British Columbia businesses should get to know the SBA-BC (Views: 4832)
Tue, 25 Sep 2012
The Small Business Accelerator of British Columbia's (SBA-BC) website features an inspirational quote from the B.C. Small Business Profile 2011:
“British Columbia’s small business owners are consistently among the most optimistic in the nation in their expectations for the future.”
And why shouldn't they be? They accounted for 98 per cent of all B.C business three years ago and with a plethora of tools and assistance now at their disposal, they can get a head-start in their entrepreneurial paths.
One such tool is the SBA, a project by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia whose mandate is to foster improved access to reliable, current and free business information, education and assistance.
The idea was originally conceived by the head of the David Lam Research Management Library, Jan Wallace. A meeting with an economic development officer from a rural B.C community who was visiting UBC lead to the subject of a lack of access to quality business research tools and information support for his small business clients.
A year later in 2008 Aleha McCauley began her work. The Irving K. Barber librarian and lead for the SBA traveled to several small communities in B.C to figure out what kind of information would best serve B.C.’s business communities and developed the requirements for the website project.
Today the SBA addresses not just a few specific areas, but a myriad of time and effort-saving tools.
“There are many excellent resources for our small business community and yet people still find it extremely difficult and time consuming to find reliable online information for their business development,” said McCauley. “Our library community is a strong network of professionals in public, academic and specialized institutions across B.C. – and we leverage collaborative approaches whenever possible”
The initiative is managed by business librarians and specifically enables easier access to information about industry research, market exploration and business management. The subjects and information can range from anything from a detailed industry Accelerator guide on restaurant retail to a list of low cost tools for web development All information is written by UBC librarians and students with more information from SBA staff, minimizing the chance of users running into recycled information.
For entrepreneurs and start-ups in B.C., this tool can be particularly useful when trying to accelerate the secondary market research necessary for a solid business plan. The program tries to provide a varied, diverse and flexible platform of information services related to quality business planning, education and assistance for entrepreneurs.
The SBA is a web-based application, but users can still ask questions and receive direct answers from SBA staff and other entrepreneurs who use the tool.
And McCauley specifically emphasized other positive aspects like a regularly updated calendar of events offering low cost (or free) opportunities for B.C. based entrepreneurs, a directory of B.C business support agencies and a repository of video, audio and documents.
The SBA’s most important aspect may be the sole fact that it’s librarians and staff do not take it lightly, but rather put a large amount of effort into its upkeep.
“We devote a ton of energy to collecting reliable information on our website, and updating our series of Accelerator guides, so we can guarantee consulting the website will save others plenty of time avoiding information overload and research frustration,” said McCauley. “The SBA essentially teaches entrepreneurs to become skilled do-it-yourself market researchers who can find and use the most credible business information available.”
by Joseph Czikk
jczikk@fundica.com
“British Columbia’s small business owners are consistently among the most optimistic in the nation in their expectations for the future.”
And why shouldn't they be? They accounted for 98 per cent of all B.C business three years ago and with a plethora of tools and assistance now at their disposal, they can get a head-start in their entrepreneurial paths.
One such tool is the SBA, a project by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia whose mandate is to foster improved access to reliable, current and free business information, education and assistance.
The idea was originally conceived by the head of the David Lam Research Management Library, Jan Wallace. A meeting with an economic development officer from a rural B.C community who was visiting UBC lead to the subject of a lack of access to quality business research tools and information support for his small business clients.
A year later in 2008 Aleha McCauley began her work. The Irving K. Barber librarian and lead for the SBA traveled to several small communities in B.C to figure out what kind of information would best serve B.C.’s business communities and developed the requirements for the website project.
Today the SBA addresses not just a few specific areas, but a myriad of time and effort-saving tools.
“There are many excellent resources for our small business community and yet people still find it extremely difficult and time consuming to find reliable online information for their business development,” said McCauley. “Our library community is a strong network of professionals in public, academic and specialized institutions across B.C. – and we leverage collaborative approaches whenever possible”
The initiative is managed by business librarians and specifically enables easier access to information about industry research, market exploration and business management. The subjects and information can range from anything from a detailed industry Accelerator guide on restaurant retail to a list of low cost tools for web development All information is written by UBC librarians and students with more information from SBA staff, minimizing the chance of users running into recycled information.
For entrepreneurs and start-ups in B.C., this tool can be particularly useful when trying to accelerate the secondary market research necessary for a solid business plan. The program tries to provide a varied, diverse and flexible platform of information services related to quality business planning, education and assistance for entrepreneurs.
The SBA is a web-based application, but users can still ask questions and receive direct answers from SBA staff and other entrepreneurs who use the tool.
And McCauley specifically emphasized other positive aspects like a regularly updated calendar of events offering low cost (or free) opportunities for B.C. based entrepreneurs, a directory of B.C business support agencies and a repository of video, audio and documents.
The SBA’s most important aspect may be the sole fact that it’s librarians and staff do not take it lightly, but rather put a large amount of effort into its upkeep.
“We devote a ton of energy to collecting reliable information on our website, and updating our series of Accelerator guides, so we can guarantee consulting the website will save others plenty of time avoiding information overload and research frustration,” said McCauley. “The SBA essentially teaches entrepreneurs to become skilled do-it-yourself market researchers who can find and use the most credible business information available.”
by Joseph Czikk
jczikk@fundica.com
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