Counseling, Mentoring & Consulting
Many existing and startup businesses can be helped to reach their goals through the assistance of a professional counselor, a mentor or a consultant. These experienced advisors can provide small business owners and managers with:
Expertise not otherwise available to them
Objective advice on a variety of business practices.
Specialized services normally required only on an occasional basis.
Planning assistance
Business evaluation and analysis
Assistance in locating resources
SCCBC strives to provide small businesses access to counsel and expertise that will help them to improve their business. We offer the owners of both existing and startup businesses in Schenectady County the opportunity to secure the assistance of a staff counselor, a mentor or a consultant. Each serves a different purpose for the small businessperson.
Staff Counselor
The first point of contact for any businessperson with SCCBC is a staff counselor. Each of our staff people possesses many years of experience working with small businesses. In addition to excellent general business knowledge, each specializes in a specific area such as retail, finance or business planning. Each client starts by discussing with one of these counselors their goals and the assistance they are looking for. An assistance plan is established with each client. This plan can include everything from continuing with a staff person to education or a mentor or consultant or access to some other resource. Assistance can be provided for the short or long-term.
Mentors
The SCCBC has an extensive list of experienced business people with a variety of backgrounds who are willing to volunteer to serve as mentors for interested individuals. In teams of two, these business people usually serve in an informal capacity as advisors to the business people they work with. SCCBC strives to match a mentor’s experience with the business of the client but always matches the knowledge and capabilities of the mentor with the needs of the client. Working in conjunction with SCCBC staff and a mentor team, an SCCBC client can gain invaluable knowledge and move their business further forward than the owner working alone.
Consultants
For those businesses that require more specific assistance with a targeted goal in a short period of time, we also have a comprehensive list of experienced consultants with specific expertise that they offer to businesses on a paid contract basis. However, they normally offer an initial amount of services to business center clients on a pro-bono basis with extended services offered at terms on a case by case basis.
SBDC
A new service offered at SCCBC is the addition of a full-time staff person from the New York State Small Business Development Center. This agency has twenty years of experience in providing one-on-one business counseling courtesy of funding from State and Federal sources. While this service is similar to the mentoring and consulting services offered, the on-staff advisor is available every day. While an appointment is suggested, the SCCBC invites you to take advantage of the one-on-one business consulting service available. Assistance is available on startup strategies, expansion strategies, financing options available, business plan development and marketing. The NYSSBDC offers a specialized program for finding needed information. Five full-time research librarians serve on the staff of the SBDC and assist the advisor in developing detailed responses to intricate questions. These services are made available to all clients of the SBDC.
We encourage any Schenectady County businessperson that thinks they could benefit from these targeted services to contact the business center for further information.
