A Boost for Small Business
The University of Dayton Research Institute has launched an Ohio Small Business Development Center that offers free, professional, in-depth and confidential consulting and training to start-up and existing small businesses.
The center, one of four serving nine counties in western and southwestern Ohio, employs two UD law students and a UD MBA student as counselors.
Aimee Whited, a Fairborn, Ohio licensed cosmetologist, is among the center's first 14 clients. Growing increasingly frustrated with trying to find a stylist, spa or salon to meet her needs after various relocations, Whited wondered, “What can I do about this?”
Whited developed a free Web site that will put customers in touch with a stylist, spa or salon in Montgomery, Greene or Clark county. She hopes to launch MyHairBroker.com in the next few months.
Businesses and individual stylists will purchase space on the site. “Visitors will be able to see stylists’ profiles, professional experience and work samples, as well as parking information and other information, such as whether the place is kid-friendly,” Whited said. “When someone makes an appointment, they know exactly what they are getting before they go.”
A Small Business Development Center in Springfield helped Whited get started with her idea and put her in touch with a Web designer. Then a friend referred her to UD’s center, established with UDRI’s Office of Technology Partnerships.
UDRI received a two-year federal and state grant, which, along with UDRI matching funds, is used to operate the center.
In only three months, the center already is being sought out for advice by other centers on how to tap college students in their area to broaden their capabilities., according to UD Small Business Development Center director Tony Vogt. UD's center is piloting an internship program in which additional communication and engineering students will work for clients on site.
The statewide program started in 1985 through a partnership between the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Ohio Department of Development.
“I went to an SBDC seminar and found it to be really helpful,” Whited said. “As our concept progressed, a friend referred me to UD's center because it probably had a bit more expertise in the areas in which I need help. The centers are wonderful resources. I have talked to others who have the skills and desire to start a business but don’t know the centers are out there for assistance.”
Vogt said the centers do not compete but complement each other and refer clients to each other based on their strengths. In Whited's case, UD's expertise in marketing, communications, publications and branding was the match she needed.
“We figure out the clients’ needs and then split up the work depending on our experience and education,” said third-year law student Dave Kohut, who focuses on law and technology. He has a undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and professional sales experience. “I help Aimee protect her ideas so she isn't blocked later by others trying to expound on what was originally her idea.”
UD's counselors met with Whited about her business model and tweaked its scope along with its structure.
“We wanted Aimee to also look beyond the start-up to future business growth and build the capacity and framework to expand as quickly as her customers want her to grow,” Vogt said.
The group said it envisions the Web site could possibly expand into a search tool linking consumers to other area businesses that relate to personal care, special occasions and pet grooming.
January 27, 2005
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