Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How many clients do you see per year?
Approximately 3000 and many return several times to meet with different business analysts.
Q. Do you charge for services?
We are prohibited by the terms of our federal grant from charging for counseling services. They are entirely free! We are however allowed to charge for training. Fees for training range from free for (1) and (2) hour classes, $30 for (3) hour classes, $50 for (4) hour classes and $100 for full-day classes. Individual regional SBDCs are free to set their own fee structure. At the FAU SBDC, most classes are free in order that as many people as would like, can learn about starting and growing a business. We do not want money to be a barrier.
Q. What is your budget?
The SBDC budget has 4 main components. The federal component consists of grant money provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The amount given to an individual SBDC is determined by a formula based on 1. Population of region being served, 2. # of businesses in the region and 3. Geographic size. B. The 2nd component is referred to as cash match. In order to secure the federal funds, cash match is required. It is equivalent to 65% of the federal funds. C. The 3rd component is known as In-kind Contributions and must also amount to 65% of the federal funds. Generating In-kinds is the sole responsibility of the SBDC and is derived from volunteer speakers, donated office/classroom space, free PSAs, software donations and more. D. The 4th component of the budget is Program Income. This is income derived primarily from training event fees.
Q. Who provides your counseling and training services?
Counseling is provided by professional staff that has passed the Florida SBDC Network Certified Business Analyst (CBA) program. This is an internal designation of the FSBDCN requiring counselors to meet initial and re-certification professional development requirements. Most CBAs have experience as business owners and/or related business degrees. Most training is also done by staff, however professionals from the community do teach classes for us on a volunteer basis.
Q. What kind of accountability, management structure do you maintain?
As a federal grant program, the SBDC is bound by the terms and conditions spelled out in their various contracts with funding agencies. The SBDC prepares financial and programmatic reports every quarter that are submitted to the State SBDC Director’s office in Pensacola for review. The financial reports are prepared first by the local SBDC and then examined by FAU Contracts and Grants Specialists for accuracy. On a regular basis the SBDC is audited/reviewed by the US SBA in Washington DC and annually by the SBA Statewide Project Officer. In addition, the FAU SBDC conducts formal internal audits for ISO 9001:2000 certification and hires an ISO Examiner to perform required surveillance audits on a pre-determined schedule.
Q. How do you market your services?
As a non-profit organization, the SBDC has a limited marketing budget and therefore relies on the following: public speaking engagements, participation on various committees, public service announcements to over 100 media, monthly Enewsletter, broadcast emails and event announcements in 2 local newspapers along with articles written specifically on the center or a successful client. SBDC staff have also appeared as guest presenters on several radio and television programs.
Q. How do you know you are really helping small businesses?*
As an ISO registered organization, the SBDC is seriously focused on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. This means that each and every evaluation from a training event and counseling session is reviewed in detail and by more than one person. From these evaluations, we search for ways to improve and act swiftly to correct any problems that may have occurred. Additionally, we require new clients to complete a New Client Information Sheet that helps us understand what the community needs and expects from our SBDC. Additionally, we conduct a 3-question survey each month on a new topic to gain help spot trends and opportunities for new programming.
*For testimonials from customers on both our counseling and training, please return to the home page and click on the ‘Testimonial’ tab.
Q. What kind of tangible impact have you experienced?
The SBDC has a 30-day window to follow-up with clients 90-120 after their last visit to see if the assistance provided had an impact on the client’s business. Clients are not required to respond to our requests for information so the data received is estimated to represent approximately 10-20% of total client’s seen. Given this, our performance can be viewed by clicking the ‘Performance’ tab on the home page.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to send an email to: young@fau.edu