Wyoming Business Tips for June

A monthly look at issues facing Wyoming business owners and entrepreneurs from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming.

By Maureen Johnson, marketing, communication and database manager, Wyoming SBDC Network

If you are a small-business owner preparing for a strategic planning session, you know that the approaches available to conduct strategic planning are as unique as your small business. It is critical to select a method or set of ideas that serve your business and match your team’s way of thinking through problems and processing ideas.

To help you organize a planning session that works for your business, we have collected our favorite resources you can refer to at any time and at no cost.

-- Biz Tip Article - “Effective Methods for Small Business Strategic Planning”: Explore four common tactics for creating a strategic plan. These four methods are well known in the business world and have a lot of free support and research to help you understand how they could fit into your vision.

-- Webinar Series - “Finding Your Competitive Advantage in a Post COVID-19 Economy”: This three-part series covers how to strategically plan the customer experience; a panel with our own business advisers on what they believe to be important to focus on now that we have emerged from the pandemic; and a deep dive into post-pandemic retail trends.

-- Webinar Series - “Business Growth Planning”: Ryan Murray, former Utah SBDC state director, presents a series on how to build a plan for growth that works for your business. He covers how to break through plateaus, move your business forward and create real results from your plan.

-- Webinar Series - “Strategies to Turn Uncertainty to Competitive Advantage”: Meridith Powell, a business consultant and author, provides a road map on how to grow your business and drive sales in highly shifting, constantly changing economic times. In Powell’s latest book, titled “Thrive,” she explores the stories of leaders and organizations that have seen consistent growth through several economic crises. She shares their experiences in navigating turbulent economic times and shows how your business can successfully move through uncertainty.

-- One-on-One Counseling - Wyoming Business Network Advisers: Because a small-business owner’s needs can be as unique as their business model, oftentimes connecting with your Wyoming SBDC Network adviser is the best choice to determine a path forward. Schedule your no-cost, one-on-one advising appointment to be sure that you receive assistance that is pertinent to your business needs.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers no-cost advising and technical assistance to help Wyoming entrepreneurs think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. In 2022, the Wyoming SBDC Network helped Wyoming entrepreneurs start 68 new businesses; support 2,411 jobs; and bring a capital impact of $5.3 million to the state. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write Dept. 3922, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071-3922.