Marin SBDC Director Miriam Hope Karell. Courtesy image.
Soon after Miriam Hope Karell connects with a local small business owner seeking free business advice through the Marin Small Business Development Center (SBDC) she runs in San Rafael, the inevitable question arises: “What’s the catch?”
There’s no catch.
“People can’t believe that this service exists for free – they think it’s too good to be true,” Karell said in a presentation this week, part of the ongoing "The Essentials" series from the Mill Valley, San Rafael, Corte Madera and Tiburon chambers of commerce at the Corte Madera Town Center. “They ask, ‘What are you going to make me do?’ The only thing we do is track the success of our clients once we start advising them.”
Consider the Marin SBDC a secret weapon for small business owners. Marin SBDC has helped more than 687 businesses create more than 400 jobs. They’ve helped those business increase their sales by $16 million and help them garner more than $14 million in funding through a variety of sources.
“It’s the largest support system in the country for small businesses,” Karell says of the SBDC network, which include 12 offices between Santa Cruz and the California-Oregon border. “Our primary focus is free, one-on-one business advising, answering any questions at any stage of the development of the business.”
The expertise of Marin SBDC's 15 advisors range from social media and marketing to strategy, ecommerce, product development and funding. For the latter, Karell says Marin is unique in that most investment comes from the “friends and family” crowdfunding circles as opposed to landing bank loans or traditional investors.
The success stories are abundant. There’s Pelo Fitness owner Alan Roberts, whose passion for cycling and fitness drove him to open his own center and make cycling classes fun for people of all fitness levels. But one year after he launched his business, Roberts wasn’t generating enough clients to justify his rental of a large space near Whole Foods Market and San Rafael High School. So Marin SBDC business advisor Paul Bozzo suggested that he incorporate retail into the space, giving him a safety net.
“Because of his hard work and all the help he received from Marin SBDC over the span of several years, he’s now opening his second location in San Francisco right now,” said Karell, whose office is located on the campus of Dominican University. “We helped him get investments and loans and guided him through the process of incorporating retail into his business. Now he’s taking off.”
Marin SBDC helps both new and existing small businesses, and Karell noted, the only “catch” is that they track a number of their clients’ metrics, part of the formula they must use to maintain their $100,000 in annual funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Karell must then garber matching funds via local and regional municipalities and other grant funding sources. The City of San Rafael, City of Novato and County of Marin currently provide funding for the program.
The 411: Marin SBDC is located at 104 Bertrand Hall on the Dominican University campus. Want to seek their help? Go to their website and click the “Apply for Free Advising” red button. Here's a clip from Karell's presentation:
There’s no catch.
“People can’t believe that this service exists for free – they think it’s too good to be true,” Karell said in a presentation this week, part of the ongoing "The Essentials" series from the Mill Valley, San Rafael, Corte Madera and Tiburon chambers of commerce at the Corte Madera Town Center. “They ask, ‘What are you going to make me do?’ The only thing we do is track the success of our clients once we start advising them.”
Consider the Marin SBDC a secret weapon for small business owners. Marin SBDC has helped more than 687 businesses create more than 400 jobs. They’ve helped those business increase their sales by $16 million and help them garner more than $14 million in funding through a variety of sources.
“It’s the largest support system in the country for small businesses,” Karell says of the SBDC network, which include 12 offices between Santa Cruz and the California-Oregon border. “Our primary focus is free, one-on-one business advising, answering any questions at any stage of the development of the business.”
The expertise of Marin SBDC's 15 advisors range from social media and marketing to strategy, ecommerce, product development and funding. For the latter, Karell says Marin is unique in that most investment comes from the “friends and family” crowdfunding circles as opposed to landing bank loans or traditional investors.
The success stories are abundant. There’s Pelo Fitness owner Alan Roberts, whose passion for cycling and fitness drove him to open his own center and make cycling classes fun for people of all fitness levels. But one year after he launched his business, Roberts wasn’t generating enough clients to justify his rental of a large space near Whole Foods Market and San Rafael High School. So Marin SBDC business advisor Paul Bozzo suggested that he incorporate retail into the space, giving him a safety net.
“Because of his hard work and all the help he received from Marin SBDC over the span of several years, he’s now opening his second location in San Francisco right now,” said Karell, whose office is located on the campus of Dominican University. “We helped him get investments and loans and guided him through the process of incorporating retail into his business. Now he’s taking off.”
Marin SBDC helps both new and existing small businesses, and Karell noted, the only “catch” is that they track a number of their clients’ metrics, part of the formula they must use to maintain their $100,000 in annual funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Karell must then garber matching funds via local and regional municipalities and other grant funding sources. The City of San Rafael, City of Novato and County of Marin currently provide funding for the program.
The 411: Marin SBDC is located at 104 Bertrand Hall on the Dominican University campus. Want to seek their help? Go to their website and click the “Apply for Free Advising” red button. Here's a clip from Karell's presentation: