Marketing

If you can't think of a way for our Marketing Specialists to help your business... you really do need us.

• Product
  The SF SBDC marketing specialists design break-through marketing strategies fitted to your current and future business needs. Whether it's old products to new customers, or new products to old customers you need to know the difference between a cash-cow and a dead-horse.

• Place
  Distribution Centers. Wholesalers. Dispatchers. Getting your product/service to the right person at the time maintains your competitive edge. Fill-Rate and Speed are all that count. Design a delivery system that puts you in the lead and keeps you there.

• Price
  If the pricing is wrong nothing else matters: objectives include building a market, return on investment, meeting competition, product introduction, increasing sales and inventory reduction.

• Promotion
  Most small businesses aren't destroyed by competition, they literarily self-destruct. Effective promotion is built on specific information and sales support. Whether you develop your ad-budget on a percentage of sales or flat rate, advertising is a necessary cost of doing business; make the most of it.

Sales

How to keep and motivate your sales force.

Find and define your position in today's marketplace. Acquire the tools necessary to develop an advanced sales process which consistently gain new business with cutting edge networking and sales methods.

• Current sales strategy analysis
• Finding New Customers
• The Best & Worst Ways to find Leads
• Basic building-blocks of a successful sales approach
• Designing a Customer Specific Sales campaign
• Direct Mail Campaigns
• Passive & Aggressive On-line selling techniques
• How to sell by asking questions
• Presenting your product/service as a solution for your customer
• Formatting a Customer Service/Customer
• Follow-Up policy
• How to Close the Sale
• Contract Basics for Consulting Services

Management

A clearly defined Management Structure is just as important as a skilled and proficient Management Team.

Commercial lenders and private investors have recently experienced the devastating financial consequences of uncertain/undefined leadership. Learn to identify and communicate your company's key-positions and the qualifications of the people who should be in them. The SF SBDC's Management Consultants help streamline and cross-train the personnel who keep your business going.

• Policy & Procedure Manuals
  Won't put you back in the box, but will help steer the course you've plotted. Don't let incidents make policy--have a policy which covers incidents.

• Human Resources
  At-Will Employment Guidelines, Personnel Files, Interviewing Techniques, Employee Benefit Packages, Independent Contractors v/s Employees, PayRoll requirements, Anti-Discrimination Procedures, and other strategies to make the most for your management investment.

Financial

The Free-way to Financing.

Whether your funding needs are short or long term, the SF SBDC's experienced team of fiscal specialists guide you through the maze of financial programs and options to direct your business to the right type of financing: commercial, private, or government guaranteed.

Our no-charge services include reviewing/preparing your financial statements, packaging your loan for optimal results, and assistance getting your application to the appropriate lender.

• Micro-Loan Programs: Provide short-term loans to $35,000 to start-ups and existing small businesses for working capital and the purchase of equipment (not to be applied to existing debt.) If you would like information on a microloan, please call us at 415-841-4050

• 7(a) Loan Guaranty: The SBA's primary business loan guarantee program, up to $750,000, may be used for start-ups, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, and inventory.

• Venture/Debt/Equity: These specialized funding needs are determined by SBDC consultants who assist you in developing your approach to angel investors, investment groups, or corporations.

• San Francisco Office of Economic Development: The City of San Francisco offers loans up to $50,000.  The program is administered by TMC Working Solutions, a Resource Partner of the SBDC.

Distribution

Let us help you in making the hard choices.

Once you have selected and developed a unique product or business idea, correctly positioned and targeted it to buyers, and developed your packaging and pricing, the selection of distribution channels and sales representation is key to successful marketing.

It's fairly easy to change many of your marketing tactics and strategies on a periodic basis; pricing, packaging, and product mix are among these flexible choices. However, distribution and sales decisions, once made, are much more difficult to change. And distribution affects the selection and utilization of all other marketing tools.

• There are a wide variety of possible distribution channels, including:
  • Retail outlets owned by your company or by an independent merchant or chain
  • Wholesale outlets of your own or those of independent distributors or brokers
  • Sales force compensated by salary, commission, or both
  • Direct mail via your own catalog or flyers
  • Telemarketing on your own or through a contract firm
  • Cybermarketing, surfing the newest frontier
  • TV and cable direct marketing and home shopping channels

• Steps for selecting distribution and sales force representation include:
  • Product margins and profits
  • Marketing budgets
  • Final retail pricing
  • Sales management practices

• Distribution decisions have significant implications for: 
  • Identify how competitors' products are sold.
  • Analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your business.
  • Examine costs of channels and sales force options.
  • Determine which distribution options match your overall marketing strategy.
  • Prioritize your distribution choices.

And More...

• Restaurant Specialty Team
  In response to the current hardships facing many San Francisco's restaurants, the SF SBDC has organized a unit of hotel and food service experts. These consultants assist both aspiring and in-business restaurateurs obtain financing, fine-tune marketing plans, and update real estate strategies.

• QuickBooks & More...
  Basic Small Business record keeping systems to track inventory, receivables, payables, customers, vendors, pay roll and sales tax. How to use these records to produce budgets, project income, and analyze ACTUAL v/s PLAN. How to select the appropriate ac-counting method for your business and create a Chart of Accounts to give the most accurate at-a-glance statement of your business' financial health.

• Procurement - Government and Corporate
  The SF SBDC will assist you in obtaining Federal 8(a) and SDB status as well as in state and local small business enterprise programs. We also assist clients in becoming suppliers to large corporate buyers.

To request FREE one-on-one counseling from SBDC Professional Consultants:

If you are currently in business and generating revenue, please click here and complete the following form and you will be contacted to schedule an appointment.

If you are Business-Ready, have a business plan but not currently generating revenue, please click here.