Pettit and Riley tout small business
By John Temple Ligon Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Bob Pettit, SBDC's Midlands area manager

At Monday's Columbia Rotary luncheon, February 11, business consultant Bob Pettit and communications executive Jacque Riley sang the praises of the Small Business Development Center. The civic club gathering at Seawell's on Rosewood heard all about the SBDC's 16 offices across South Carolina.

Pettit, SBDC's manager for the Midlands area, earned his degree in industrial engineering at the University of Tennessee and is certified as an economic development professional. He described SBDC as part of four S.C. colleges: USC, Clemson, Winthrop, and South Carolina State.

According to the SBDC Website, under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, SBDC's programs are established to aid small business start- up ventures and assist in the continued growth of small businesses across the country. The programs are supported with federal, state, and private funds and are open to any present or prospective small business owner - generally free of fees.

The SBDC consultants at each of the state's 16 sites provide managerial and technical assistance to those wishing to start or expand an enterprise. The areas of instruction include planning, inventories, and accounting.

Jacque Riley, CEO of Riley Communications

Besides the start- up guidance, SBDC holds special purpose programs and continuing education seminars.

For 2007, USC's SBDC held 111 workshops attended by 2,000 students. One series of workshops focused on doing business with the federal government. For the past year, SBDC students in the Midlands pulled in more than $4 million in federal business.

For every $1 spent by SBDC, another $76 runs through the local economy.

Jacque Riley, CEO of Riley Communications, recommended the SBDC entrepreneur's business start- up class. For $25 tuition, said Riley, her half- day in class was one of her most valuable experiences in learning how to get started in business.

Survival skills taught by the SBDC start- up program include facing creative competition, working with smaller budgets, recognizing awareness as an ends, and committing to credibility.

Riley, who specializes in strategic writing, advocates marketing from day one. Never wait until you're making money, she advises, but make marketing a must from the very beginning. She also recommends finding niche markets, sometimes little business opportunities that must be discovered but can be exploited by the small and flexible business leader.

Even with a small budget, Riley said marketing plans can differentiate small business owners from the pack while maintaining simplicity and consistency for unique identities.

In fielding questions from the Rotary audience, Pettit commented on financing a start- up business. He said SBDC can help with banking referrals, but most entrepreneurs already have a banking relationship. SBDC recommends the continuation of existing banking relationships.

Riley was asked how many people she had on her payroll and claimed only herself. But she has a posting in the marketplace for new talent and expects to hire at least one person as soon as she finds someone qualified.