SBDC Business Consultant - Part-time

Company: Mid Michigan College

Job Location: Harrison, 48625

Category: Economic and Business Development

Type: Adjunct/Part-Time

Salary: $35.00 - $75.00 Hourly

Location: Mt. Pleasant Campus

Job Number: 202500057

Division: Small Business Development Center

Department: SBDC

FLSA: Exempt

Bargaining Unit: None

Description

Mid Michigan College seeks individuals who: value collegiality and mutual respect; use data in decision making; are innovative; are service minded; are goal oriented; strive to continually improve themselves and their work processes; are willing to collaborate and seek to add value in every interaction.

The Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides consulting, training and research to assist small business to launch, grow, transition and innovate.

The SBDC Business Consultant will provide professional, high quality, individualized, results-driven consulting services for established and emerging small business owners. SBDC Business Consulting services include, but are not limited to, problem solving assistance to help area businesses access capital, develop viable business plans, establish strategies for growth and survival, create practical marketing approaches, deal with unexpected challenges and generate realistic financial goals. SBDC Business Consultants leverage a variety of resources to provide clients relevant insight including, industry trends, customer demographics, competition, financial metrics and web research.

The SBDC Business Consultant will work in partnership with federal, state and local resources to help business owners make decisions and take action to grow and strengthen their business. This position will have a primary office at the Mt. Pleasant Mid Michigan College Campus, but will provide SBDC services to businesses throughout Clare, Gladwin, Isabella and Gratiot counties.

The weekly commitment for this Independent Contractor position is 15-28 hours per week. This position is funded by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and supported locally at Mid Michigan College.

Examples of Duties

• Provide in-depth, confidential, substantive, individualized, long-term, outcome-oriented consulting services to emerging and established businesses in areas including, but not limited to: identifying and assessing new market opportunities, financial analysis, financial package preparation, organizational development, operational improvements, and plan implementation.
• Provide consulting services that prepare clients to represent themselves to lending institutions and/or prospective investors such as, business plan development, financial statement preparation and analysis and cash flow preparation and analysis.
• Educate clients on financing options appropriate to their stage of business development and anticipated use of proceeds. (loans, crowdfunding, equity investments, etc.).
• Increase client awareness of basic credit practices, credit requirements, and state/federal loan programs.
• Assist small businesses in solving problems concerning operations, production, personnel administration, marketing, sales, finance, accounting, business strategy development and other disciplines required for small business growth and expansion, innovation, increased productivity, and management improvement.
• Provide basic business knowledge in areas of: operations, human resources, exporting, and cybersecurity and engage regional and statewide expertise as appropriate.
• Participate as a cohesive SBDC team member to develop and deliver excellent customer service and maintain high quality service delivery processes.
• Meet or exceed consulting milestones and objectives as established for each consultant. Key performance measures include number of clients served, number of consulting hours, and impact attributed in identified areas including: capital infusion, new business startups, jobs supported, and increased sales.
• Serve as new client's first point of contact, evaluating next steps to receive consulting, training, or some combination thereof.
• Provide and refer clients to training opportunities designed to improve the skills and knowledge of existing and prospective business owners in areas including, financial management, marketing and small business startup amongst others with the aim of providing clients with a high-level, focused business training to help them successfully manage and operate a business venture.
• Maintain confidentiality standards and procedures regarding client information.
• Monitor and follow up with clients to support implementation of planning and follow through on decisions made.
• Support and serve as a role model for our mission, vision, values, and customer service initiatives while adhering to the organization's policies & procedures, and compliance guidelines.
• Systematically document consulting and training in CRM system to demonstrate high quality service, facilitate knowledge transfer to all counselors assisting client, preserve client confidentiality, ensure timely and appropriate guidance and recommendations, and to exhibit effective follow-through from initial session through economic impact/closure as required by SBA.
• Assist in developing and maintaining positive, productive relationships with collaborative organizations and individuals. Play an ongoing role in maintenance of relationships with small business support organizations, financial institutions, and other public and private sector business resource partners (EDCs, Chambers, etc.).
• Develop and maintain relationships with capital sources including lenders, angel investors, Certified Development Companies (CDCs) and other state and local financing programs.
• Develop network and build rapport to identify and engage with emerging businesses, growth-oriented existing businesses and firms in transition.
• Support small business initiatives within the region to improve the climate for small business and contribute to the vitality of the small business sector.
• Partner with Mid Michigan College and other universities/colleges on class projects, when appropriate.

Typical Qualifications

Education, Certification, Licensure:

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university program in Business Administration, or related field required.
• Master's degree in related field preferred.

Experience:

• Three to five years professional work experience in small business ownership, business consultation, or management in a business/organization or any equivalent combination of knowledge, skill, and experience.
• Work history showing sound organizational skills and timely achievement of quality results in a fast-paced work environment.

Supplemental Information

• Strong consultative, coaching, and facilitation skills
• Strong oral, written, networking, presentation and interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to communicate complex principles such as financial management, marketing, and forecasting to small business owners.
• Ability to summarize and translate market research data
• Ability to listen actively and empathically.
• Knowledge of how to apply open-ended needs assessment questions effectively during customer interviews
• Knowledge of financial analysis and budgeting practices for small businesses
• Understands the attributes and use cases for different equity and debt financing options.
• Knowledge of sales, marketing, operations, strategy and new business cultivation principles
• Knowledge of crowdfunding and other emerging financing platforms
• Demonstrated proficiency with relevant technology and applications (spreadsheets, email, social media, webinars, etc.).
• Ability and willingness to learn and leverage new technology to improve productivity to enrich client experience.
• Ability to travel to/from various client locations in the 4 county service area, and periodically to other statewide or national locations.
• Ability and willingness to attend business functions that occur outside of the normal work hours and locations.
• Ability to develop and sustain collaborative relationships with multiple constituencies.
• Demonstrated proficiency in task and project management
• Demonstrated ability to develop creative ideas and concepts and effectively present workable solutions to meet customer business development objectives
• Ability to effectively manage multiple customers/business plans and prioritize workload on a continuing basis
• Ability to understand and work effectively to accomplish desired outcomes within the guidelines provided by applicable policies, procedures and guiding principles of the College and SBA agreement.
• Ability to evaluate the impact of a customer request and conceptualize an effective response within a complex problem.
• Ability to learn the culture of industry-specific environments and operations and work with a diverse client base.
• Ability to determine essential information needed to accomplish a customer's business development objectives
• Ability to synthesize the mission, vision, values, guiding principles and goals of the SBDC and the college
• Analytical ability to identify and resolve a variety of issues or challenges in an effective and timely manner.
• Ability to handle assignment or clients independently and work autonomously within defined objectives
• Ability to work as a member of a team to meet common goals.

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