East Bay SBDC and the City of Alameda present
city of alameda small business Workshops
TO ASSIST businesses
start, grow and access capital
CITY OF ALAMEDA SMALL BUSINESS WORKSHOPS
Funded by the City of Alameda, East Bay SBDC offers a series of 9 Small Business Workshops designed to assist entrepreneurs and small businesses to launch a business, acquire customers, boost online sales, and access capital to grow.
Classes will be held in person on Tuesday at the following location.
Tuesdays 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Alameda Chamber & Economic Alliance
2215 A South Shore Center Alameda, CA 94501
Check out the workshops below and register for the ones you are interested in separately. Click here to download the program flyer.
| Date | Time | Workshop | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/10/26 | 6 – 8 pm | Starting Your business I | Roderick Hirsch |
| 4/7/26 | 6 – 8 pm | Starting Your Business II | Roderick Hirsch |
| 5/12/26 | 6 – 8 pm | Business Plans that Get Funded | Roderick Hirsch |
| 6/9/26 | 6 – 8 pm | Marketing Your Business | Sneha Lundia |
| 7/14/26 | 6 – 8 pm | eCommerce I – Selling on eCommerce Marketplace | Dr. Surendra Sarnikar |
| 8/11/26 | 6 – 8 pm | eCommerce II – Set up an eCommerce Website | Dr. Surendra Sarnikar |
| 9/8/26 | 6 – 8 pm | AI in Marketing | Sneha Lundia |
| 10/13/26 | 6 – 8 pm | Micro-Lending for Small Business | Peter Lou |
| 11/10/26 | 6 – 8 pm | How to Get Funding to Start, Grow, and Expand Your Business | Peter Lou |
1. Starting Your Business I
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Roderick Hirsch, East Bay SBDC Advisor
This workshop assists an entrepreneur to learn how to start a business.
Assessing how well suited you are to be an entrepreneur and how to make sure that the idea you have is practical.
2. Staring Your Business II
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Roderick Hirsch, East Bay SBDC Advisor
This workshop assists an entrepreneur to learn how to start a business.
The permits and licenses you might need.
How to take your idea all the way to reality
What business structures are available and which one might be best for you.
3. Business Plans that Get Funded
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Roderick Hirsch, East Bay SBDC Advisor
This workshop assists an entrepreneur to learn how to start a business by preparing a business plan.
Demo of a detailed business plan
How to prepare a business plan that gets funded.
4. Marketing Your Business
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sneha Lundia, East Bay SBDC Advisor
Interested in learning about marketing? Here’s your chance.
Join us for this educational webinar to learn the fundamental principles of marketing and how best to apply those principles to empower you to create your own marketing efforts for your small business.
We’ll teach the building blocks of marketing including:
• Gaining insight into an overview of processes
• Understanding the competitive landscape
• Identifying the consumer target audience including positioning
• Learning the classic 4Ps to develop the Marketing Plan
5. eCommerce I – Selling on eCommerce Marketplace
Tuesday, July 14, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dr. Surendra Sarnikar, Cal State East Bay Professor
Learn how to grow an eCommerce business by selling on eCommerce Marketplace
How to set up storefronts through Amazon and Shopify
Understand and evaluate various functionalities and features for supporting e-Commerce operations
Utilize the analytics functionalities for improving eCommerce operations and decision making
6. eCommerce II – Set up an eCommerce Website
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dr. Surendra Sarnikar, Cal State East Bay Professor
Learn how to set up your website to grow eCommerce
How to set up an ecommerce website using WordPress and WooCommerce content management systems
Understand and implement basic functionalities and features for supporting e-Commerce operations
Processes for securing and ongoing maintenance of eCommerce websites
7. AI in Marketing
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sneha Lundia, East Bay SBDC Advisor
Discover how Generative AI can transform your marketing strategy. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll explore a range of Gen AI tools designed to supercharge the creation of high-quality digital marketing content—customized for specific audience segments, from blog posts to advertisements. You’ll also learn how to harness AI to synthesize and interpret complex data sets, empowering more informed and effective marketing decisions.
8. Micro-Lending for Small Business
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Peter Lou, East Bay SBDC Advisor
As a small business, start-up, home based business or first-time entrepreneur looking for that critical first loan, traditional banks and other senior lenders may not be the best resource. There are, however, other sources of funds where the regulatory restrictions are less severe, the lenders are non-profits themselves with social as well as business missions to achieve and/or the lending programs were designed, by Congress or the State of California’s Legislature, to help small business access capital.
Join this workshop to better understand how the micro-lending universe can help you achieve your business goals.
9. How to Get Funding to Start, Grow, and Expand Your Business
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Peter Lou, East Bay SBDC Advisor
Accessing funding can be critical to successfully start, grow, and expand a small business, and getting approved for business loans is challenging in the current lending climate. This workshop provides step-by-step information on funding opportunities available for business owners and entrepreneurs. You will be guided through the process of pursuing business financing including what to consider before applying for a loan, the factors of evaluation that all lenders use when reviewing your loan requests and tips on how to prepare based on your strengths and weaknesses. Topics include: SBA Loan requirements & application, traditional bank loans, lines of credit, and alternative lending programs.
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