Announcer: What do the founder of Wikipedia, the founder of Atari, the inventor of the Weed Eater, and the founder of Chick-Fil-A have in common?
- They are all "make it happen" people
- And they have all been guests on the BusinessMakers Radio Show
Check out their interviews at thebusinessmakers.com. And now back to the BusinessMakers Show with your host, Russ Capper
Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com. It's guest time on the show and I'm very pleased to have with me Kristen Johnson, chairperson of the California Small Business Development Centers. Kristen, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.
Kristen: Well, thanks so much for having me.
Russ: You bet. Well, let's start by you telling us, what is a Small Business Development Center?
Kristen: A Small Business Development Center is a location throughout the nation where entrepreneurs and beginning businesses as well as business owners who may be up and running and need some fine-tuning can come and seek assistance in the form of one-on-one consulting or coaching and also attend a number of trainings that are either free or low cost. The Small Business Development Centers are under the umbrella of SBA, the Small Business Administration, but are funded directly by Congress, and we work with businesses on all kinds of issues from business planning, accessing capital, both in the form of loans and equity, and also helping them with defining their markets and expanding their markets.
Russ: Does a company that comes in and seeks your assistance. Do they have to be an SBA company that perhaps got an SBA loan?
Kristen: You know, we work with companies that have received SBA loans or want to receive an SBA loan, but our services are open to any small business owner or an entrepreneur who's even pre-venture.
Russ: Okay, so this is a federal government initiative to help small business.
Kristen: It is and most of our services are free, but we like to say that they're very valuable, and our services are provided by business advisers who either come from the private sector and this is their way to give back, so maybe they're retired individuals, maybe they do this on the side, but a lot of our folks work with business consulting. They've worked with startup, growth ventures, venture capital-funded programs, and then they come work with the SBDC and it's free for our clients.
Russ: SBDC. I gotta think that there's quite a few people out there that don't know and they're located all over the country?
Kristen: They are. There's approximately 900 centers, SBDC centers, and then we have an additional over 1,000 outreach locations beyond that, so we like to think that within an hour's drive every small business owner and entrepreneur in American can receive our assistance.
Russ: That's so cool. Now I wanna get specifically into California 'cause you have some unique challenges out here, but before we leave this, tell me a little bit more about the curriculum. What sort of things could I as a small business person come in and benefit by?
Kristen: A small business owner comes in and we're - it's really about a relationship. We like to work with somebody wherever they're at in their growth phase but over time, so we like to think that every business needs an accountant or somebody who's really an expert in the accounting field. A lotta businesses need to have a lawyer who's on hand to help them with those kinds of issues and to really complete that, we say that there's a triangle and the Small Business Development Center consultant can be your third expert in your corner.
We work with a business to really establish some goals so their time with us isn't just dreaming or creating things that are never gonna come to fruition but really looking at, okay, are we gonna help you create jobs? Are we gonna help you find money? Are we gonna help you launch a Web site? Are we gonna help you secure a government contract? I hate to say it, but it is kind of a soup to nuts, a lotta different ways we can help a business, but it's really helping - first sitting down with them and forming a relationship and saying, "What is the next step for your business and let's create it together." We do a number of different kinds of workshops, trainings, events. Some of those are a one-time, standalone two-hour session. We go in-depth with some people who wanna work with us over a 12-, 13-week period and develop business plans and some of those longer term courses we do charge a nominal fee.
Russ: Okay, talking with Kristen Johnson, the chairperson of the California Small Business Development Centers, and that California, boy, state on your title there, there's some challenges out here in California these days, and I would assume that you see that in your centers.
Kristen: We do. I mean Small Business Development Centers are always needed, you know. Business owners frequently get into self-employment situation because they love the product or service not because they're an expert in how to run a company. Then you turn it into an economic downturn and a lot of the, you know, unemployment and things that we're facing in today's economy and our services are even more needed. We do a lot of turnaround work working with a company that - we like to say, "Come in before you need us," but a lot of folks do come in and they're in the red and so we really help them figure out how can we shore things up, decrease your costs, look for new revenues. It really in a lotta ways is brainstorming and being able to be a sounding board for them to bounce ideas off of.
Russ: Sure. And have you seen the demand pick up as the economy went down?
Kristen: Absolutely. We've seen an increase about 12 percent over the last 12 months and in particular niches throughout the states. Different parts of the state have been hit more heavily than others. We have a lot of companies that have been impacted by the New Me closure in the Bay Area where we've had, you know, Toyota pull out, a manufacturing situation. A lot of the suppliers to New Me are small businesses and so working with them to see what's next.
Russ: Okay. Well, let's say just somebody in our audience right now that's totally intrigued and wants to go to an SBDC for assistance. How can they find out where the nearest one is located?
Kristen: There are a couple of Web sites I'd recommend them look at. One is www.sba.gov and if you type in the search word "SBDC," you'll be forwarded to a number of great resources about our program in a list. The other thing, we have a great membership association that keeps an updated list of all the SBDCs and that is at www.asbdc-us.org.
Russ: Okay. Kristen, I really appreciate you sharing that and hopefully we've helped out a lotta people by sharing the story of SBDCs.
Kristen: I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.
Russ: You bet. That's Kristen Johnson, California chairperson of the Small Business Development Center. And you're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com.
