Women's Enterprise Centre
It's your business. Start. Grow. Succeed.


Since 1995, we have trained over 14,000 women in 1100-plus seminars and workshops to improve their business skills.

Our workshops come in multiple formats that meet the varied schedules and time constraints of small business owners.


Workshops for STARTING your business:

Workshops for MARKETING your business:

Workshops for GROWING your business:

Workshops to help you MANAGE your MONEY


Click here to see our workshop schedule ...

Click here to see our video conference seminar schedule ...

Workshops for STARTING your business

So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur?

Do you dream of being your own boss and running a successful business? Do you want to work for your passion and not just a paycheque? Then maybe it's time to put your idea into action! This interactive workshop will help you assess if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur and how to find the right business opportunity for you!

Going Solo! For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

This three hour workshop explores the world of entrepreneurship and business start up using real-world examples. From brainstorming an idea to practical business implementation this workshop will provide you with helpful tools and resources to get you started on the road to running your own Business.

The workshop explains what an entrepreneur really is, explores your vision for your business, investigates potential gaps in your business plan and ensures you know where start-up funds will come from. We will talk with successful, local women entrepreneurs who will share their stories about how they started their business. Resource guides are supplied to all participants for this three hour workshop.

Going Solo! For aspiring entrepreneurs is an uplifting workshop that will help you determine how to make ‘entrepreneur’ your middle name!

 

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Workshops for MARKETING your business

Financial support for these workshops provided by:
Province of British Columbia

Ministry of Small
Business & Revenue

Focused Marketing: Targeted EFFORT, Tangible RESULTS

When someone asks about your marketing strategy, do you describe the direct mail campaign you're running, the newspaper space you've purchased, the positive word-of-mouth you've been getting?

All those things are a part of marketing, but they are not STRATEGY. They are TACTICS. Tactics are only as effective as the strategy behind them. If you're going to spend money and time on tactics, you must first know WHY you are doing it and what really works to reach your best potential customers most effectively.

Focused marketing gets at the ‘why’ of marketing. The workshop guides you through the process of building a sound marketing strategy for YOUR business and will help you:

  • determine the best customers for your marketing efforts
  • understand how to connect with those customers, both with a message and the marketing tools they will find attractive
  • match your marketing strategy to your own personal strengths
  • and discover how to translate your learning directly into a marketing plan and budget for your business for the next 12 months

The workshop includes: a facilitator; a Focused Marketing study guide and materials. This workshop has two delivery options:

  • A one-day intensive training workshop; or
  • A six-week workshop

To be advised of the next workshop dates and locations, or to request the Focused Marketing workshop in your community, please send an email to inquiry@womensenterprise.ca with the name of your community in the subject line. Please remember to include your full contact information including phone number in the email.

Six Keys to Common Sense Marketing

A lot of marketing is common sense. In this workshop you will become familiar with the foundations of marketing, the truths behind effective marketing and the steps to getting focused so you make the most of your limited resources. Once you understand the keys, the trick is in using them - creatively, consistently and courageously.

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Workshops for GROWING your business

Partnering Up! Growing your business through alliances

Strategic alliances are a natural for women in business, both from a business and a personal standpoint. This three hour workshop will discuss the importance of stragic alliances, how to build effective alliances and how they can create opportunities or solve problems for a woman running a small business.

Once you've learned the why's and how's of a strategic alliance, we will teach you how to maintain a healthy alliance and ensure roles and responsibilities are clear to everyone involved in the partnership. 

Moving Up! Business growth strategies

Using examples from successful women owned businesses within the community, this three hour workshop explains how to set a deliberate direction and path which sets a business apart from, and moves it ahead, of similar businesses, caters to customer values and complements and collaborates for business growth and success.

 

Ready, Set, Grow! Preparing to grow your business

Using examples from successful women owned businesses in your community, this three hour workshop explains the business cycle, when it is time to grow, and how to develop partnerships and alliances which moves your business forward and reinforces business growth and success.

Path Clearing: Cutting Through the Idea Clutter

Are you looking for new direction in your business? Are you feeling like your business is pulling you in multiple directions? Do you wonder whether you need to return to your initial business vision? Are you frustrated by wasted time and energy due to conflicting priorities? If any of these apply, this workshop is for you!

Path Clearing is about separating valuable business strategies from the clutter using a new, straightforward, practical tool that will help clear your path to success.

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Workshops to help you MANAGE your MONEY

Financial Management

One of the keys to business success is an ability to interpret financial statements. In fact, a primary cause of business failure is poor financial management, including the misinterpretation of financial statements and inappropriate action taken as a result.

This guide will help you understand basic financial principles that must be applied to your business on a daily basis. By the time you complete this self directed workshop, you will be comfortable with the functions of cash flow management, credit and collections, cost/profit/volume relationship, and business ratios. Click here to purchase the Guide

Financial Understanding

Even if you use a bookkeeper and/or accountant, it is imperative that you understand the financial side of your business. This introductory-level, self directed workshop, takes you through practical exercises to help you improve your bottom line.

After completing the workbook you will be able to: read balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements. Understand cost of goods sold and margins. Recognize the difference between sales and profit. Click here to purchase the Guide

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Click here to see our workshop schedule ...