Entrepreneurs looking for advice on getting their new businesses going on the right path can now get some free help at San Jose State University.
As of the beginning of this month, the school is now the home of the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center. Located at 210 N. 4th Street, the center offers consultation sessions with business advisors as well as workshops on topics including hiring and funding.
"We want these innovators to be able to get the assistance that they need to prevent them from making potentially critical mistakes," Michael Cohen, the center's director, told the Business Journal.
The Silicon Valley SBDC moved to San Jose State from its former location at 1887 Monterey Rd. in San Jose. That location is now home to Access Small Business Development Center. Like Silicon Valley SBDC, Access is part of the Northern California Small Business Development Center program, which is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
The Access center is focused on small service firms, such as single-location restaurants and nail salons. The Silicon Valley SBDC by contrast is concentrating on companies with the potential for fast growth, Cohen said.
The Silicon Valley center aims to help entrepreneurs who have already started their companies and are already earning revenue and are aiming to take their businesses to the next level, he said. The center offers advice on how those business owners can make their companies profitable and self-sustaining as they expand, he said.
Even if entrepreneurs are smart and well-versed in the particulars of their product or industry, they may still be missing some critical business knowledge, Cohen said.
"You can't be great at everything," Cohen said. "These are very smart people who are going to be successful, but there's just some little gaps that they need filled in, there's some procedures that they're not familiar with, there's some things that they haven't thought of, and that's where we come in."
The center is in the process of hiring staff and business advisors. It should begin offering consulting services in a few weeks, Cohen said. Entrepreneurs can visit svsbdc.org to sign up with an advisor who will help them access its services.
