OATdb Archive

2014 - 2015

Small Business Development Center

Goal
Have A Positive Economic Impact Within The SBDC Six County Service Area
This economic impact will be measured annually using six specific objectives established within the SBDC annual federal contract.


Objective
Impact Clients
This criterion is measured monthly and is available through the University of Houston MIS System.  The director monitors the success of this goal weekly by each business advisor.  The goal set for us this year by the federal grant is 152.

KPI
Impact Clients
This criterion is measured by the MIS tracking system and through annual surveys provided by SBDC to identify appropriate clients and spend a total of 5 or more hours of contact and preparation with that client.


Result
Impact Results
The goal for impact clients this year was 152 and as of September 29, 2015, we have achieved 117 at this point.  In contacting each client and asking them to participate in our survey and having good relations with our clients will make it possible for our Center to meet this goal before the end of our calendar year.  Impact clients are reported from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. Thus achievement of this goal will not be measured and recorded until December 31, 2015.

Action
Impact Clients
Continue working with clients that have good possibility of success to reach the 5 hour contact and preparation goal.

Objective
Assist Future Entrepreneurs In Starting New Businesses
The SBDC will strive to work with all clients in assisting the development of new businesses throughout the service area.


KPI
Client Surveys And MIS System
This criterion is measured monthly and is available through the University of Houston MIS System.  The Director weekly monitors the success of this objective by each business adviser. Our goal for start-ups this fiscal year is 33.

Result
Small Business Start-Up Results
Our goal for this fiscal year is 33 and as of September 29, 2015, we have 41 which exceeds the goal.

Action
Small Business Start-Up Results
Our goal for this fiscal year is 33. We will work with pre-start-up clients to assist them in achieving business start-up phase, which will result in our center reaching the goal.

Action
Bank Visits
The Center will continue extensive bank visits to ensure that potential clients with start up ability are referred by banks and are assisted by the Center.

Objective
Job Creation
The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will work with established and start up businesses to create jobs.

KPI
Annual Client Surveys
The indicator for this objective is SBDC client - jobs documentation.  This documentation is established by a series of surveys that are conducted annually of all SBDC clients within the service area. Our goal for this fiscal year is 218 Jobs. We are in the process of working with banks to increase loans to small businesses and extensive marketing to established businesses that may require technical assistance.

Result
Annual Client Surveys
The indicator for this objective is SBDC client - jobs documentation.  Our goal for the end of our fiscal year (9/30/2015) is 218.  As of September 29, 2015, the total number of jobs created is 227 which exceeds our goal for FY 2015.

Action
Client Follow-up
The SBDC will work with existing and start-up businesses to assist with job creation.

Action
Bank Visits Assists In Job Creation
The SBDC business advisors work with bankers to identify existing bank clients that need SBDC assistance.  This assistance leads to the develpment of new jobs in both existing and start-up businesses.  The University of Houston has a marketing liaison official to conduct continuous banking visits and he has established ongoing communication and marketing with banks.

Objective
Assist Clients In Obtaining Capital
The SBDC will assist clients during this measureable period in obtaining capital from banks and other financial organizations.

KPI
Client Feed-Back Through Surveys
Capital formation is monitored weekly through the MIS tracking system and through annual surveys provided by SBDC clients. Our goal for this fiscal year is $7,927,696.00 and we perceive this as highly inflated for our service area. We are eager to determine whether the ex-banker hired by the Houston SBA district office as a marketing/liaison official to conduct continuous banking visits and establish ongoing communication and marketing with banks will be able to assist us in meeting our goal.

Result
Capital Formation Results
Our goal is to assist clients in obtaining $7,927,696.00 for Fiscal Year 2015 (which ends 9/30/2015) in client investment and loans for capital injection.  As of Setpember 29, 2015, we have achieved $4,214,350.00 due to the economy recovering from recent economic conditions.

Action
Extensive Bank Contact
The SBDC business advers will work with bankers to identify good clients that need capital and SBDC assistance.  The Houston SBA district office has a marketing liaison official that conducts continuous banking visits and establishes communication and marketing with banks. Additionally, the University of Houston is in the process of developing banker visit brochures that advers can use to remind bankers of our services.  

Objective
Obtain New Clients During The Fiscal Year
Identify clients within the seven-county service area that need SBDC assistance.  The identification with these clients will be done by chambers of commerce, city and county organizations, and walk in clients requesting assistance.

KPI
New Client Measurement
New client tracking is conducted weekly through the MIS tracking system and the quality of service is measured continuously through client surveys. Our goal from the federal grant has been set for this year at 182.

Result
New Client Results
Our goal for new clients for FY 2015 is 182 clients and as of September 29, 2015, we have achieved 132 which falls below our stated objective due to economic challenges in our service area.

Action
SBDC Promotional Activities
The primary action for this goal is to market the services of the SBDC through new marketing materials and selected media throughout the service area.

Action
New Client Products
The University of Houston Regional Office is reviewing additional product lines that can be offered to clients, which include Profit Cents by Sageworks.  A slight increase in the number of new clients during this fiscal year is partly due to the use of recently introduced products such as Growth Wheel.  Our SBDC Center has two certified Growth Wheel Advisors trained and authorized to use the Growth Wheel materials and program.  

Objective
Total Clients
To identify appropriate clients and spend a total of 5 or more hours of contact and preparation with that client.

KPI
Total Client Surveys And MIS System
This criterion is measured monthly and is available through the University of Houston MIS System. The goal is set by the federal grant funded through University of Houston and is monitored by the SBDC Director to ensure weekly progress by each advisers.  The total client goal for our center is 363, which translates to 121 total clients per adviser. Additionally the long term impact client goal for our center is 152, which translates to 51 clients per adviser.  Sometimes, to meet long term client goals, we have been compelled to include pre- start-up clients  in order to be successful with the long term goal.

Result
Toal Clients Results
The goal set for the Center of FY 2015 by the Federal Grant is 363 and as of September 29, 2015, we have achieved  518 which surpasses the goal.  The SBDC will sustain an extensive effort to market our Center's services thorughout the service area. This strategy will include using new marketing materials acquired from our University of Houston Regional SBDC Headquarters. We look forward to additional brochures and strategies received from the marketing consultant team hired by the University of Houston.

Action
Extensive SBDC Marketing
The SBDC Center will continue its extensive marketing effort to the dedicated service area.  Marketing efforts willl include new marketing strategies and materials obtained from the University of Houston Regional Center. Additionally, consultants will work with service area bankers and other financial organizations. The effects of our marketing effort will be shown through the results of the long term impact clients which is tracked and monitored weekly.


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement Our center used weekly Monday staff meetings to discuss progression to goal achievement from both an individual and center attainment of goal standards.  When it appeared attainment was lagging we discussed means to make improvements for the week in order to achieve the fiscal goal.  The center's marketing included more personal visits by the staff in our satellite offices and ensuring business cards, brochures and new  marketing materials were made available to the satellite centers to promote the center.  The re-branding efforts for our center included new marketing materials and business cards.  However, the new website is still in the initial development phase by the marketing consultants hired by the University of Houston. Additionally, new ideas for training and seminars were submitted for business owners to attend as a means to educate and obtain new ideas.  Our center business advisors met with bankers in our coverage area and proivded brochures, business cards and met with mutual clients as needed.  The SBDC director and business advisors continued communications with clients and encouraged them to participate in surveys to document efforts made for achieving goals.  Additionally, the director and business advisors attended training and conferences to improve knowledge and obtain updated information and/or methods for improvement.

Plan for continuous improvement The SBDC center will continue to monitor progress throughout the new fiscal year to ensure that we will achieve our federal goals, even though some are set extremely high for our coverage area.  We will develop additional methods for promoting our center. This will include using new marketing materials and strategies; and, will be promoted and made available throughout our coverage area. Additionally, we will continue developing banker relations and other relationships that benefit our outlying satellite centers. Our center will provide ideas, content and assistance as needed during the initial development phase of the new website. Once the website has been developed, we will attend any training required for use and monitoring the new center website and will promote it in our dedicated coverage area. These activities will benefit our efforts in reaching our goal achievements for fiscal year 2015-2016.