Starting Your Small Business

On Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Brad Rickelman, Assistant Director of the Center for Business Development at Meridian Technology Center, will teach a weekend session of “Beginning Your Business” at the Stillwater Public Library.

The Center for Business Development has been partnering with the library to provide a beginning business class the last several years. Rickelman hopes it will help people who want to start a business understand the processes that need to be completed before opening.

“One of the most common errors is taking big steps before your have done the appropriate planning,” said Rickelman. “This class will help prospective business owners avoid that mistake.”

Students in the class will learn about common errors in beginning a business, how to research and develop the market for products or services and how to plan financial needs.

“Starting Your Business" is free and open to the public. Registration is required and will be taken until Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. To sign-up, go to the library's website at http://library.stillwater.org, email askalibrarian@stillwater.org or call 405-372-3633 x 8106.

Stillwater has a network of organizations that assist business owners, including the Center for Business Development at Meridian Technology Center which provides business consulting and coaching, business incubation and networking and education events. Other resources include:

• OSU Payne County Extension, which hosts monthly meetings and learning opportunities for home based businesses.
• Oklahoma Small Business Development Center at OSU, which provides entrepreneurs with professional business consulting at no cost, including management training and vital information they need to grow and succeed.
• Stillwater Public Library, which provides hard copy books and eBooks on business and management subjects and the Small Business online database, which provides thousands of articles, videos, and books on all manner of business.

Library hours are Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Stillwater Public Library is located at 1107 S. Duck St. (the corner of Duck and 12th Ave.).