Starting up? Don't miss opportunity to get advice

Thinking twice - or more - may be advisable, but by hanging back too far potential startups could miss opportunities for valuable one-on-one, let's-kick-some-ideas-around conversations with advisers at local Small Business Development Centers and SCORE offices.

On the other hand, owners of existing small businesses that are very much on the economic front lines increasingly are looking to SBDCs and SCORE for advice.

Thanks to government funding, SBDC and SCORE services are mostly free - and in my experience generally helpful, if you know where to find them. (There's some where-to-find-them information in a few paragraphs.)

"Ordinarily we're very countercyclical," says David Gay, head of the SBDC at College of DuPage offices in Lisle. "When the economy heads south, we see a lot of people asking about startups."

But not this time. Inquiries from potential startups "have been surprisingly low," says Gay, who adds that he has seen "a definite increase" in the number of business owners looking for ideas to combat issues that range from "credit lines that have been chopped to a dramatic drop in sales and trouble making payments."

The situation is similar at both College of Lake County and Harper College SBDCs. In Grayslake, CLC SBDC Director Jan Bauer sees "more existing businesses coming in. They're looking at their businesses more strategically - doing more research, talking to clients. We haven't seen as many startups."

Startups seeking advice at the Harper SBDC, in Schaumburg, already "are downsizing their plans," says Director Bonnie Richter. "Instead of planning on $100,000 to get started, they're looking at $25,000-$50,000."

Richter is fairly positive about startup possibilities. "Now is probably a very good time to think about starting up," she says. The current turmoil "may cleanse the marketplace of competitors."

Help, at least in the form of someone knowledgeable to talk with, is available - and not all that difficult to find:

• Start at www.ilsbdc.biz to locate a convenient SBDC. You'll actually land at an Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity page, but that's where you can most easily find a list of SBDCs. Click on the Center name for contact information.

• The Fox Valley SCORE chapter offers free counseling by experienced, mostly retired business owners and executives at eight locations. Start at www.scorefoxvalley.org. Click on Our Counselors or e-mail Chapter Chair Lee McFadden from the Contact Us page.

• Nontraditional financing sources include two Chicago-area micro loan funds. Bauer's SBDC handles applications and related paperwork for Lake County businesses that apply for funding at ACCION Chicago. Further west, try the Elgin-headquartered Fox Valley Micro Loan Fund. Call 847-608-9320 and leave a callback message. (Disclosure: I'm a director of the Fox Valley fund.)

Next month I'll celebrate 20 years as a business owner, and I'll talk with you, too. E-mail me at JKendall@121MarketingResources.com

© 2008 121 Marketing Resources, Inc.