Administered and funded by the SBA, SBDC programs offer
management assistance to new and established business owners. There
are 57 SBDCs with a network of nearly 1,000 service offices--with
locations in each of the 50 states; Washington, DC; Puerto Rico and
the U.S. Virgin Islands--and more than 70 branch locations. A
"lead" organization sponsors the SBDC and manages each
program, coordinating services for subcenters and satellite
locations at colleges, universities, community colleges, vocational
schools, chambers of commerce and economic development
corporations.
Because SBDCs are hotbeds for entrepreneurial activity,
they're a good place to get expert advice. "You'd be
nuts not to take advantage of an SBDC," says Gina Mattei,
director of training at the University of Houston's SBDC. Like
most SBDCs, Mattei's center offers A to Z information for
start-up entrepreneurs. "We take them through all the key
steps, from idea to product completion and everything else in
between," she explains. "We even walk them through the
Yellow Pages to help them find the best local assistance
available."
Mattei says one of the principal advantages of SBDCs is that,
while they're funded by the SBA, most are part of a college or
university and are staffed by paid professionals.
"Entrepreneurs can avail themselves of many business services
offered by that particular institution," she explains.
"[Services] vary all over the country, depending on the school
and its facilities."
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Mattei says her staff can take start-up entrepreneurs through
the entire business-generation process. "First, we have them
do a feasibility study, which is simply a method of figuring out
what the proposed company looks like on paper," she says.
"The feasibility study examines all the critical issues,
including the product, production costs, unique qualities, market,
competition and financing. Then we determine what kind of experts
are needed. If the entrepreneur plans to ship products abroad, we
bring in an international expert with importing and exporting
experience. If a factory is necessary, we bring in someone from our
Manufacturing Assistance Center. If there are technical issues, we
hook the entrepreneur up with someone from our computer science
department."
Although all-around assistance is what it's known for,
Mattei says her SBDC also attracts entrepreneurs with very specific
problems. Mattei recalls a client who ran a small catering business
out of her home. Her problem? She needed a commercial facility and
didn't know how to go about getting it. Mattei assigned an
appropriate finance expert who evaluated her needs and helped her
get financing. Today, she's running a thriving catering
business out of a commercial site.
Speaking for all the people who work at SBDCs, Mattei says their
role is to provide honest advice. "We have no ulterior
motives," she says. "We want the entrepreneurs who come
to us to be successful."
To find the SBDC nearest you, call (703) 271-8700 or visit
its Web site at http://www.asbdc-us.org
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