Get Legit Series

Bridgeway Capital’s Creative Business Accelerator (CBA) presents “Get Legit”, a three month long webinar series that focuses on the fundamental ingredients of entrepreneurial success for creative businesses.

While every creative business is different, many of the basic building blocks remain the same. Solid bookkeeping, quality photography, basic legal contracts, and an intentional brand identity are a few of the elements to consider when deciding to grow a creative passion into a thriving business. Over the course of January, February, and March of 2021, Get Legit brings together a variety of high quality webinars, a Resource Library, and the opportunity to dig deeper through one-on-one business coaching with the experts themselves. With Get Legit, there’s something for every creative entrepreneur who is committed to building a resilient business. Scroll below to register for Get Legit webinars and view additional resources.

Meet the Experts

Get Legit Business Coaching

The CBA is offering a limited amount of free, one-on-one business coaching with a wide range of experts to support the creative entrepreneurs who desire a deeper dive. Most Get Legit content providers are available for an hour of coaching, along with a number of additional experts. If there is a specific topic or area that you could use help with, just let us know. To be eligible for this opportunity, you must:

  • Be a part of the CBA network or willing to join.
  • Complete an intake form if we don’t have current information for your business, along with the Creative Business Ladder Survey.
  • Attend a Get Legit webinar.

 

ASK AN EXPERT

Additional Services:

  • Trellis Legal provides free, 30-minute consultations for new businesses and is offering a 20% discount on your entire purchase of contract templates from their Contract Template Library from January 1 through the end of February with code “CBA2021” (Limit one per customer). They are also offering a 15% discount on reviewing wholesale terms within your current contracts. (For Pennsylvania businesses only. Subject to client intake and conflicts check).
  • Wilke and Associates is offering a free consultation for new clients as well as a $400 start-up package (a $100 discount) to help creative entrepreneurs build a firm foundation. Clients will have access to a professional accountant for a consultation to determine your best fit for accounting software, discuss the best entity choice for your business, review and advise on your tax compliance, and examine potential tax deductions.

 

Inquire here

Get Legit in January

Assessing Your Record Keeping Practices

Thursday, January 14, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Are you still keeping track of your finances in a notebook or in a simple excel spreadsheet (if at all)? Why take the time to improve your bookkeeping system? An accounting expert from Wilke & Associates will break down the basics of good bookkeeping and explain how it can provide tangible benefits for your business. Learn how bookkeeping allows you to monitor the health and success of your business, how it can provide the information you need to make decisions, and lastly, a number of accounting software options will be discussed.

Watch the Recording

Getting Strategic: Budgeting and Planning

Thursday, January 21, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Planning for the future often feels out of reach for small business owners but it’s an important part of thinking strategically. We can’t anticipate everything that will come our way, but having a solid business budget can provide guidance for decisions and opportunities as they arise. Olga Pogoda, principal & co-founder of KRNLS, will lead this deep dive into how small business owners can budget for the coming year, and even plan further into the future. Olga has years of experience providing highly effective business coaching for entrepreneurs on topics such as finances, crowdfunding strategies, marketing, and website development.

Watch the Recording

Legal Best Practices for Wholesale and Purchase Orders

Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Do you offer wholesale and/or bulk ordering or are you thinking of offering it for your business? If so, you should have clear purchasing terms for your business. This not only streamlines the process for you, but also makes sure you and buyers are on the same page about things like shipping liability, pricing, defects, and more. In this webinar Marlene van Nelson of Trellis Legal, LLC will talk about the importance of purchasing terms and key provisions to include in your wholesale or purchase order sheets. Your takeaways will include an overview of purchasing terms and who should use them, key provisions to include, and next steps for getting your business’s terms legally legit.

Watch the Recording

Get Legit in February

Understanding Your Business Legal Checklist

Thursday, February 11, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Join Marlene van Nelson, the founder and principal attorney at Trellis Legal, to explore the fundamental legal considerations for your small business. Marlene will walk through the Trellis Legal Business Checklist and explain items such as Operating Agreements, why you should create a separate business bank account, selecting an Entity, and basic business contracts.

Check out the Trellis Legal Business Checklist

Watch the Recording

Tax Planning for Small Businesses

Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

We will be joined once again by a certified CPA from Wilke and Associates to explore topics around financial health and planning. To help you prepare for the 2021 tax season, join us to learn more about commonly missed tax deductions, how entity choice relates to your taxes, and the 20% pass-through tax deduction, and how it may impact your income tax.

Watch the Recording

The Fundamentals of Creative Business Photography

Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Photography is a key element for any creative business but hiring a photographer might not be an option for many reasons. Sam Laffey and Nathan Shaulis of Porter Loves are experts on this complex topic and will spend an hour discussing some strategies and tools for creating your own photography.

Strategies For Stellar Product Photography On Any Budget PDF is password protected: iLoveM8C@mera

Watch the Recording

Get Legit in March

Identifying Your Brand and Understanding Your Customer

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

In this webinar, Madeline Farina, a freelance marketing consultant who specializes in small businesses, will explain why understanding your target customer is one of the most important steps you can take to get your marketing efforts to the next level. Knowing your target customer helps you think smart with your marketing budget and allows you to build a brand that they will be loyal to. With experience working at the corporate level as well as with small local startups, Madeline will help you meet your customers where they are, without a giant marketing budget. Madeline is participating in Get Legit business coaching and is available to meet with you to discuss your marketing, branding, and strategy questions.

Watch the Recording

E-Commerce Fundamentals

Thursday, March 18, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

This Get Legit webinar is lead by Alecia Dawn, a Pittsburgh-based creative entrepreneur with a wide range of experience including non-profit management, owning a small business (YOGAMOTIF), and teaching. For this webinar, Alecia is combining content from the two E-Commerce videos she developed for the CBA (available to view in our Resources Section at the bottom of the page) and will discuss the fundamentals of creating an E-Commerce store for your business. There will be time for questions from the audience at the end.

 

Watch the Recording

 

Let’s Talk Strategy with Nisha Blackwell

Thursday, March 25, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

So now you have good bookkeeping practices, a solid legal foundation, a fully functioning e-commerce store, and great marketing collateral with your own photography. What next? To round out our Get Legit webinar series, Nisha Blackwell, Founder of Knotzland and Program Coordinator/Business Coach for the CBA’s ORIGINS Program, will discuss how you can take all of the business fundamentals you’ve built upon over the last few months and develop solid strategies to both stabilize and grow your business. Setting growth goals, identifying resources and supports, setting benchmarks, and scenario planning (for the good and the bad) are all important elements for resilient creative businesses.

Watch the Recording

Additional Resources for Creative Entrepreneurs

Legal

Finances

Blog Posts from Wilke & Associates:

Additional Resources:

Photography

Marketing

Preparing for the Market

Website and E-Commerce

Content expert: Cory Bosket, Imagebox. This was recorded on Monday, November 6, 2020, as a part of the CBA + Handmade Arcade Maker Curriculum.