UGA SBDC aid with financing, strategic planning assure success for Kingsland business

When the infrastructure maintenance company they had worked for suddenly closed, siblings Shalana McNamee and Jamos Beierle turned to the UGA SBDC to launch their own business – American Eagle LLC. Three years later, their company is thriving, employing former colleagues and achieving millions in sales.
Strategic Planning and Business Foundations from SBDC Help Brokerage Gain Sales and Success

Rebecca Robinson Davis of St. Simons is a people person, so much so that she left a lucrative position as a residential real estate appraiser in 2004 in search of a job – any job – that would replace the isolation of appraising homes with more personal interactions. She never thought that move would bring […]
Business Basics Plant Seeds for a Successful U-Pick Flower Startup

Kedron Nicholson’s father, a florist, arranged flowers into symphonies of sight and scent. Her grandfather, a horticulturist, made simple grafts that would change the floral destiny of a camelia bush. As a young Episcopal seminarian, Kedron regularly filled campus with beautiful, joyful flowers. So, when she and her husband James had their “what’s next” […]
Effective Strategic Planning for Small Businesses

We recently closed out the 1st half of the year and many small businesses are currently in the process of forecasting for the balance of 2019. Many savvy small businesses understand the value of revisiting their strategic plan at the mid-year point. Those small businesses are asking themselves relevant questions such as what went right during […]
New Entrepreneurs Need More Than a Plan to Build a Successful Business

A business plan is just the first step to realizing a successful business. Successful entrepreneurs also need local resources, practical business knowledge (or access to it), and a network of colleagues to rely on. Our StartSMART class is more than just a business planning class, it delivers everything a new entrepreneur needs to build a […]
Half of Millennials Plan to Start a Business in the Next 3 Years

Study Conducted by America’s SBDC Reveals Insights into the Entrepreneurial Mindsets of Different Generations of Americans Washington, D.C. – America’s SBDC partnered with the Center for Generational Kinetics to better understand how different generations view and approach entrepreneurship. The findings reinforced previously held beliefs such as a strong entrepreneurial inclination among millennials, while challenging preconceived […]
Should a Small Business Have a Strategic Plan in Today’s Ever-Changing Environment?

Many small businesses do not have a strategic plan. This may be because 1) they do not really know what it is or how to do one; 2) they believe strategic plans are for big business; or 3) it simply has not been a priority in the face of dealing with day to day, ‘more […]
Careful Pre-Planning Helps Complex Industrial Business Secure an SBA Loan

Rod Meyer had worked in Minneapolis 25 years with the market-leading industrial x-ray imaging equipment company, rising to vice president of sales and leading a tenfold increase in capital sales, before the company was sold and narrowed its product line. “The new company decided to focus on standard x-ray imaging systems. This decision opened an […]