What better way to start the new year by diving into learning opportunities that can help drive forward your idea or business, gain new tools along your entrepreneurial journey, or even network with like-minded individuals and gain valuable connections. At Invest Ottawa, we aim to support and host various workshops, networking events, and community events to help our local entrepreneurs and uncover ways to elevate your business.
Whether you’re an up-and-coming entrepreneur looking for resources to begin your venture or an established business needing a refresher on specific business topics, our community has a range of opportunities designed to help you level up. We’re all about helping Ottawa entrepreneurs make informed decisions about starting and growing their businesses.
Knowledge is power, so we’ve highlighted eleven events worth considering to ring in the new year!
Invest Ottawa Entrepreneurship Peer Group Information Session
Date: January 7
Time: 10:00 am – 10:30 am
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
Do you want to take your business to the next level?
For an entrepreneur, a peer group is a collective of non-competing business owners who run similar-sized companies and meet regularly. Together they work through professional challenges and tackle tough business issues. They’re led by seasoned advisors – these experts provide value, maintain the pace, and lend a needed entrepreneurial hand.
Join to learn more about Invest Ottawa’s Entrepreneurship Peer Group Program.
2022 Global Privacy Law Update: MDK Webinar Series (presented by Invest Ottawa Sponsor MDK Business Law)
In this highly interactive and fast-paced workshop designed for an Invest Ottawa audience (Teach, Talk, Try), MDK’s lawyers will give an update on privacy law issues or changes affecting businesses with customers in North America, Europe and other countries around the globe.
Date: January 11
Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
Social Enterprise 101
Date: January 12
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
In this webinar, you will learn more about social enterprise models and characteristics, local examples, support resources, and considerations for starting. Join to learn more about this unique type of business that uses revenue-generating activities to achieve a social, environmental or cultural good.
Opening a Food Establishment in the City of Ottawa
Date: January 13
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
This session focuses on topics such as the different categories of food-related business licenses regulated by the City of Ottawa and is led by the City of Ottawa’s Business Information Officer (BIO), Sylvie Idone. The BIO’s role is to support entrepreneurs aiming to open a new food business in Ottawa. The session provides insight into a range of entrepreneur-centric services offered by the City and focuses on topics such as the different categories of food-related business licences regulated by the City, the regulations for home-based businesses, and the interdepartmental permit and legislation requirements (i.e. health, by-law, fire and building code requirements). If you are considering opening a bakery, café, restaurant, wholesale food, catering or mobile refreshment/food business in Ottawa, this is the session for you.
Google Advertising: The Business Owner’s Starter Guide
Date: January 13
Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
You’ve probably heard different things about Google Advertising, some good, some not-so-good. In this free webinar, we will unveil the facts about this often misunderstood form of online promotion, and lay out a framework that will help you decide if it’s right for your business.
Google Advertising can be very powerful, but only if it’s done properly. This webinar is designed specifically for business owners who want to learn more about how Google Ads work, and more importantly, how well it could work for them.
By the end of this webinar, you will have a solid understanding of how Google Ads are priced, how to set a realistic budget, and how to identify your return on investment.
Bring Your Creations to Life – Learn why Intellectual Property Matters
Date: January 18
Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
Are you developing your idea into something tangible such as building a brand for your business or creating a product to sell? If so, then you need to know about intellectual property (IP). This webinar will introduce you to trademarks, patents, trade secrets, industrial designs and copyright, and explain how protecting your creations through IP rights can give you an advantage over your competition.
Design Thinking for Public Sector Leaders
Date: January 19 & 20
Time: 9:00 am – 2:30 pm
Organizer: Spring2 Innovation
Cost: $2,300
For the public sector to be truly innovative, a design-led and human-centered approach to innovation must be embedded from the top down. When leaders embrace design thinking and understand their own personal value proposition, change is rapid and has a significant impact on the success and culture of teams. To that end, executive-level buy-in is critical; emphasizing the need for executives to both understand and support design-led innovation.
Build your leadership capacity with the tools to guide your team through change using human-centered methodology that encourages co-creation and a deep understanding of the end-user. By the end of this training, you will understand how to lead your team towards delivering impactful outcomes – whether that’s shaping or improving a program, policy, or service – using data, empathy, rapid prototyping, and iteration.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): what’s in it for us?
Date: January 24
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
Our Free Trade Agreement with 10 Pacific Countries (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam) renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is Canada’s newest major agreement. It provides Canadian exporters with a great opportunity to diversify their markets and lessen our dependence on the US.
This seminar will explain the content of this major Trade Agreement and what it means for Canadian businesses, how to benefit from it, focusing on the trade of goods. Companies and individuals involved or wanting to get involved in international trade and diversify beyond the US or European markets, in particular importers and exporters of tangible goods should attend.
Design Thinking for the Public Sector (Level 1)
Date: January 25 & 26
Time: 9:00 am – 2:30 pm
Organizer: Spring2 Innovation
Cost: $1,500
The public sector is increasingly challenged with solving complex business problems in a collaborative way while working with end-users, clients, and citizens. Whether you are tackling a specific project, designing new policies, developing new products, or building a solution to encourage ongoing innovation within your organization, Design Thinking can help.
Design Thinking methodology includes five (5) phases; Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Throughout the course, you’ll learn each phase and the various tools and methods that can be applied to work with clients, citizens, and in life. Various case studies identifying solid Design Thinking approaches will be reviewed and used to ensure a deep understanding among the participants.
Financial Forecasting: Logan Katz Learning Series (presented by Invest Ottawa Sponsor Logan Katz)
Date: January 26
Time: 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
This 2-hour webinar will help you understand how to develop sound financial projections and a working cash flow model, as well as interpret related financial statement components.
Understanding the New Demands of a New Workforce – and How to Meet Them (presented by Invest Ottawa Sponsor HUB International)
Date: January 27
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Organizer: Invest Ottawa Education Centre
Cost: Free
COVID-19 changed the rules for recruiting and retention. Disconnected from their employers and looking for greater support both at work and home, employees will want more from their benefits packages in 2022.
Join benefits experts James Gardner and Chris Lafrange from HUB International to learn what you can expect in employee benefits in 2022 and learn practical strategies to support your people and your organization.
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