Times are tough for a lot of small businesses as they struggle to cope with a weak economy, lack of funding and lagging sales.

Dick Stranger, a longtime businessman experienced in finance, acquisitions, operations and general management, has some advice for dealing with the downturn.

"I've been in business a lot longer than people starting up businesses nowadays, and I've seen a lot of these business cycles," Stranger said. "One thing people lose sight of is that every change offers opportunities, and the people who are successful correctly identify what the change is and adapt to it so they prosper. They're not paralyzed by the changed circumstances."

Stranger will discuss coping with change March 9 in the first of a dozen free seminars intended to boost business in today's economy.

The seminars, sponsored by the local Service Corps of Retired Executives, continue through April 27.

The seminars will be at the Santa Fe Business Incubator, 3900 Paseo del Sol, off Airport Road, and run from 6 to 8 p.m. Registration may be made by calling 424-1140 or by e-mailing scoreseminars@hotmail.com.

Nancy Geddes, a counselor with SCORE, said the seminars "have been full and overfull" since starting up. In addition to the knowledge they purvey, the seminars are also a way for SCORE to generate leads for counseling, she said.

Stranger will conduct his seminar in a "roundtable" style with the help of Alan Sanborn, both of whom will present issues, problems and ideas to help local businesses deal with today's economic environment.

Sanborn, Stranger said, "is a longtime banking executive and will deal with the economic side of the presentation," including what impact the economy is having on banks and their lending policies.

As for his own presentation, "I will be laying out the idea that it is necessary to re-examine a business from top to bottom, and in doing so validate the firm's concept, product and service offerings," Stranger said.

For example, "if you're a drugstore competing against CVS or Walgreen, it's a good idea to see how they serve their customers and ... figure out how to compete with them more successfully," he said.

In conjunction with the workshops, Stranger is tentatively planning what he called "an extensive workshop program" dealing with competing successfully in this environment.

Other seminars include "Developing a Successful Business Plan," which promises to lead participants "through the essentials of building your own plan."

The presenters are Rob Wilson, who started his career in marketing, merchandising and sales and was later named president of Hathaway Shirt Co. in Canada, and Bob Lantis, who spent his career at International Harvester Credit Corp., later Navistar Financial.

In another seminar, "Retail: Best Practices for the New Decade," Karl and Harriet Schreiner will discuss the state of the retail business and challenges faced by today's retailers.

Topics include your store's vision, experience marketing, merchandise assortment and more.

Karl Schreiner spent 20 years with Sears in various positions and also worked for Marshall's Department Stores and Circuit City. Harriett Schreiner spent 40 years in retail with Sears, Barry's Jewelers and Sterling Jewelers.

The final workshops, April 22 and 27, are titled "Hiring, Managing, Leading and Retaining a Successful Employment Team, Part One" and "Leading and Retaining a Successful Employee Team, Part Two."

They are to be presented by Tavo Holloway, a business consultant specializing in strategic planning, marketing and operations, and Alan Ross, who built a small business into a full-service food-service distribution company with annual sales of $18 million.

The last two seminars focus on strategies for building a strong, productive employee team.