Programs of the Missouri Small Business Development Centers

Business consultation – The MO SBDC offers personalized counseling that is comprehensive and individualized to meet the client’s specific needs. SBDC counselors are skilled professionals with expertise in many areas, including marketing and sales, accounting, financial analysis and cost control, personnel, inventory control, business start-up or acquisition and business liquidation or sale. The following is a list of the specific programs available to the state’s small businesses through the MO SBDC: 

Technology Access
SBDC technology consultants can help access databases and experts from businesses, universities and federal laboratories to provide information on manufacturing technology advances, manufacturing processes, patents and trademarks and approaches to solving manufacturing problems.

Procurement Assistance

            Assistance provided through the Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (MO PTAC) helps companies obtain local, state and federal government contracts. MO PTAC computers search government databases daily to find suitable bid leads and contracting opportunities that meet each company’s capabilities. These bid leads are forwarded to the client via e-mail or fax. 

MoFAST

            The Missouri Federal and State Technology Partnership (MoFAST) staff helps businesses seek out, apply for and win government Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards that will provide money to develop and potentially commercialize innovations. This is done by providing assistance, mentoring and financial support. Seasoned business specialists with specific expertise in these programs provide these services along with assistance in business development, corporate management and federal procurement procedures.

FisCAL

            FisCAL reports provide a comprehensive check-up of a firm’s financial fitness. This includes an analysis of financial statements showing financial trends, ratio analysis, break-even analysis, and credit preview. A company’s financials can be compared to industry standards to show the company’s performance relative to similar companies.

Balanced Scorecards

          Large corporations have used balanced scorecards for years to improve their performance and achieve their strategic goals. The MO SBDC’s nine-step process helps smaller companies create a scorecard and enjoy the benefits of improving communication, aligning work throughout the company, executing their strategic plan and measuring performance with a balanced set of metrics.

SMART

            This program assesses a company against the Criteria for Performance Excellence used by the National Malcolm Baldrige Award and the Missouri Quality Award.  It looks at a company in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, customers and markets, information management, human resources, process management and business results. After an in-depth interview with key personnel, MO SBDC staff prepares a written feedback report for the company, which highlights the firm’s strengths as well as opportunities to improve their performance.

Training Programs – The MO SBDC offers a variety of training programs on many business topics. Each SBDC office is equipped to present programs that meet specific needs within its community. The following programs are available across the state.

Self-Assessment

         This training teaches business people to assess their operations by using the Criteria for Performance Excellence, made famous by the National Malcolm Baldrige Award. Research has shown that companies that use these Criteria to improve consistently outperform their competition. 

FastTrac

            A FastTrac curriculum is typically offered once a week over a 10-12-week period to help companies develop their business plans. Several FastTrac programs are offered to include:

The First Steps – Assists individuals in defining personal vision and goals to determine whether their business idea is a truly viable business opportunity. 

NewVenture – Provides the opportunity to test an idea in an environment with other entrepreneurs before you invest substantial amounts of time and money. Participants obtain the expertise and structure necessary to help determine whether starting a business is the appropriate course of action.

Planning - Assists the existing entrepreneur in learning and implementing key business strategies to transform and improve their business.

Manufacturing – Teaches the manufacturing entrepreneur to streamline her business processes, analyze strengths and shortcomings and planning for future growth.

Technology – Teaches the entrepreneur of a technology business to develop strategies to commercialize the product and structure the business to support the unique aspects of the market.

Day Care - Guides the entrepreneur through creating a business plan to operate a day care business and create a parent handbook.

 

Financial Management Programs

            Three programs are offered to help owners and managers to better manage their companies by understanding the information available in their financial statements. Each class is three hours long and covers these topics: Understanding Financial Statements, How to Control Cash Flow, and Predicting Future Cash Needs.

 

Marketing Programs

            A series of five programs is delivered via the participant’s computer and is then followed with face-to-face roundtables that are designed to help the owner or manager incorporate marketing concepts into the business. The five topics covered are Identifying your Target Market, Creating a Promotional Campaign, Personalization Strategies to Attract and Retain Customers, Pricing Products and Services and Analyzing Your Competition. 

 

Start-up Programs

            A variety of start-up training programs are available to meet a variety of client requirements. These offerings include a three-hour program that highlights the various aspects of starting a business and an eight-hour program that goes into more depth on the aspects of starting a business. More in-depth information on starting a business is available through the FastTrac NewVenture program. In addition, many resources are available online at www.mobdn.net.