Wharton Small Business Development Center
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania ... SBDC Pennsylvania

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Submit Your Request for Counseling to the Wharton SBDC
** denotes a required field
 
Your Name
**First
Middle Initial  
**Last
 
**Telephone Number(s) Please provide a home or business phone number.
Home
Business
Fax
 
**Email Address
 
**Street Address
 
**City
 
County
 
**State
 
**Zip
 
**Race




 
**Ethnicity

 
**Business Owner Gender

**Your Gender
 
**Do you consider yourself a person with a disability?
 
**Veteran Status


 
**Reservist Status



 
How did you hear of us?




 
How can the Wharton SBDC assist you?
(Select all that apply)







 
Describe the nature of the counseling you are seeking. List the issue(s) you feel most important.
 
What business challenge or opportunity led you to contact the Wharton SBDC?
 
Status:
**Currently in Business:
**Is your business generating revenue?
If yes, please estimate your revenue for the past 12 months.
**Do you have a business plan?

If you answered YES, you will need to provide a written draft of the business plan to the Wharton SBDC prior to meeting with a consultant. To find out more information about what constitutes a business plan, please Click Here and you will be directed to the SBA's website. You can email your business plan to sbdc_mail@wharton.upenn.edu, fax it to 215.898.1063 or mail it to Wharton Small Business Development Center, Vance Hall Suite 112, 3733 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

 
 
**Briefly Describe your product/service:  
**Name of Business
 
Date Established
 
**Position


Business Owner?

# of Employees:

FT

PT

 
How much do you work on this business in a typical week?
If Part Time, please estimate the number of hours you spend working on this business in a typical week:
 
Website:
 
**Business Size:


**Business Type:





 
**SBA Client Type



**Organization Type


 
Anual Sales Growth

 
Do you have outside capital that is not from your friends or family? Examples are: A bank loan, microloan, an angel investment, a venture capital investment, or funding from a strategic partner.
If yes, what is the amount of your outside capital?
 
Standard Industrial Classifications Code (SICSs):
North American Industry Classification System (NAICSs):
Product/Service Codes (PSCs):
 
State of Incorporation
International Trade?


Have you visited another SBDC?
If so, which one?
CAGE:
DUNS:
 
As an SBDC client you are responsible for:
  1. Taking responsibility for decision-making for your business. SBDC consulting engagements aid clients to increase their business’ performance and to increase their own management skills and knowledge.

    Clients have the responsibility to present their business needs and context to the consultant, to evaluate the results or recommendations of the project, and to decide whether to implement any or all of the recommendations.

  2. Active involvement and participation in your consulting project. Each engagement focuses on one strategically critical aspect of the client’s business and is limited in duration. Engagements are most effective when the clients are actively involved with the project.

    For this reason, clients complete the majority of the work involved in their projects. Consultants are responsible for some of the work, but act primarily as a source of guidance and advice. In particular, SBDC consultants will not:

    • Negotiate on behalf of a client
    • Write a client's business plan
    • Act as an employee of a client business

  3. Timely accomplishment of action items for your consulting project. Each consulting engagement begins with an engagement letter that specifies the mutual commitments of the consultant and the client to the goals of the project, the action items each agrees to undertake to achieve the goals, and a timeline for completion of the action items.

    Clients are responsible to work collaboratively and respectfully with their consultants as well as to fulfill their commitments to the project as specified in their engagement letter.

  4. Attendance at all scheduled meetings. Client-consultant meetings are typically scheduled at the Wharton SBDC, in advance and at times that are mutually convenient to the client and consultant. Demand for consulting services is high; consultants are tightly scheduled; time consultants spend administratively and waiting for clients is wasted.

    Clients are responsible for prompt attendance at all pre-scheduled meetings. In the rare event that a client must change a meeting time, 24-hour notice is required.

  5. Participation in surveys. The SBDC undertakes a number of surveys to ascertain the quality and impact of services provided. Clients’ candid feedback enables the Center to ensure that our services are responsive to the needs of our clients and to continually improve the quality of our services.

    Clients are responsible to respond to Wharton SBDC surveys.

  6. Waiving All Claims. The consulting services provided by the SBDC are unusual in that they are offered free of charge.

    To make this possible, clients waive claims of damages against the Wharton SBDC and its host institution, funders and sponsors; SBA personnel; SCORE and its host organizations, and other SBA Resource Counselors arising from this assistance.

As an SBDC client you have the right to expect:
  1. Consulting assistance to aid you in starting your business or improving its performance. The Wharton SBDC has developed several programs to make effective use of the limited resources for the entrepreneurs who seek assistance.
    1. Pre-Venture Clients - Clients who are interested in starting a business. These clients are encouraged to attend our “First Steps” course before consulting.
      1. Initial consulting engagements for Pre-Venture clients are one face-to-face meeting with a WSBDC consultant who reviews the client’s plans for starting their business.
      2. Clients are encouraged to take the Wharton SBDC Strategic Business Planning course or a business planning course provided by another agency for aid in writing their business plans.
    3. Start-up Clients - Clients who are in the process of starting a business or have recently started a business.
      1. Consulting is available for start-up clients when they have a typed business plan, revenue or have made substantial progress on the action items for starting their business agreed to in their initial pre-venture consulting meeting. (Clients are encouraged to use the Wharton SBDC Strategic Business Planning course or a business planning course provided by another agency in writing their business plans.)
      2. A follow-on consulting project is available for start-up clients if the consultant, the management team and client all feel the business would substantially benefit from a follow-on engagement and if the client has made reasonable progress since closing the previous engagement.
    4. Established Businesses - Clients who are past the initial start-up hurdles. They may come to the SBDC for assistance in growing their business or in dealing with a specific problem.
      1. A one-on-one consulting engagement is available for these clients.
      2. A follow-on consulting project is available for established business clients if the consultant, the management team and client all feel the business would substantially benefit from a follow-on engagement and if the client has made reasonable progress since closing the previous engagement.

  2. Consulting assistance provided at no charge – The SBDC program is supported by funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development, the Wharton School of Business, and other funders for the purpose of educating and enhancing the managerial capabilities of entrepreneurs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Thus, consulting clients are expected to make effective use of the services they receive in creating jobs and wealth in Pennsylvania; likewise, clients are expected to be actively involved in their consulting projects and to learn from their experience.

    One-on-one consulting is provided at no charge to qualifying clients. Fees may apply for training programs, special services (such as research), materials, and publications.

  3. Confidentiality of information provided – All SBDC representatives agree to abide by the Pennsylvania SBDC’s Standards of Professional Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy. Information you provide will be held in strictest confidence and will not be released to any parties outside of the Pennsylvania SBDC network. Information about you will not be sold or provided to other organizations.

    Specific information about you and the nature of your engagement with the SBDC will not be released without your consent. No information you provide will be used to the commercial advantage of any SBDC representative or to the advantage of a third party.

    Exceptions:
    • Information about the SBDC’s service delivery is reported in aggregate to its funders and the general public. Specific information about you will not be released without your consent.
    • The SBDC will collect and report in aggregate to its funders and the general public information about you such as demographic statistics; size, location, age and industry of your business; the general nature of your engagement with the SBDC; and impact statistics such as financing obtained, sales increased or jobs created.
    • If you were referred to the SBDC, the SBDC will notify the referrer that you have sought assistance from the SBDC. The SBDC, however, will not disclose in detail the nature of the assistance you are requesting.

  4. Unbiased recommendations – The SBDC maintains a list of service providers, such as consultants and accountants, who serve small businesses. The SBDC does not endorse any of these providers; the only requirement for a firm to be listed is the firm’s request to be listed.

    SBDC representatives provide at least 3 referrals in response to a client request for a referral. Furthermore, SBDC representatives will not recommend the purchase of goods or services from any individual or firm with which any SBDC representative has a financial, familial or personal interest.

  5. Non-Disclosure of Trade Secrets – Clients understand that sensitive trade secret information is information which is not obvious, which is unknown, or which is unique and pertains to new inventions, secret manufacturing and processing procedures or formulas, or any new innovative process. Clients understand that it is their responsibility to inform the SBDC of any such sensitive trade secrets both verbally and in writing.

    Sensitive trade secrets pertaining to unique facts of clients’ businesses will not be used to benefit another client of the SBDC or any SBDC representative.
 

I request business management counseling service from a Small Business Administration Resource Partner. I agree to cooperate should I be selected to participate in surveys designed to evaluate SBA assistance services. I authorize SBA to furnish relevant information to the assigned management counselor(s). I understand that any information disclosed is to be held in strict confidence by him/her.

I further understand that any counselor has agreed not to: (1) recommend goods or services from sources in which he/she has an interest and (2) accept fees or commissions developing from this counseling relationship.

In consideration of the counselor(s) furnishing management or technical assistance, I waive all claims against SBA personnel, SCORE and its host organizations, and other SBA Resource Counselors arising from this assistance.

Please Note: The estimated burden for completing this form is 15 minutes per response. You are not required to respond to any collection information unless it displays a currently valid OMB approval number. Comments on the burden should be sent to U.S. Small Business Administration, Chief, AIB 409 3rd St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20416 and Desk Officer for the Small Business Administration, Office of Management and Budge, New Executive Office Building, Room10202, Washington, D.C. 20503. OMB Approval (3245-0091) PLEASE DO NOT SEND FORMS TO OMB.

By means of an electronic signature I understand I am agreeing to the terms listed above.

 
**Full Name:
**Initials:  
**Date:
 

If you would like, submit your Business Plan for us to review

Please note the following restrictions:
- 3MB maximum file size
- We accept only rtf, word, excel, powerpoint or pdf files

After you click submit, the page may not seem like it is frozen if you are attaching a file to be sent to us. Please wait for this to complete, the time will vary based on the file size and your connection speed. An error message will display if there is a problem, which you can submit using the form without attaching the document and someone will contact you.


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