Albany SBDC Sees Shift in Challenges Facing Business Leaders
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Debbie Finney, head of the Albany office of the Georgia Small Business Development Center, says that activity level at the SBDC stays high regardless of the economy. It's just the nature of the questions that changes.
Currently the questions indicate business owners are thinking about growth. For example, a common question is how should businesses integrate changing technologies into an effective marketing plan.
"Business owners and managers want to know if they are getting the most out of their website. They also want to know if they need a blog or a Facebook page and if they do, they want to know how to use it," Finney said.
While the SBDC offers tools to help analyze if a website is optimized for search engines, Finney says the bigger question revolves around the role the website plays in the business marketing plan.
"The first question is do you have a marketing plan and then you evaluate whether your marketing plan is up to date with the latest available tools like blogs and Facebook. Things change so fast with technology and consumer preference, it's always good to ask if your plan is up to date," Finney said.
The Georgia SBDC offers consulting services to for-profit business owners at no charge as well as continuing education classes for business leaders for a fee. It is part of the University of Georgia Public Outreach Services and one of 17 SBDC offices across the state. The Albany office was the first to open outside of Athens. It covers 27 counties in southwest Georgia.
Preparing Loan Proposals
Business owners are also contacting the SBDC for help preparing loan proposals to present to their bankers. According to Finney, bankers are lending but require greater preparation and a more meticulous financial plan from loan candidates. The fact that more companies are seeking financing also reflects an improving economy.
"We're seeing more positives now in the economy and business owners who have been very conservative with their resources are now planning for growth," Finney said.
In addition to loan proposals, the SBDC offers tools that provide a financial health check for a business. This spring, the SBDC also offered a seven-week series called "GrowSmart – Smart Strategies for Profitable Growth" that focuses on key elements for future growth. Twenty business owners graduated from this course last spring, the first year it was offered in Albany.
Starting a Business
The only criteria for receiving consulting services from the SBDC are that the business be for profit. Otherwise the business can be a one-person shop, as large as 100 employees, established or a start-up.
"If an individual is interested in starting a business we ask that they outline their business plan on paper and complete one of our information packets so that we have something tangible to work with," Finney said.
Starting a business is not necessarily tied to the economic times. According to Finney, "there are always people looking to start a business – maybe they lost a job or retired from a job."
A Great Resource for Georgia
The Albany SBDC will be adding a third consultant to its staff in 2012. All have business experience and a Masters in Business Administration degrees. The staff also operates a satellite office in Tifton and travels to business sites when needed.
"We have a wealth of resources we can use to address any type of business issue and that includes pulling in expertise from any of our 17 offices in Georgia," Finney said.
"We're here to help small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Just give us a call."
More information on the Georgia SBDC is available at www.georgiasbdc.org or call (229) 420-1144.
