Executive director of the Small Business Development Center at Texas State University

As the head of the Small Business Development Center at Texas State University, Joe Harper works with entrepreneurs in Austin and 12 Central Texas counties. The Texas State SBDC—with offices in San Marcos, Austin and Round Rock—is part of a region of centers that serve 79 counties in the Southwest Texas border area, stretching all the way west to El Paso.

Harper began his own entrepreneurial career as an 8-year-old, shining shoes at the local barber shop to supplement the allowance his parents gave him.

"The entrepreneurial spirit was stirred in me then because I realized that it's not about being your own boss," Harper said. "It's certainly not about making more money because I have yet to see how that comes out. But it is about controlling your own destiny. "

Harper discussed some of the challenges facing entrepreneurs today, the free services provided by the SBDC and the state of small-business development in Central Texas.

What services does the SBDC provide for entrepreneurs?

We provide the technical assistance to help launch a business and expand a business. Small businesses, by federal government standards, [are] 500 employees or less. In the tricounty area—meaning Hays, Travis and Williamson counties—there are 72,000 small businesses. The market's way too big for us to do it alone, so we began to form collaborations. We turned what was considered to be competition into collaboration and into partnerships so we can deliver the services necessary to help small businesses grow, and then provide the technical assistance. We do it through one-on-one counseling, through training [and] through collaboration with other partners.

What incentives exist for women and minority entrepreneurs today?

A lot has changed. [In the] early days, there were a lot of set-asides, particularly in government contracts. There's always been some interest, at least at the corporate level, to make sure that they're bringing the minority and women businesses along. We're beginning to see less and less of that, but it is still there.

The majority of small businesses today are women-owned businesses. If we were to look at our client pool, you would find that it's probably about 60/40 women-owned businesses. [And] it is not necessarily lifestyle businesses a large percentage are growth-oriented businesses, which is a good sign.

What are some of the things that cause a small business to fail?

There are different statistics, but it's anywhere from 60 [percent]–80 percent of all small businesses that start [will] fail within the first five years. The reason for that failure is usually a lack of preparation from the beginning. What we do as an organization is we provide that assistance to help them look at their business, their business opportunity, their business model. We help them develop strategies that are going to allow them to execute and execute successfully. It's not about getting the business started; it's about getting it started and keeping it sustained over a period of time.

How do you assist a business that does not need to grow?

It's not always all about growth. There [are] retrenchment strategies. What happened as we've gone in to the recession since 2008, businesses have had to learn how to survive in a down economy. We work with businesses to determine, what's a sensible retrenchment strategy? Retrenchment means you have to shrink a little bit because you can't afford to stay where you are, but you have to stay in business. It's about keeping them alive long enough till we can find that opportunity to grow.

Where is help needed most—Travis, Williamson or Hays [county]?

That's a politically loaded question because if you would ask any of the political officials in any of those counties, they'd tell you it was their county. They all make that pitch to me, that I need to spend more resources in that county. Having said that, it seems that at the moment we're getting the most activity out of Williamson County.

I'm not saying that a lot isn't occurring in other places. Williamson County is not growing faster than Travis County or Hays County. There's a lot of pressure for us to put more resources into Hays County and the I-35 corridor. A lot is occurring there, and we recognize that, so we have begun to apply some new resources into that market.

We're very fortunate in our market—in Texas—that we're going to be experiencing growth for some time to come. The economy in Central Texas looks good.

Inside the SBDC

• The center has created partnerships that include the International Trade Center, Procurement Technical Assistance Center, SBDCNet Research, the City of Austin's Small Business Development Program, SCORE and BiG Austin's Women's Business Center.
• According to the SBDC, in 2012, advisers at the center worked with more than 700 businesses, helping to launch 64 and expand 43 of those. That work led to the creation of 490 new jobs and the retention of 275 jobs, as well as the acquisition of more than $19 million in capital and more than $60 million in contracts for Central Texas.
• The SBDC offers dozens of free classes in English and Spanish. Topics range from advertising and building a website to emergency preparedness, obtaining government contracts, intellectual property and more.
• SBDC Global helps entrepreneurs connect directly with businesses in Central and South America. Foreign and U.S. SBDC programs provide counseling to help owners maintain that business relationship, said Joe Harper, executive director of the SBDC at Texas State.