The Lone Star College System’s Small Business Development Center works to help entrepreneurs start businesses and remain competitive in the global economy through services, workshops, seminars and the development of decision-making skills. The center’s investment in local businesses results in job creation and economic growth in The Woodlands area, said Sal Mira, executive director of the SBDC.
“The most crucial role of the Small Business Development Center is that we are able to provide an experienced and unemotional assessment of [an entrepreneur’s] business goals and objectives,” Mira said.
Services
The SBDC offers these services to entrepreneurs seeking to start their own business:
• professional business management consulting
• free and low-cost workshops/seminars
• Small Business Association-Guaranteed and conventional loan assistance
• referral service to professional service providers
• international trade program
• procurement technical assistance center – government contracting
• comprehensive business library
“We feel that a business owner’s plan needs to be developed by the entrepreneur. It would not do much good if we wrote the plan ourselves because it wouldn’t reflect their passions.”
–Sal Mira, SBDC director
Workshops & Seminars
The SBDC offers a variety of workshops and seminars for small-business owners:
• University of Houston small business training
• online business training courses
• Lone Star College System SBDC Training: business plan writing, market research, sales training, marketing to the government, cash management and budgeting, understanding your financials, information technology including website design, CEO roundtables
• Business Success Seminars in Cy-Fair and Tomball
“I have been pleased to learn that they also provide assistance to existing businesses and can continue to be a resource for me as my business continues to grow and I continue to learn.”
–Karla Nash, Cork This! Winery owner
Process
The SBDC recommends following these steps to secure assistance when starting a new business:
• Entrepreneur submits an inquiry to the SBDC.
• SBDC sends an intake packet highlighting the request for consulting, a questionnaire on whether the business is an existing company or a startup and a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats test.
• The SBDC analyzes the answers in the intake packet, which allows the center to determine how to best serve the entrepreneur.
Lone Star College System Small Business Development Center
5000 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands 832-813-6674 www.lonestar.sbdcnetwork.net
