Rural Oxford Economic Development Corporation is offering area entrepreneurs free online training to help with the topics most relevant to them. The training modules are applicable for a startup or a growing business and include topics such as market research, business planning, and marketing and sales.
Crystal Van Roekel is the Economic Development Officer at Rural Oxford EDC and says the training is a direct result of what their partners have been asking for. “We are coining it the Quick Wins Business Training, we took feedback we received during our Oxford Rural Entrepreneur’s Events that many of the participants would like to receive some business training. We found the social aspect of being at an outdoor networking event doesn’t lend itself to easily incorporate these types of sessions, so we opted to make them available online as a self-serve dashboard, and best of all they are free!” she adds “We have partnered with six incredible people to bring six modules to our entrepreneurs.”
They are quick win videos touching on anything from creating and engaging content to help creating policies for your small business, and when it starts growing – hiring employees to keeping and finding talent. Rural Oxford EDC sent out a survey last year to get an idea of what topics people had an appetite for. “We were able to curate what we think is a very valuable tool that is not a large time constraint on busy business owners, that gives them quality training and tips.” The small business atmosphere in Rural Oxford continues to flourish and Crystal says the training is all about providing on demand education. “We wanted to make sure resources were easy to find. We respect that entrepreneurs already have enough on their plates. Not only do they have to be successful in their business model, now they have to create great content, do office administration, bookkeeping and more. We wanted them to have an educational space that could grow with them and that they could take the time to utilize when they have the time.”
The videos run anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes and provide high-level explanations of the subject matter and they are also offering ways to learn more at the end of the videos. “If it was something you would like to learn more about or someone you would like to make a connection with we encourage you to reach out to us and we can connect you with these services,” adds Crystal.
The entire six-part series is available at any time with the first step to subscribe on the website at https://ruraloxford.ca/initiatives/training/.
