Getting Started
Welcome A note from Pat Geho, TSBDC State Executive Director: Hello, and welcome to Small Business Survival Training, a collaborative effort between Middle Tennessee State University and Tennessee Tech’s Business Media Center. It is brought to you by the Tennessee Small Business Development Centers and the US Small Business Administration. I am glad you have chosen to use our online training. This training consists of fourteen modules designed to help start-up and existing businesses expand their knowledge of business topics. Each module has PDF documents with written content, voice-narrated PowerPoint presentations, and video clips from professionals, educators, and entrepreneurs. Due to the individual nature of each small business, these modules were designed to offer the general information about each subject that can relate to any small businesses. We encourage you to contact a TSBDC counselor to discuss any questions you may have about your business. TSBDC offers both face-to-face, and online counseling - and all of our counseling services are free. If at any time you have questions about this online training, please feel free to use the questions button at the bottom of the website. We also encourage you to utilize the feedback option for each module to tell us what you think. Have a wonderful day! 1 © 2011 – Tennessee Small Business Development Centers
Getting Started
System Requirements Browser: This website is best viewed in Firefox or Internet Explorer. (If you choose Firefox, you will need to use the link below to download the Flash plugins needed.)
Adobe: The PDF documents in the modules require the latest version of Adobe Reader – click here to download.
Flash: The videos and PowerPoints in the modules require the latest version of Flash player – click here to download for Internet Explorer, and here to download for Firefox & Safari.
Registering for an Account If you are a current TSBDC client, or have attended our online courses before, you will still need to register for an account to view our new online courses. However, once you have registered, you will only have to log-in to see all of our online courses. This new website eliminates the need to register for each course separately. Username: You will need to create a username to register. This, and your password, is what you will use to log-in to the classes from now on. Please choose something you can easily remember. © 2011 – Tennessee Small Business Development Centers
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Getting Started
Email:
You will need an active email address to register for our online courses. If you do not have one, we suggest Gmail – a free webbased email service provided by Google. Click here to register for Gmail.
Password:
You will be asked to create a password when you fill out the user registration form. Passwords are case sensitive.
Navigating the Website User Page:
Once you are logged in you will see your user dashboard. This consists of three tabs: View, Edit, and My Results. View:
This tab will gives you information on how to use your account and navigate the website.
Edit:
This tab allows you to change your password and edit the details of your user profile.
This tab will show you the results of any quizzes you My Results: have completed, and will store any certificates you have earned. 3 © 2011 – Tennessee Small Business Development Centers
Getting Started
Chapters:
The bottom of the website list the fourteen chapters available to you through Small Business Survival Training. You can click on any of the module icons at any point to move between modules.
Chapter Tools:
The navigation bar at the top of each chapter shows the tools available.
Tool Resources:
The resources for each tool are located directly under the Chapter Tools navigation bar – these include PDF documents, voice-narrated PowerPoint presentations, and video clips.
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Getting Started
PDF Documents & PowerPoint Presentations: The Small Business Survival Training website is designed to accommodate different learning styles and speeds. To accomplish this, we have provided the main module content in two different ways, PDF documents which you can browse at your own pace, and voice-narrated PowerPoint presentations which will play automatically for you.
Video Segments The video segments that accompany the written module information give you insights into the most important information in the tool from educators, professionals, and entrepreneurs. These videos provide a “real-world” education for you, the small business owner. 5 © 2011 – Tennessee Small Business Development Centers
Getting Started
Chapter Resources:
The resources for each chapter are located below the tool resources. For each chapter there is a test which will earn you a certificate, a feedback form, and the “Document Center,” which contain the PDF and PowerPoint for the entire chapter.
User Page:
This icon will take you to your user page.
Questions:
This icon allows you to send a question to the Director of the Online Counseling & Training Center.
Contact Us Jen Dangelo
Director, Online Counseling & Training Center Email: jdangelo@tsbdc.org Phone: 931.372.3706 6 © 2011 – Tennessee Small Business Development Centers