Business Advisor

Program & Curriculum

The 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) initiative is part of a national investment to unlock the growth and job creation potential of small businesses, and is based on the broadly held view of leading experts that a combination of education, business support services, and access to capital best addresses the barriers to growth for small businesses.
The 10,000 Small Businesses program has three main components: business education, business support services (technical assistance and customized, one-on-one business advising) and the opportunity to access capital. The ultimate goal of the initiative is for the participating business owners to increase their revenues and create jobs in their community and surrounding areas.

Roles and Responsibilities

Business advisors are essential to the success of the 10,000 Small Businesses program.  BAs support designated groups of 5-7 business owners as they complete the main 10KSB deliverables: a written growth plan and growth pitch. A BA typically oversees 2 groups of business owners.

The specific duties of the 10KSB Business Advisors include:

Advising and Curriculum Support

• Meets with each business owner on an individual basis approximately 8-10 times to guide business growth and completion of the Growth Plan
• Connects business owners to external Business Support Services (local entrepreneurship ecosystem) as needed for specialty services
• Works with business owners to collect, understand, and apply business metrics to support growth
• Assists within the classroom (in-person and on-line) to coordinate group activities and support faculty
• Helps business owners apply course content to their businesses
• Participates in bi-weekly team meetings that focus on the business owner support system to identify business owners needs and brainstorm how to meet those needs using the broader delivery team network
• Attends all modules, clinics and program events to support business owner learning
• Facilitates workshops for business owners around financial forecasting, growth plan completion, etc.
• Utilizes course technologies: Liveplan, Canvas, Basecamp, and Salesforce
• Ensures business owners complete Baseline and Graduation diagnostics with 100% validation
• Participates in assessment of curriculum sessions through post session debriefings
• Ability to coach business owners in the construction and presentation of their growth pitch
• Assists with recruiting and interviewing program applicants on an as needed basis
• Communicates with alumni on an as needed basis to facilitate completion of post-program surveys

Other duties as assigned

Community Building

• Participates in regular national BA calls to get updates, exchange best practices, discuss new challenges, etc.
• Networks with local and regional business support services to enhance the local entrepreneurship ecosystem, be able to direct business owners their way, and to advance program recruitment
• Engages in business owner alumni program events as needed

Other duties as needed to support program success

Core Competencies and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business, entrepreneurship, sales or related field, is required.  Advanced degree welcomed
• A minimum of three years successful experience in business advising for a small business clientele
• Strong understanding of financial forecasting and construction of small business financial statements
• Proven ability to work in a diverse team environment and manage multiple tasks efficiently and effectively
• Strong spoken and written communication skills
• Ability to work a flexible schedule
• High personal and professional ethical standards
• Ability to engage business owners in small group interactions
• Proficiency with MS Office tools (WORD, PowerPoint, Excel, e.g.) and a willingness to learn new tools (e.g., Basecamp, Canvas, LivePlan, Salesforce, Zoom, etc.)
• Emotional intelligence with ability to give feedback in a positive constructive manner