Missouri SBDC workshop draws large turnout

Before the Missouri Small Business Development Center Facts & Snacks seminar began on Feb. 28 at the Montgomery City Public Library, Paul Zacharias looked around the Community Room and was amazed with the large turnout.

The event had 22 people in attendance, including MCPL director Gaylee Harris, Montgomery County Clerk Carole Weeks, Leslie West and Darren Schmidt of Peoples Savings Bank, Snappy Graphics owner Tracy Van Horn, Montgomery County Planning and Zoning Administrator Donna Viehmann and Joan Andrews of MU Extension.

“This is one of the biggest crowds we had,” said Zacharias, one of the counselors for the SBDC center.

The participants learned how to make a small business successful during the one-hour event. It was sponsored by MCPL, Peoples Savings Bank, American Bank of Freedom and Jonesburg State Bank.

Zacharias and Marsha Moore, another SBDC counselor, were the guest speakers of the seminar.

Missouri SBDC has 20 locations, covering an eight-county region in Missouri. It is part of MU Extension and is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“We’re a nationwide non-profit network,” Zacharias said. “A lot of people don’t know about us. We’re kind of a well-kept secret, so we tried to get out to our territories and let everyone know what small businesses are available. We would hear from folks all day long, ‘Well, I’m thinking about starting a business, but it seems like a huge task.’”

Zacharias said one of SBCD’s main tasks is to provide one-on-one coaching to entrepreneurs. Since the organization was founded in 2020, it held meetings with many people who wanted to start a business.

“Whether you’re thinking about starting a business or you’ve been in business for 10 years, the one thing that we find with the folks we meet with, especially for a solo entrepreneur, is that owning and running a small business can be kind of a lonely proposition,” he said.

Zacharias said the best ways to start a business are getting a start-up loan and showing bankers a business plan.

“We often tell clients that putting together a business plan is basically telling the story of your business,” he said. “A business is a very complex thing from top to bottom because there are a lot of moving parts and a lot of pieces. So this kind of forces you to think through every part of it so the bank will have confidence in you to execute that plan and hopefully bring a successful business to the community.”