Nancy Edmonds Hanson
Amy Anderson and Ian Carlstrom connect start-ups and business owners with the knowledge and resources they need to succeed at the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center, located at M State since the first of the year.
When new clients call the Small Business Development Center at M State, they already know a great deal about the service or product they want to purvey. Where many need a boost, say Amy Anderson and Ian Carlstrom, is navigating the business side of business.
“Our clients come in with something they’re passionate about, whether it’s food or child care or fixing cars,” reports Anderson, associate director of the office serving nine states in west central Minnesota. “They are focused on what they want to sell. The parts they may not know – the business plans, the financials, the accounting – are what brings them here.”
“Here” is the business assistance agency’s new quarters at Minnesota State Community and Technical College. Since January, Anderson and newly named director Ian Carlstrom have been setting up their operation in former faculty offices near the west end of the sprawling campus. There they expect to forge and continue relationships with some 300 business owners and start-ups this year alone, matching them with consultants across Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stevens, Traverse and Wilkin counties.
M State stepped up to host the regional center last summer after Concordia College ended its 10-year partnership with SBDC. Dean Marsha Weber, who heads M State’s School of Business and Information Technology, calls it a perfect fit with both her school’s academic offerings and the non-credit Workforce Development Solutions, which has worked with employers to train their staffs in leadership and technical skills for more than 20 years.
“Working with the SBDC helps us build a comprehensive plan to serve our students and communities,” she says.
The small business center goes back even farther. Minnesota established its nine regional centers in the 1979 as one of the first states to move to offer free consulting services to help new and established businesses grow. It is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration and Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, supporting half of its annual budget; the public funds are matched by donations from area businesses, lenders and economic development agencies.
According to Carlstrom, formerly a SBDC business advisor on the North Dakota side, about half of the Moorhead-based operation’s clients are start-ups. The balance are existing businesses navigating expansions, acquiring equipment, setting up additional locations or scaling up their companies to meet growing demands.
“They may never have put together a business plan. A ‘solopreneur’ may have gotten successful, but now finds it’s just too much to handle alone,” Carlstrom suggests. “Or they need financing but don’t have the financials they need for a loan, and the banker sends them back to us to put one together.”
Carlstrom and Anderson work with new clients and match them with one of the region’s seven consultants. A few specialize in manufacturing, say, or marketing; most, though, are generalists, ready to provide advice and guidance in a wide range of areas, from accounting with Quickbooks to setting up websites.
“We don’t do the work for them,” Carlstrom cautions. “We provide them with the tools and resources to do a great job themselves.”
Among the services for which guidance is provided: Feasibility studies, start-up assistance, business plan development, access to capital and loan packaging, cash flow management, market research and marketing plans, export and international trade assistance, and turn-around assistance for struggling firms.
Anderson cites another vital but often-overlooked area – exit planning. “Ideally, they should start planning for their eventual exit five or ten years ahead of time,” she suggests. That includes getting the books clean and ready for sale. She adds, “Actually, they should have an exit plan from the beginning. Things happen.”
While most of its services are provided in meetings between client and consultant, the SBDC also sponsors classes, both in person and online. A five-week course called Entrepreneurship Startup is slated to begin May 2 and continue for the next four Tuesdays. Consultant Shannon Berns provides homework between each session, combining it with video and tutorial to lay out quarterly goals for the first three years along with financial projections.
The process starts with a call to the West Central SBDC at (218) 299-6605. Or email the center: SBDC@Minnesota.edu. For more information on services as well as the Entrepreneurship Startup class, go to WestCentralMNSBDC.com.
