Free small business help in Georgia: the UGA SBDC
Years ago we sat down with consultants from the Small Business Development Center office in Gainesville and could barely get a word in. If you're near Dalton, the closest offices are Rome and Gainesville, and one-on-one consulting is free. We had a story, they had a better one, and the meeting ran long in the best way. We left thinking more North Georgia business owners should know these people exist.
We still think so. The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is one of the most useful resources a small business in this state can have, and a lot of owners have never heard of it.
What the SBDC is
The UGA SBDC helps people start, run and grow small businesses. It's part of the University of Georgia and has 17 offices around the state, so there's usually one within driving distance. Its consultants bring real business experience in finance, marketing, operations and human resources. Many of them have seen thousands of businesses up close, the good and the bad.
At heart, the job is asking the hard questions and then helping you find the answers.
What they can help with
The list has grown over the years, but the core is the same:
- Writing or updating a business plan
- Finding sources of capital and getting ready to talk to a lender
- Setting up record-keeping and reading your financial statements
- Building a marketing strategy
- Doing market research for your industry and area
- Working through regulations and selling to government buyers
- Exporting and finding new markets
They also run classes and workshops on things like business planning, cash flow and marketing. Check their site for what's coming up near you.
Why this matters before you build a website
Here's where we come in. A lot of website projects stall because the business questions underneath haven't been answered. Who's the customer? What's the one thing you want a visitor to do? What makes you different from the three other shops on Google Maps?
An SBDC consultant can help you work through those questions, and once you have answers, the website gets easier. Each page has a clear job, your message is sharper, and your budget goes to features that support the plan instead of features that just look nice.
If you're getting ready for a project, What to have ready before you start a website project covers the rest of the list: logins, content, photos and goals.
How to get started with the SBDC
- Go to georgiasbdc.org and find the office nearest you.
- Request a consultation. Bring whatever you have: a plan, a spreadsheet, or just an idea.
- Expect homework. The best results go to owners who follow through.
Local help adds up
The SBDC is one piece of a bigger local support network. Your chamber of commerce, local leadership programs and business groups help too. We wrote about chambers in Hook Me Up: Why Business Owners Join the Chamber, and about a talk we gave to SBDC bootcamp attendees in Electronic Marketing Talk at UGA Bootcamp.
Plan in hand and ready to put it online? Call us at 678-379-9321 or email