Instructor Certification Training

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Instructor Certification Training
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Training Objectives

• Certify you to teach NxLeveL
• Increase your confidence in teaching adult
  learners
• Show you the NxLeveL system for writing business
  plans
• Offer you a business model for success
• Enjoy our time together

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Day One Agenda

• Welcome Introductions
• About NxLeveL
• NxLeveL Course Overview
• The Art of Teaching Adults
• In-Depth Course Analysis
• The Art of Teaching NxLeveL
• NxLeveL Website Resources
• Successful Business Model
• QA, Day One Wrap Up

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Day Two Agenda

• Each instructor will make a 10-15 minute
  presentation using the NxLeveL materials.
• Find out how easy it is to use the NxLeveL
  Instructors Manual.
• Demonstrate presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrate how to teach adult learners.
• Demonstrate tips and techniques.
• Receive feedback from other instructors and
  Master Trainers.

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Class Procedures

• Please silence your cell phones.
• Well break every couple of hours or so.
• This is a collaborative effort.
• Student-Lead Discussions
• Reflection and Experience
• Immediate gratification.

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• 1. Introductions

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About you

• your name
• From Where
• Education
• Experience
• Teaching

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NxLeveL Instructors should be

• Experienced instructors
• Experienced entrepreneurs
• People who enjoy teaching adults
• People with confidence and enthusiasm
• People who can create a fun, friendly learning
  environment

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About me

• B.S. Finance, MBA, MED
• Small Business Owner
• SBDC Regional and State Director
• ASBDC Accreditation Committee Member
• Certified NxLeveL Instructor
• NxLeveL Master Trainer
• Managing Editor of NxLeveL Products
• President and CEO of NxLeveL

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The Importance of what were doing!

• The dreams we build and the life we lead
  sometimes differ by staggering amounts. This
  need not be. We can reduce that gap and build a
  life which accords quite closely to our dreams.
• On becoming an educated person
• By Dr. Virginia Voeks

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What if I offered you

• a proven product in a growing Market
• a business model with a 15 year track record
• a pricing structure that will guarantee a profit
  (Program Income)
• a marketing strategy that will bring customers
  and sponsors

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• 2. About NxLeveL

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History of NxLeveL

• Founded in 1993
• University of Colorado (WEN)
• Sponsored by the US West Foundation
• Originally 14 western states
• 18 curriculum writers
• Tested and updated from the network of
  administrators, instructors and participants

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NxLeveL Today

• 42 states, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Canada
• Hundreds of communities
• 4,500 certified instructors, master trainers,
  and state administrators
• Organizations teaching NxLeveL include SBDCs,
  CoC, WBC, community and economic development,
  business incubators, religious groups, and others
• 120,000 participants to date
• 10,000 participants each year

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NxLeveL Partnerships
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Vision Statement

• To help people better their lives through
  entrepreneurial education and small business
  ownership.
• Michael C. Finnerty

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Participant Profile

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Income
• Education
• Pre-Venture, Start-Up, Existing
• Start-Up Capital

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• 3. NxLeveL Course Overview!

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NxLeveL Products

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Get the Buzz on Biz

• Being an Entrepreneur
• Mind Your Own Business
• Be a Legal Eagle
• E-Commerce
• Researching Your Idea
• Big Time Marketing
• Building Your Business
• Accounting
• Managing Your Cash
• Show Me the Money
• Ready, Set, Charge!

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Micro-Entrepreneur Business Plan Basics

• Keys to Your Business Success
• Assessing Your Business Idea
• Business Planning
• The Marketing Plan
• Government Regulations
• Management
• Market Analysis
• Product and Price
• Placement and Promotion
• E-Commerce
• Selling Success
• Wheres the Cash
• Managing the Money
• Financial Tips and Tools
• Bringing it All Together

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Start-Up Sessions

• Intro-Are You Entrepreneurial Material?
• Developing Your Business Concept
• Business Start-up Options (1)
• Business Start-up Options (2)
• Business Fundamentals
• Testing the Idea Market Research Analysis
• Getting to the Market Marketing Strategies
• Understanding Budgets Financials
• Raising Money
• Getting Started Managing the Future

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Entrepreneur Sessions

• Introduction, Overview Entrepreneurship
• Planning and Research
• Organizational Matters
• Marketing Analysis
• Marketing Strategies
• Financial Overview Books and Records
• Managing Your Money - Budgets and Assumptions
• Managing Your Money - Cash Flow Projections
• Understanding and Using Financials
• Financing Your Business - Money Sources
• The Deal Making Process Negotiation
• Your Business Future - Managing Growth

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Tilling the Soil

• Take Stock in Your Resources
• Basic Equipment
• The Legal Terrain
• Manage from the Ground Up
• Plant It, Grow It, Market It
• Reap the Benefits
• Get Your Budget in Line
• Analyze These Cash Flow and Financial Statements
• Cultivate Your Money Resources
• Harvest Your Future

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Signage Session

• The Effectiveness of Signage
• Signage, Laws, and Community Standards
• Elements of Design
• Working with Designers and Manufacturers

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NxLeveL in Spanish

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Digital Books Available
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NxLeveL On-Line

• Introduction, Overview Entrepreneurship
• Planning and Research
• Organizational Matters
• Marketing Analysis
• Marketing Strategies
• Financial Overview Books and Records
• Managing Your Money - Budgets and Assumptions
• Managing Your Money - Cash Flow Projections
• Understanding and Using Financials
• Financing Your Business - Money Sources
• The Deal Making Process Negotiation
• Your Business Future - Managing Growth

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Business Plan Articles
Do Start-Ups Really Need Formal Business
Plans? Research Roundup Writing a Plan.
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Writing a Business Plan

• teaches students to become strategic thinkers.

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• 4. The Art of Teaching Adults!

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Adult Learning Theories

• It is unlikely that there will ever be a single
  theory of adult education. Instead, there will
  be many theories useful in improving our
  understanding of adults as learners.
• Adults as Learners
• by K. Patricia Cross

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Adult Learning Theories

• Adults learn best when they are curious,
  challenged, or desiring of competence.
• - Daniel D. Pratt

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As an adult learner

• Why are you here today?
• What are your expectations?
• What better not happen?

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Andragogy Theory by Malcolm Knowles

• As a person matures
• 1) his/her self-concept moves from one of being a
  dependent personality toward one of being a
  self-directed human being,
• 2) he/she accumulates a growing reservoir of
  experience that becomes an increasing resource
  for learning,
• 3) his/her readiness to learn becomes oriented
  increasingly to the developmental tasks of
  his/her social roles, and
• 4) his/her time perspective changes from one of
  postponed application of knowledge to immediacy
  of application, and accordingly his/her
  orientation toward learning shifts from one of
  subject centeredness to one of problem
  centeredness.

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Three-way Typology Theory by Cyril Houle

• Motivations of adult learners
• 1) Goal-oriented learners, use learning to gain
  specific objectives, such as learning to speak
  before an audience, learning to deal with
  particular family problems, learning better
  business practices, and similar concrete
  objectives. Such learners do not restrict their
  learning activities. Theyll take a course, join
  a group, read a book, take a trip, etc.
• 2) Activity-oriented learners, participate
  primarily for the sake of the activity itself
  rather than to develop a skill or learn subject
  matter. They take the course or join a group to
  escape loneliness or boredom or an unhappy home
  or job situation, to find a husband or a wife, to
  amass credits or degrees, or to uphold family
  tradition. They do almost no reading.
• 3) Learning-oriented learners, pursue learning
  for its own sake. They seem to possess a
  fundamental desire to know and grow through
  learning, and their activities are constant and
  lifelong. Most are avid readers they join
  groups, and even choose jobs, for the learning
  potential offered they watch serious programs on
  television and make extensive background
  preparations when traveling in order to
  appreciate what they see.

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The Pyramid of Learners! by K. Patricia Cross
ADULT LEARNING FORCE
College Credit
Organized Instruction
Self-Directed Learners
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Adult Learning Styles!

• Learning Style Characteristics Teaching
  Strategies
• - process new information best - graphics,
  illustrations
• Visual Learners when it is visually illustrated
  or - images
• demonstrated - demonstrations
• - process new information best - Instruction
• Auditory Learners when it is spoken -
  discussions
• - process new information best - written
  assignments
• Kinesthetic when it can be touched or - taking
  notes
• manipulated - examination of objects
• - participation in activities
• - process new information best - distance
  learners can
• Environmental when it is presented in
  control their own
• Learner surroundings that match learner
  learning environment preferences (room
  temperature, to a larger extent than
  lighting, seating, etc.) on-campus
  students!

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Top Ten Characteristics of Adult Learners

• 10. Adults try to avoid failure
• Adults are much less open to the trial-and-error
  approach than children are. Adult learners will
  resist something new if it involves the risk of
  making an error and feeling foolish as a result.
• 9. Adults will learn only what they feel they
  need to learn
• In the work world, adults are expected to
  evaluate the relative importance of information,
  to exercise personal judgment in setting
  priorities and allocating their time. This
  behavior carries over into the adult learning
  environment.
• 8. Adults want their learning to be practical
• Adults are willing to learn theories, but only if
  they can see how those theories apply in real
  life. Adult interest soars when training is
  built around a clearly defined challenge or
  demand, rather than hypothetical problems and
  solutions.

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Top Ten Characteristics of Adult Learners

• 7. Adults are problem-centered
• Adults must feel that the material they are
  learning is relevant, and that it will have
  immediate effect. They want to see how the
  objectives of the learning relate to authentic
  situations and real solutions to problems.
• 6. Adults learn by comparing past experience with
  new experience
• Every adult learner has a lifetime collection of
  previous knowledge and experience. When learning
  something new, most adults need to see how it
  fits in with (or is different from) what they
  already know.
• 5. Adults Can Be skeptical
• Adults will filter new information through their
  years of experience and knowledge. They become
  skeptical when information conflicts sharply with
  what they already hold to be true or if the
  instructor appears inexperienced or unqualified.

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Top Ten Characteristics of Adult Learners

• 4. Adults need immediate feedback concerning
  their progress
• Adults want to know how they are doing all along
  the way. They are not content to continue
  plugging away at course material without knowing
  whether they are on the right track.
• 3. do not all learn the same way (personal
  learning styles)
• By the time people reach adulthood, they have
  settled into a learning style that has worked
  well for them in the past. One person may prefer
  reading, while another does best trying out a
  practical exercise, for example.
• 2. Adults are goal-oriented
• Adults want to know what the specific goals and
  objectives are of a course, how they are
  measured, and what determines their individual
  success.

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Top Ten Characteristics of Adult Learners

• 1. Adults are motivated to learn
• Adults learn most effectively when they have an
  inner motivation to develop a new skill or gain
  new knowledge. Adults participate in
  self-directed learning almost universally. The
  typical adult spends 500 hours every year in
  self-directed learning.

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Take this simple test

• Thinking back over your whole life, what were
  the most significant learning experiences you
  ever had? That is, list the moments (or events)
  in which you discovered something of lasting
  significance to your life.

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Ask yourself the following questions about each

• Did it take place in the classroom?
• Did it take place in a school?
• Was a professional teacher instrumental in making
  the learning experience happen?
• Was a teacher-like figure (e.g., coach, minister,
  school counselor, theater director) instrumental
  in making the learning happen?
• If the answer to 3 or 4 is yes, then what did
  the teacher (0r other person) actually do to help
  you learn?
• In general, what factors were instrumental in
  bringing about the learning?

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Good teaching leads to significant learning

• Your job is to shape the environment in a manner
  that is conducive to significant learning in
  others!

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What does a significant learning environment look
like?
Self Directed
Sounding Board
Self Discovery
Experienced
Actor
Leader To Discovery
Takes Ownership
Visual
Application
Problem Centered
Learn From Each Other
Feedback
Facilitator
Auditory
Environmental
Controller
Goal Oriented
Activity Oriented
Skeptical
Need To Learn
Kinesthetic
Motivator
Instructor
Learning Oriented
Avoid Failure
Practical
Lecturer
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The Art of Teaching Adults!
Declaring Objectives
Sounding Board
Autobiography
Setting up The Room
Processing Feedback
Contracting
Tests Quizzes
Getting Packed
Icebreakers
Using Journals
Planning a Session
Assigning Projects
Working In Groups
Projecting Overheads
Showing Videos
Lectures
Environmental
Outside Learning
Flipping Charts
Learning Styles
Asking Questions
Inviting Experts
Participation
Role-plays
Reading Together
Group Behavior
Learning Circles
Brainstorming
Demonstrations
Studying Cases
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Adult Learner Handouts

• Adult Teaching Strategies
• Whats My Learning Style?
• The Adult Learner
• Developing Your Skills as a NxLeveL Instructor
• 30 Things We Know For Sure About Adult Learning
• Books and Websites
• www.TeachingPerspectives.com

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• 5. In-Depth Course Analysis!

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Formula for Success!

• Our Approach
• Learn it tonight use it tomorrow
• Competency-based learning
• Built on a foundation of fundamentals
• Knowledgeable Instructors
• Expert Guest Speakers
• Networking Opportunities
• One-on-One Counseling

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NxLeveL Guide

• First Day of Class
• Table of Contents (46 short chapters)
• Follow the Session Outlines
• Glossary of Terms
• Index
• Case Studies (Between the Diamonds)
• NxLeveL Tech Tips
• E-commerce
• Online resources
• Helpful websites
• Suggestions for software
• Margins

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Instructor Manual

• Tab A History of NxLeveL
• Tab B How to use the Manual
• Great for future reference
• Tab C Reporting and Evaluations
• Check with your State administrator
• Course registration is on-line
• All forms available to download and print
• Tab D Games, Brain Teasers, Food for Thought
• Have ready for each session
• Tabs 1-12
• Participant Session Outline
• Instructor Session Outline
• Additional Instructors Notes
• Overheads/Handouts (On the website, Downloadable)

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Guest speakers should

• Be an added benefit to the participants
• Speak for thirty (30) minutes
• Be contacted well in advance
• Come from the local community
• Understand whats in it for them
• Be an expert on the topic
• Bring handouts and business cards
• Not use the time to self-promote
• Be invited to help team teach

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The Work Hour

• The last sixty (60) minutes of class
• Small discussion groups
• Homework review
• Workbook preview
• Production time of the class
• Allows participants to
• Work on their business plan
• Answer workbook questions
• Focus on problem-solving
• Work with other students
• Challenges to the work hour are
• Instruction runs longer than expected
• Guest speakers go beyond allotted time
• Participants consistently leave early
• Instructors arent sure how to use the hour
  effectively

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Getting the most from the work hour!

• Additional Instructor Notes
• Suggestions for the work hour
• Make the work hour a priority
• Be the Controller
• Create the expectation early
• Come prepared for the work hour

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Student Assignments

• Challenges with homework
• Theres lots of it!
• Students skill levels may vary.
• Instructors may not be all things to all
  topics.
• Knowing what is good work.
• Establishing standards for good work.
• Communicating with students on improvements.

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Suggestions for Evaluating Student Assignments

• Resource Guide (Online)
• Sample Business Plans
• Business Plan Evaluation Sheet
• Spelling and Grammar
• Software and books
• Matching students and their skills
• Other Service Providers
• Guest Speakers

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Final SessionSuggestions

• Handout Completion Certificates
• Handout Participation Certificates
• Administer Evaluations
• Have a Graduation Party
• Establish Alumni Groups

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• 6. The Art of Teaching NxLeveL!

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Present Your Best Self

• Come prepared to teach
• Dress appropriately (Relaxed/Business)
• Avoid nervous habits (pacing, jingling pockets,
  vocalized pauses)
• Read the text
• Commit to your own style
• Brand yourself
• Be an outstanding counselor

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Preparing the Classroom

• Take inventory well in advance
• Lighting
• Outlets
• Tables and Chairs
• Space
• Audio-Visual Equipment
• Arrange the room to suit your plans
• Seating Layout
• Windows/Doors
• Be prepared for last minute changes
• Cleanliness
• Temperature
• Surprises
• Restroom Facilities
• Parking
• Safety

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Using Visual Aids

• Variety is the key to success
• Participants should have good sight lines
• Dont turn your back on the participants
• Using Technology
• Using PowerPoint (Too many slides?)
• Projecting Overheads (Obsolete?)
• Showing Videos (Relevancy!)
• Using the Internet (Are we connected?)
• Have a back-up plan
• Flipping Charts
• Handouts

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Adult Learning Theories

• My greatest strength as a consultant is to be
  ignorant and ask a few questions.
• - Peter Drucker

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Asking the right questions!

• The way you ask a question has a lot to do with
  the answer you get.
• Areas of knowledge rather than simple facts.
• Converting lectures into dialogue.

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Asking the right questions!

• Questions are your most valuable tools for
• Making points
• Assessing understanding
• Arousing interest
• Testing understanding
• Involving everyone

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• 7. NxLeveL Website!

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• 8. Business Model for Success!

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Opportunity Knocked!
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The NxLeveL Business Model

• The Competition
• Pricing Structure
• Sponsorships
• Marketing Tools

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The Competition

• Who is the competition?
• What is the competition offering?
• What is the competition charging?
• Are you working with your competition?

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Pricing Structure

• Define value for you!
• Low cost provider
• Consistent with the competition
• Perceived value to the client
• Supplemental Income
• How are you determining the price of the
  training?
• Based on the cost of the training (Breakeven)
• Compared to other offerings
• Compared to higher ed credit hours
• Compared to private sector consulting
• Compared to the cost of paying for a business
  plan
• Based on what you think youre worth

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Pricing Structure

• Links2Biz.com189-259
• PlanYourIdea.com249
• BusinessPlans.com465
• MasterPlans.com 1,200-9,900

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Sponsorships

• Who are your potential sponsors?
• How does your training meet the needs of your
  sponsors?
• What do you specifically want from your sponsors?
• What will you specifically do for your sponsors?
• Will you offer different types of sponsorships?

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Marketing Tools

• Unified Front
• Standardized promotional materials
• Centralized media/marketing campaign
• Offer a variety of sponsorships
• Co-brand with sponsors and NxLeveL
• Hold an annual event
• Offer courses throughout the year
• Offer consistent pricing for the courses
• Video Production

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Had Enough?
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9. Questions and Answers!
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Sustainable Growth

• Formula Growth PRAT
• P Profit Margin
• R Retention Rate (Earnings Retained)
• A Asset Turnover
• T Asset to Equity Ratio
• P and A Operating Performance
• R and T Financial Policies

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Sustainable Growth

• Sustainable Growth Made Simple
• Assumptions
• The company wants to grow as rapidly as the
  market will permit
• Management is unable or unwilling to sell new
  equity
• The company has a target financial policy
• All parts expand in strict proportion

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Sustainable Growth
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Sustainable Growth
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Sustainable Growth
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Sustainable Growth
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Sustainable Growth
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Congratulations!

• Congratulations! Youre now a Certified
  NxLeveL Instructor!
• Thank You for Participating!
• All the Best to You!

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Contact Information

• NxLeveL Education Foundation
• www.nxlevel.org
• Michael Finnerty mikef_at_nxlevel.org
• Connie Fenley connie_at_nxlevel.org
• 1-800-873-9372 or [phone]