABC Committee

• ABC Series are hosted by your local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

• Ask for the next ABC Series in your region!

t  ABC Training [ETP]

• Are you looking for an infusion of capital and want to be trained?

• The ABC Training Program is a formal training for those businesses ready to take the next step

•  Partially funded by the California Employment Training Panel (ETP) you may qualify to receive the training at No Cost

• Opportunity “to pitch” their business plan to investors, angel investors and venture capital companies in a more formal and in depth format after completion of the program

• Training sessions are designed for small business owners/principals, CFOs, controllers and other key finance staff members.

t Tailored Training

• Training programs designed specifically for Women owned businesses seeking capital

• Training programs on access to business capital conducted in Spanish

LEGISLATIVE:
The ABC Committee has focused its efforts upon improving the opportunities for minority and women-owned firms to acquire venture capital and as such has worked with the California Legislature to create a program to deploy funds to the state’s emerging markets.

t EMERGING DOMESTIC MARKET GROUP

• Developed a new fund-to-fund financial instrument that can oversee investors making early stage investments.  

• Provides for funds to manage and disburse funds to emerging domestic market companies

• Provide new and substantial technical assistance utilizing currently funded State of California resources and private sector funds that will enable early stage firms to investment ready.

FUNDS AND FUND MANAGERS
Are you looking to manage a fund and help deploy funds to the California emerging market businesses?  Contact us at your earliest convenience to determine if you can be a part of this first-of-its-kind initiative.