We are excited to be offering two certificate training courses this Fall 2026: Business Plan Fundamentals, and Business Operations Fundamentals.
With these programs, you will have access to:
- information and resources to start, launch, and grow your business
- a collaborative group of women for peer support
- one-on-one support from an experienced facilitator
- dedicated time to spend on business planning and working towards your business goals
- week-to-week and ongoing accountability from facilitator and peer group members size
Course One: Business Plan Fundamentals
This program is designed for individuals who are:
- Exploring the idea of starting a business
- New business owners who need a roadmap for success
- Business owners who have been operating for 1–2 years but have not yet developed a formal business plan
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to strengthen an existing business, this course provides the foundation needed to build a clear and practical business plan.
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Course Two: Business Operations Fundamentals
This program is designed for established business owners who are ready to strengthen the systems that support their day-to-day operations and long-term growth.
Participants should:
- Have been operating their business for a minimum of six months
- Have established revenue and active business operations
- Be willing to evaluate and improve existing processes
- Be committed to implementing changes between sessions
This course is ideal for business owners looking to improve efficiency, increase accountability, and build the operational foundation needed to grow and scale.
Course One: Business Plan Fundamentals
Research shows that businesses that begin with a written business plan are more likely to succeed. A well-developed business plan helps entrepreneurs clarify their business idea, validate their market through research, make informed decisions, and prepare realistic financial projections. For established businesses, it also serves as a roadmap to measure progress and plan for future growth.
Over 10 weeks, you’ll work through the business planning process, exploring and refining your business idea with guidance from an experienced instructor. By the end of the program, you’ll have the knowledge, tools, and confidence needed to complete your own business plan.
Course Details
- Dates: September 15 – November 17, 2026
- Schedule: Tuesdays, 6:00–9:00 p.m.
- Format: Online via Zoom
- Bonus: Includes up to one hour of one-on-one follow-up support with the instructor.
Instructor: Grace Temani-Chipudhla
Grace brings more than 15 years of experience in product development, strategy, marketing, and operations. She has developed and delivered educational programming for employers and employees in higher education and is passionate about helping adult learners gain practical skills. Her teaching focuses on actionable strategies that empower participants to build stronger businesses with confidence and clarity.
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Course Two: Business Operations Fundamentals
Strong businesses rely on strong systems. This 10-week program helps business owners build practical operational processes that create clarity, consistency, and capacity for growth.
Throughout the course, you’ll learn how to develop systems for tracking time, costs, tasks, communication, roles, responsibilities, and key business processes. You’ll also implement time-tracking practices and use the data to better understand profitability, team capacity, delegation opportunities, and overall operational performance.
By creating visibility into how work, information, and money flow through your business, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and support sustainable growth.
Course Details
Dates: September 16 – November 18, 2026
Schedule: Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Format: Online via Zoom
Bonus: Includes up to one hour of one-on-one follow-up support with the instructor.
Instructor: Charlene Currie, Optimize Business Solutions
With a background in Business Administration (MSVU) and Project Management (SMU), Charlene is an approved Workplace Education Instructor who empowers business owners to turn operational chaos into clarity. With over 20 years of experience in operations, systems, and business transformation, she is the founder and CEO of Optimize Business Solutions & Services Inc., a Nova Scotia-based firm dedicated to helping service-based businesses reduce operational friction, improve profitability, and scale sustainably.
Course One: Business Plan Fundamentals
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Develop a clear vision for your business
- Conduct market research to understand your industry, competitors, and target customers
- Create a comprehensive marketing plan
- Identify startup costs and prepare cash flow projections
- Develop an effective operations plan
- Build confidence in your business management and decision-making skills
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Course Two: Business Operations Fundamentals
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that support consistency, efficiency, and delegation
- Understand how time, cost, and task tracking contribute to stronger business performance and decision-making
- Calculate business capacity and assess whether your goals align with available time and resources
- Evaluate and optimize your technology systems to reduce duplication and improve efficiency
- Clarify roles, responsibilities, and accountability across your business
- Develop communication processes that improve information flow and reduce operational friction
- Map key business workflows and identify opportunities for improvement
- Establish meaningful metrics and dashboards to monitor business performance
- Develop a practical operational blueprint and action plan for continued growth