The following is a record of meeting presentations held in the past. Information contained within these announcements is out of date. This archive simply serves as a sampling of the small business resources AHB has strived to provide to our members over the years.
To Celebrate AHB Reset, February Dinner & Program Is On Us!
FREE TAX ADVICE to be served up with FREE PANCAKES at February “Breakfast for Dinner” meeting
The directors of our 34-year-old, SE Portland–based Association of Home(based) Businesses (AHB) are in the process of making some small but significant changes to AHB’s monthly meeting format.
- We are waiving the $10 door charge to attend monthly AHB dinner meetings, and in February we will provide the full “Breakfast for Dinner” experience for FREE to all who RSVP.
- Beginning March 20, instead of a prepared dinner provided by AHB, we ask that anyone who wants to eat contribute to a potluck dinner.
- Future meetings will be more networking-focused and participatory, giving attendees more opportunities to pick each other’s brains on topics related to their specific interests and livelihoods.
AHB’s essential purpose remains the same: To provide professionals of all sorts an opportunity to socialize and network together for mutual benefit. Whether growing a business, expanding your network, or just getting out of the house once in a while, AHB provides a space for small business entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, boot-strappers, and side-hustlers – as well as anyone else whose work is based at home (including employees working remotely) – to come together and share a meal once a month.
The upcoming AHB meeting on Thursday evening, February 20, 2025 is a great way to check us out. We meet at the SMILE Station in Sellwood (located on the southeast corner of SE13th and Tenino).
Come to our February 20 “Breakfast for Dinner” meeting and see Sheldon Penner in action!
FREE ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT PANCAKES: Enjoy the thrill of catching pancakes flipped through the air onto your plate by Sheldon Penner of ChrisCakes Northwest (his unique brand of entertainment). The accompanying classic breakfast buffet includes sausage, scrambled eggs, coffee and Tang.
Portland-based Penner has traveled with his pancake machine as far east as Minnesota to provide group breakfast service. You may have seen him on TV a few years ago, serving up pancakes to a bunch of Clackamas County residents whose homes were destroyed or threatened by destructive wildfires.
FREE TAX TIPS FROM A KNOW-IT-ALL: Our February 20 meeting will feature a brief, entertaining presentation by Portland CPA Kevin Minkoff on the newest IRS tax changes entrepreneurs need to know about before filing this year.
Check out AHB on February 20, or on another upcoming 3rd Thursday. Doors open at 6pm. The meeting begins in earnest around 6:30, and usually concludes a bit after 8.
For more information or to RSVP, please email communications@ahboregon.org, or call Eric at 503-757-0014.
Association of Home(based) Businesses membership fees are $60 a year for an individual membership. Fees cover space rental costs, special events, and communications. Guests are always welcome. For the time being, there is no door charge for monthly networking meetings, but we do ask attendees to contribute to the potluck dinner if they choose to partake.
AHB invites all “side hustlers, solopreneurs, and boot-strappers” to annual meeting
Happy New Year! The Association of Home-based Businesses (AHB) business association welcomes self-employed people of all stripes to our first meeting of 2025, Thursday evening, January 16. Doors open at 6pm for the in-person meeting at SMILE Station, 6410 SE 13th Ave (at Tenino St), in Sellwood, but feel free to attend from anywhere via Zoom (RSVP to request meeting link).
Price of admission is simply a food item for the potluck, which starts at 6:30; the program starts at 7:00.
AHB meetings are a great place to meet, network, socialize, and share know-how with other local small business people. At the January 16 meeting, after a brief business meeting to elect 2025 AHB Board Members, we’ll jump right into networking. Share your current project, and get some feedback.
For more information or to RSVP, please email nchapin@tsgpdx.com, or call Eric at 503-757-0014.
How to Apply SWOT Analysis for Small Business Success
Join AHB on Thursday, May 16, for a presentation on the whys and hows SWOT Analysis from J. Mark Ripkey, president of AHB.
Mark is a graduate of Oregon State’s Business Administration program and received a Masters from the Naval War College in Strategic Studies. He will be presenting and leading a discussion on the age-old process of business analysis referred to as SWOT, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Whether you are just starting your business or have been operating for years, SWOT analysis can be an effective tool for determining steps that can be taken to move your business into a profitable future. No matter your goals or mission, Mark will demonstrate how this powerful four-part analysis works and how it can be applied to improve the success of any endeavor. Following his presentation, Mark will respond to questions and comments and offer further insights into small-business application of SWOT analysis.
Starting with this meeting, we are back to meeting in person at our long-time location: the SMILE Station, located at 8210 SE 13th Avenue (at the corner of Tenino), in the Sellwood neighborhood of Southeast Portland. AHB also continues to offer a hybrid format accessible to anyone in the country. See cost and registration information below.
Starting a Business? Don’t Miss this Talk!
Over his lifetime, AHB member Gary Stalick has started and grown four different businesses, all of them run from home. At our next meeting on Thursday, April 18, Gary will share the story of how he started and grew a service business from scratch after moving with his wife and two young children 1,200 miles to Gold River, a suburb of Sacramento, California.
In what is sure to be a fascinating talk, Gary will cover the nuts and bolts of starting a home-based business from scratch, describing how he went about setting an income goal, the process he used to reach that goal, and lessons he learned along the way.
APRIL MEETING LOCATION: Due to flood repairs required at the SMILE Station in Sellwood, AHB will meet at Philadelphia Steaks & Hoagies for our upcoming third-Thursday meeting on April 18. The address is 6410 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, OR 97202. As we are meeting in a commercial restaurant space, there is no cover charge, and all attendees are expected to cover their own food and drink. Come as early as 6:00 pm for dining and networking; the main presentation begins around 7:00.
AHB Proudly Presents . . . a TEN Talk!
—TEN stands for a Talk by Eric Norberg—
A TEN Talk is similar to a TED Talk in that one person attempts to impart some knowledge or wisdom by way of storytelling; it’s just that in this case, that one person is longtime AHB member Eric Norberg, a local neighborhood newspaperman who has supported himself with a “home business” for the last four decades.
At our next meeting on March 21, Eric will share the story of the beginning of his self-employment journey. The bare bones: 41 years ago, he was managing a business for a company that couldn’t afford to pay him, yet felt obligated to continue, to keep the business a going concern. Faced with personal bankruptcy, he came up with the idea for a viable home business—his first one—which kept him financially afloat when he needed it to, and is still in business today. Through his story, Eric aims to inspire others to begin home-based businesses by showing how anyone, potentially, could do the same!
PLEASE NOTE OUR (TEMPORARY) NEW MEETING LOCATION
Due to flood repairs required at the SMILE Station in Sellwood, AHB will meet at Philadelphia Steaks & Hoagies for our upcoming third-Thursday meetings on March 21 and April 18. The address is 6410 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, OR 97202. As we are meeting in a commercial restaurant space, there is no cover charge, and all attendees are expected to cover their own food and drink. Come as early as 6:00 pm for dining and networking; the main presentation begins around 7:00.
“Breakfast for Dinner” + A Most Entertaining Tax Talk = Fun for All!
NEW DATE & LOCATION: Due to burst pipes causing water damage at the SMILE Station, AHB is meeting at Woodstock Wine & Deli this month, and the meeting date has been changed from Thursday to Tuesday. (All details below.)
BE SURE TO BRING YOUR APPETITE to the next AHB meeting on Tuesday, February 13, 2024. We’re meeting at Woodstock Wine & Deli, 4030 SE Woodstock Blvd., located at the southwest corner of SE 41st Ave. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
Sheldon Penner of Chris Cakes Northwest will be doing what he does best: flipping pancakes! It’s all you can eat of his own secret recipe pancakes, served up with sausages and scrambled eggs, along with coffee and orange TANG to drink! [In case you want to spike that Tang, beer and wine will be available for purchase from Woodstock Wine & Deli.] The Chief Flipper brings his unparalleled talents, one of which is humor. The success of Chris Cakes Northwest, as seen on KOIN, is found in its mission of turning standard pancake breakfast events into fun, interactive food experiences. Come and celebrate the joy and laughter of being a kid again.
After dinner, er, breakfast, we are in for a real treat: An annual up-to-date review of tax-filing tips for freelancers presented by Portland tax man Kevin Minkoff, CPA. “Not your ordinary bean counter,” Kevin’s talks are most informative, enlightening and entertaining! So come with all your tax questions, ready to take notes.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP by Monday, February 12, to help with food planning:
Email communications@ahboregon.org or call 503-232-2326. Thank you!
Association of Home Businesses Exists to Serve People Working From Home
The question is…How can we better serve YOU?
For over 30 years, the Association of Home Businesses (AHB), a nonprofit membership organization, has held monthly in-person meetings to offer camaraderie, networking, and shared expertise for people engaged in home-based enterprises and/or self-employment. For a mere $10, our in-person meetings include dinner (simple fare like pizza, tacos, salads), and the enjoyment of breaking bread with like-minded independent operators has the added value of reducing isolation for people who spend most of their days alone. (This month, dinner is free! Read on…)
Still in the throes of recovery from pandemic-induced virtual realities, AHB core members have begun to reexamine our role in the community and ask how we can better serve our target audience. Indeed, one question is whether our circle should widen to include people who are employed by companies but now work at home rather than going to an office.
We would love to get input from more people to help guide our future.
If you are self-employed or a professional working from home interested in connecting with local community, we invite you to join us on Thursday, January 18, 2024, for the AHB Annual General Meeting. Past participants are more than welcome to join us for this special meeting.
After a brief election of 2024 board members, President Mark Ripkey will facilitate a brainstorming session on questions such as: How can AHB best serve our defined community? What will attract more members? Are the types of programs we’ve held in the past few years of high interest or value? Are there other topics, services or opportunities AHB could offer that would make membership and meetings more attractive? Shall we strive for in-person, virtual, or hybrid format?
We hope you will join us for what is sure to be a lively discussion from 7:00 to 9:00 PM Thursday evening, January 18, 2024.
January Dinner is on us! We are offering a free buffet supper for all attendees on a first come, first served basis. RSVP to communications@ahboregon.org, or by phone to 503-757-0014. Space is limited to 15, so reserve today to save your spot!
January Meeting Location: This month we meet in the Hainley Room on the lower level of SMILE Station, 8210 SE 13th at Tenino (one block south of Tacoma Street) in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon.
Digital Marketing for the Home-based Business
Join the Association of Home Businesses Thursday evening, November 16, 2023, for a talk on current trends in digital marketing for small businesses, presented by Albert Kaufman, a Portland-based expert on the subject. AHB extends a warm invitation to owners and managers of all types of small business for this presentation, which promises to be well worth the cover charge of $10. Virtual attendees are also welcome to join the meeting via Zoom for no charge.
Registration required: If you plan to attend, please send an email by Tuesday, November 14, to communications@ahboregon.org or call 503-232-2326.
Our Complex Healthcare System, Simplified!
Access to easy, quality healthcare is paramount for people during their lives. However, our healthcare/health insurance system is unnecessarily complicated and broken. This is the reason Adam Reid helps people in this space.
This evening, Adam will simplify the main points of our healthcare system so people can better understand and access it (including available subsidies). This will include both Medicare and Marketplace plans. His goal is to make a traditionally boring topic fun and engaging.
Adam has been in the health insurance space for over 7 years. Prior to health insurance, Adam worked in educational policy, setting up high school programs throughout the Portland area (also navigating complex policies). Adam owned many small businesses throughout his career and holds a master’s degree in policy analysis from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s of Science from Portland State University.
To learn more about Adam and the services he provides, visit https://www.healthplansinoregon.com/adam-reid/.
JOIN US IN PERSON OR ONLINE:
DATE/TIME: Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Doors 6:00 pm | Pizza, Salad, Dessert & Coffee 6:30 | Program 7:00
LOCATION: SMILE Station, 8210 SE 13th Ave. (at Tenino, one block south of Tacoma), Portland, Oregon, 97202 (or join us on Zoom)
COST: $10 door for in-person meeting includes a light dinner. Non-members welcome. No charge for virtual attendees.
REGISTRATION: Registration required. If you plan to attend, please send an email by Tuesday, September 19, to communications@ahboregon.org or call 503-232-2326. When you RSVP, please let us know if you plan to attend virtually, so we can send you the Zoom meeting link.
How to Raise Rates Without Raising a Ruckus
On Thursday, October 19, Marketing Strategist Sandy Hubbard returns for a command presentation on a topic that is sure to resonate – how to raise rates without raising a ruckus.
Many of us got through the last three years without raising rates – because why upset the applecart, right?
But the reality is, we must raise rates to survive and thrive.
In this hands-on workshop, Sandy will guide us in calculating how much to raise rates, how best to announce the increase, the right tone to take, and what to do if customers push back.
Raising rates or prices presents challenges for businesses of all sizes, and AHB extends a warm invitation to owners and managers of all kinds of businesses — not just home-based enterprises — to join us.
The valuable coaching session covers a lot of ground, and promises to be well worth the $10 cover charge. Social time begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 19, followed by a family-style dinner and Sandy’s talk.
REGISTRATION: Registration required. If you plan to attend, please send an email by Tuesday, October 17, 2023, to communications@ahboregon.org or call 503-232-2326.