NEW ALBANY, IN (March 12, 2012) – Strengthening your business instincts can take time, creative thinking, and hard work.

To meet that community need Indiana University Southeast School of Business and the Regional Economic Development Resource Center (REDRC) are offering the workshop “Identify and Develop Your Entrepreneurial Skills: Start Your Own Business.”

The eight-week program will meet from 5:45 to 8:45 p.m., Thursdays, April 5 to May 24, in University Center North, room 126.

The sessions will help participants develop a business plan and will include tips on developing a mission statement, focusing on a product/service, identifying customers and putting together a marketing plan, exploring legal issues, identifying costs, evaluating human resource needs, and addressing accounting and financial planning needs.  

Uric Dufrene, Sanders Chair in Business, will lead the workshop. 

“One of the keys for any business, start up, or existing business is the development and implementation of a successful business plan, said Dufrene. “It forces you to think about strategic issues and develop a realistic understanding of your business model.”  Some people will discover they are pleased to start their own business while others may decide “that going into business may not be for them.” 

The workshop is geared for those considering starting a business, current business owners/managers, minority/women-owned businesses, returning veterans, and recently displaced workers.  Because of generous grant funding the program is offered without charge; the accompanying book may be purchased online.  

For more information visit, www.ius.edu/business or contact Brenda Swartz at (812) 941-2494.