2016: More Profits, Less Chocolate

The year 2016 has arrived and with it, our annual declarations of New Year’s resolutions and fresh starts.  My resolutions this year are to win the lottery, compete on Dancing with the Stars (as a star of course), and limit myself to only ONE pound of chocolate per day.  In reality, statistics show that only […]

Making Something Out of Nothing – Money is No Excuse

Assisting entrepreneurs to estimate their funding needs, whether launching a new business or expanding an existing one, is a service we provide at the UGA SBDC. Identifying sources of capital and gaining access is another area of support. That said, tracking how businesses are funded is an important and interesting part of our job. Over […]

Economic Impact of The UGA SBDC

The annual economic impact study of the University of Georgia SBDC, published in August of 2015, provides solid evidence that entrepreneurs utilizing SBDC assistance experience employment growth significantly greater than the state average. All clients who received five or more hours of consulting in 2013 received a questionnaire that inquired as to the benefit of […]

Sound Business Practices Move Georgia Peach Retailer from Stands to Stores

Travelers driving north and south on Interstate 95 will pass 24 billboards inviting them to stop and purchase mouth-watering products like “Fresh Georgia Peaches — Exit 58” and “Georgia Peach Ice Cream” at Georgia Peach World and the Eulonia Country Store in Townsend. The young entrepreneur behind the bold, simple marketing campaign, Jason Reott, is […]

Should I Have an App for My Business?

In this age of handheld interaction with smartphones and tablets, businesses need to engage their customer base as much as possible. What better way than with a mobile app? But before launching into the new world of app development, business owners should answer three major questions.   What do you want the app to do? […]

Business Planning Leads to Smooth Operations for Augusta Coffee Roaster

Bunoa Caffe: UGA Small Business Development Center

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Newspaper veterans John and Pat Curry love a good cup of coffee. So when they ran across a book on home coffee roasting several years ago, they purchased it and a small home roaster. Soon, John was spending Saturday afternoons roasting on their front porch in Athens. In 2009, John and Pat were laid off […]

The Answers Are Different This Week

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower For many of us, allocating time to plan becomes a significant challenge of priorities. Do we work on the urgent or the important today? Frequently, this becomes the question of the day. In most cases, if […]

The Most Important Cost You Never Consider

Small Business Opportunity Cost

John is a web designer.  He owns a small web design company and carefully considers the cost of labor, especially outsourced jobs, when he bids on a new website project.  Sometimes, to save money, he’ll do most (if not all) of the work himself, especially on smaller jobs.  He makes a profit most of the […]