Joe Harper on the Resources Available through the Small Business Development Centers [Podcast]

Episode 77 – Joe Harper, the Executive Director of The Texas State Small Business Development Center, joins Marc Miller to discuss the Texas State Small Business Development Center and its companion centers around the United States.

Description:

In this episode, Marc interviews Joe Harper during a webinar originally held for the CareerPivot community membership site. Listen in to learn how you can apply the resources of your field SBD Center in all stages of your business, but especially as you prepare to start and grow it.

Key Takeaways:

[1:00] Marc welcomes you to episode 77 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.

[1:18] Next week, Marc interviews Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, the Executive Director of The Texas State Small Business Development Center. The episode will address how people grow happier in the second half of life.

[1:51] Marc announces plans for another “Can You Repurpose Your Career?” series, similar to Episodes 48-51 from October 2017. If you would like to go through this process anonymously, with Marc on the podcast, please email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.

[2:02] This week’s episode is the audio portion of a webinar Marc did with Joe Harper, the Executive Director of the Texas State Small Business Development Center. This webinar was given for the CareerPivot community membership site on how to utilize your Small Business Development Center, the hidden gem in almost every community.

[3:16] Marc introduces Joe Harper who directs the webinar.

[3:45] Joe gives the background of the Small Business Development Centers. There are over 1,100 centers in 64 states and U.S. territories starting in the early 1980s. There are 4,000 advisers in their team, nationwide.

[4:45] The SBD program provides technical assistance in the form of mentorship and training to businesses from the idea stage to the high-growth stage. Most of the focus is on businesses in the idea stage, from concept to credit.

[6:48] An adviser helps you design a strategy for executing the launch of your business, and the expansion and long-term growth of your business, up to a plan for exiting the business at the right time. Joe once tried to give his business to his son. His son declined the opportunity.

[8:03] Joe explains the mission and goals of the SBDCs. They track numbers of jobs they help create, help save and expand, the number of business they help create, and capital infusion. In the Austin area, their capital impact is about $75 million, annually.

[9:15] Joe talks about the SBDC’s role in matching a business’s financial projections and their business plan. There is planning where the money will come from, how you will use it, and how you will repay it. Sources for capital are discussed. Different programs exist for businesses at different stages.

[11:52] Joe introduces the program of the lean canvas or the nine building blocks of the business model developed by Dr. Osterwalder to predict accurately the success of your business plan and help you develop your pro forma or financial projections. Managing the cash is key.

[15:16] SBDC advisers look at three things in terms of a business’s ability to grow: 1. Do they have a willingness to grow? 2. Do they have experience in what growth looks like? 3. Do they have the capacity to grow internally and externally?

[16:24] The transition into a high-growth company usually comes with the realization that there will be awkward decisions about changing staff.

[18:01] In an online business, your digital footprint is your business. SBDC advisers spend a lot of time working with business owners on their social media strategy, websites, and tools to develop online customer relationships and understanding what customer needs and expectations are going to be. What is their value proposition?

[20:20] How do you find your nearest Small Business Development Center? Look at ASDBC.org. Find your lead center. They will direct you to your local field center. The local centers are also listed on the SBA.gov website. Different field centers will have different areas of technology or business expertise. One SBCD can refer you to another.

[22:46] The whole focus is on what’s best for the client.

[22:58] The businesses SBDC helps are for profit. Nonprofits can get help from SCORE.

[23:44] A new client of the SBDC is first advised about their business idea. There is help for every level, from ideation to exit. Some SBDCs have certified business valuators.

[28:10] Joe talks about taxes and regulations that are being pulled off the books. The new tax law allows certain assets to be expensed in the first year. Caution: an expense is not a depreciation. Joe talks about tax mitigation vs. growth and value.

[32:37] What about positioning yourself as a business as an author? It is difficult to measure the economic return on the taxpayer investment in an author or other one-person small businesses.

[30:42] Mark tells how he has researched optimum job titles through Google. Make it a relevant title for the future, not for today, or for the past. Don’t say MSDOS programmer.

[37:04] Marc invites you to check back next week to hear him interview Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Careerpivot.com

CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”

CareerPivot.com/Episode-49 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 2”

CareerPivot.com/Episode-50 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 3”

CareerPivot.com/Episode-51 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 4”

Austin Small Business Development Center

The Business Model Canvas developed by Dr. Alexander Osterwalder

ASBDC.org listing every SBDC in the country.

SCORE.org

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

James A. Michener

The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, by Jonathan Rauch

Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.

Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.

CareerPivot.com/Episode-77 Show Notes for this episode.

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