by Andrew Page

As a local young professional and member of the Franklin Business Incubator Advisory Board, I am delighted to share that Franklin Southampton Economic Development, Inc., will be hosting a seminar entitled “Building Businesses by Creating Personal Wealth.” This seminar will take place on Feb. 17, 2015, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Franklin Business Incubator, 601 N. Mechanic St., in Downtown Franklin.

Those who attend can expect to learn the following important skills:

• How to diagnose spending problems;

• Understanding the importance of “No” in building wealth;

• How to create a plan to spend less and save more;

• Discovering tools to enhance your wealth education;

• Meeting local service providers to assist in your plan.

Based on my research and own personal experience with wealth management, I have learned that the amount of money you earn is not indicative of your personal wealth. One Saturday, after reading some of the books that will be discussed at this seminar, I went through all of my bank statements from the previous year and realized that I was losing money, all because I did not keep track of where the money was going. I resolved to prepare a written statement of accounting each month and, since then, have seen a significant increase in the money that I can save.

I am passionate about the success of local entrepreneurs, and so the purpose of this seminar is to assist in the creation of new small businesses in Franklin and Southampton County.

My hope is that by teaching aspiring entrepreneurs how to prepare financially to take the risk associated with owning one’s own business it will allow them to easily achieve their business goals. Additionally, this seminar is being offered to allow our local workforce to assess and improve their personal financial well-being and hopefully stabilize and increase productivity. As an active member of the local business community and through my service on the Franklin Business Incubator Advisory Board I see firsthand the creative minds and energy of entrepreneurs in our local community who are inhibited by real world financial challenges. This seminar will be the first step in the right direction to resolving those personal financial woes to begin to put their business goals together.

These seminars will be free and open to the public. If you are interested in joining us please RSVP to Ashley Cotton at 562-1958 or acotton@franklinsouthamptonva.com. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Andrew Page is an attorney with Stallings & Randall in Courtland and can be reached at drewpage@valawgroup.com.