{"id":9340,"date":"2017-08-13T18:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T00:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/?p=9340"},"modified":"2017-08-14T14:06:34","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T20:06:34","slug":"workshops-give-business-owners-financial-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/articles\/general-business-advice\/workshops-give-business-owners-financial-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Workshops Give Business Owners Financial Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Damon Scott for Finance New Mexico<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Intimidating<\/a>Customers, workers, partners and associates have seen it: Business owners with incredible drive and energy who fall into the habit of working harder, not smarter.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon may be especially true when applied to understanding business finances. And it can happen to someone who has been in business for 20 years or just two months.<\/p>\n

A long-running program at WESST in Albuquerque has sought to change the equation when it comes to the language of business finances, which can be intimidating for both startup entrepreneurs and seasoned business owners.<\/p>\n

Julianna Silva, consultant, trainer and managing director of the business incubator at WESST, knows firsthand how daunting business finances can be. Silva owned her own business \u2014 Moderno \u2014 in Nob Hill in the late 1990s and is now co-owner of husband Damian Velasquez\u2019s modern, handcrafted furniture and design business in Albuquerque\u2019s Brewery District.<\/p>\n

\u201cI speak from experience as a small-business owner. It can be stressful when you don\u2019t fully understand the impact of the financials on your business,\u201d said Silva.<\/p>\n

In fact, it was a business planning class Silva took at WESST in 2009 that led to her current position at the business training, development and lending organization.<\/p>\n

Silva is lead trainer for the upcoming workshop series called Learn the Language of Your Business Finances. It\u2019s part of WESST\u2019s Technology Toolkit and harks from a longer nine-week program called Power Tools for Your Business.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumbers and money can be kind of stressful and scary for people,\u201d said Silva. \u201cWe try to make it less scary and less stressful. People are smart. When they can get over the fear and take the tools we\u2019ve developed, they will actually get excited and see how things connect together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Connections include pricing a product or service and analyzing prices that are already in place. \u201cIt helps to leverage your other capacities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Session One examines the break-even analysis, while Session Two dives into financial statements, including how to navigate a profit and loss statement. The final session is devoted to cash flow \u2014 understanding why it\u2019s critical to managing a business.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The last session] helps you understand why you might be showing a profit, but have very little cash on hand,\u201d said Silva.<\/p>\n

Many first-time workshop participants reach out for one-on-one help from WESST. \u201cOne of the things WESST feels passionate about is helping business owners really, really understand their numbers,\u201d said Silva. \u201cThe topics of marketing, accounting and finance can be hard for clients to understand, but they\u2019re so crucial,\u201d she said. WESST\u2019s workshops and individualized assistance touch on all aspects of running a business.<\/p>\n

Silva maintains knowledge is a stress reliever. \u201cIf you learn this,\u201d she tells clients, \u201cyou can actually relieve some stress to do the things you love doing \u2014 building a company. It frees up mind space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The two-hour sessions are held from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. on three consecutive Tuesdays beginning August 29 at the WESST Enterprise Center at 609 Broadway Blvd. NE in Albuquerque. The series costs $75.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole six hours is a good foundation to start with,\u201d said Silva. For more information and to register, visit wesst.org<\/a> or call (505) 246-6930.<\/p>\n

Download 515_Workshops Give Business Owners Financial Foundation<\/a> PDF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Damon Scott for Finance New Mexico Customers, workers, partners and associates have seen it: Business owners with incredible drive and energy who fall into the habit of working harder, not smarter. This phenomenon may be especially true when applied … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9340"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9359,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9340\/revisions\/9359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}