August news & updates

What's Inside: Highlight: Marketing and Sales Assistance - Exporting Client Spotlight Upcoming Events

Exporting with The Kansas SBDC

The Kansas Small Business Development Center is your starting point for exporting your products (and many services – the U.S. has a trade SURPLUS in services!). A total of 3,341 firms exported $10.2 billion in goods from Kansas in 2018. Of these, 2,770, or 82.9%, were small firms. (Source: ITA) Many people think of exports as solely manufactured and farmed goods, and that certainly is often the case; Kansas exports planes and grains to the world! However, many services are exports if they’re being provided overseas, or even if it’s just foreign money that’s buying them here. Architecture and engineering services are big exports, as is entertainment. The U.S. actually has a trade surplus in exports – we sell more abroad than we buy from overseas! A company should look to exporting in order to: Expand their customer base (would you walk into a room of 100 people and only try to sell to four? That’s what you’re doing if you only sell to US domestic customers – there’s a big world of potential customers out there!) Keep their products and services competitive Extend the life cycle of their products Diversify markets in order to limit risk, just as an investor would buy a number of different stocks rather than just the stock of one company In short, the SBDC's role is five-fold: We offer a number of readiness assessments to see if the company (and management) is ready and committed to the task of exporting. International market research, where we employ any of a dozen databases and resources to find the top potential market(s) abroad for a company’s products or services International trade finance, where we assist companies in accessing the capital often required of an expansion (additional tooling and equipment, personnel, marketing, customer care, warehousing, working capital, for example) Resource referrals – whether to find a great international banker, freight forwarder or other international trade professional, there are many talented people that are here to help. The Kansas Department of Commerce has some terrific programs to help pay for trade missions, marketing and some tremendously useful training and resources, as well. International expansion planning – any journey needs a good map. To learn more about Exporting and what the SBDC can do for you, check out https://jcccsbdc.com/grow-a-business/exporting/

Kansas SBDC Client Shout Out

Alex Benjamin is a certified fitness professional that has been helping others optimize and feel better with their fitness and health for four years. Alex helps bring real life experience and theoretical knowledge into application with programming and progression. Being able to program based on principles and realism has made him successful in helping people exercise pain free, lose weight and put on lean tissue. Benjamin approached Kansas SBDC to help with developing the financial projections and funding for his business as well as devising a business plan. Benjamin connected with SBDC Advisor, Allyson Walker, who walked him through the legal requirements, start-up costs, and market potential of Good Muscle. With this support, Benjamin returned to his bank where he was approved for a loan. “Working with the SBDC was so immensely helpful. Going into this project I had a rough draft idea of what I needed to do, but I would have never gotten there without Allyson’s help. Having a road map to follow allowed me to give my project life,” Benjamin shared. The Client was successful in securing adequate funding for his business through securing a business loan. With his background as a certified fitness professional, Alex was ready to elevate his personal training business by moving out of the local gym he was independently training in and opening his own facility. Alex defines Good Muscle as a fitness and wellness community that is all about self-love and treating your body the way it deserves. On top of continuing his full-time training schedule, Alex now finds much of his time is spent acting as a team leader for the other trainers and building the Good Muscle brand. “One word of advice I would give someone starting out is understand that starting is easy,” Alex shared, “but continuing to grow and improve and survive either in brick and mortar or online business requires reflection and self-evaluation. Don’t be afraid to jump. Don’t be afraid to switch lanes. Do not care what others think about you. And most importantly, don’t be afraid to put in the work.” Learn more about Good Muscle by visiting their website: https://www.thegoodmuscle.com/. The Kansas Small Business Development Center serves as the state advising resource for the small business owner. Learn more about the Kansas SBDC at www.KansasSBDC.net.

Upcoming Virtual & In-Person Events

Virtual Events (Free Unless Noted) Aug 5 - Start Your Own Online Business - $119 Aug 5 - Marketing Your Business on the Internet - $119 Aug 9, 12:00 pm - Loan Denials: Common Reasons and Strategies Moving Forward Aug 10, 12:00 pm - Startup and Start Right Aug 18, 12:00 pm - Owning Your Digital Presence Aug 25, 12:00 pm - Social Media - Where to Start Aug 30, 9:00 am - State Tax Webinar Aug 30, 1:00 pm - State Tax Webinar for Construction Contractors Sep 27, 9:00 am - QuickBooks Online: The Basics - $119

In-Person (Free Unless Noted) Aug 17, 9:00 am (Liberal) - Business Recordkeeping 101 Aug 17, 12:00 pm (Liberal) - Mantenimiento de Registros Comerciales 101 Aug 18, 8:00 am (JCCC) - Business Basics in a Day - How to Start a Business - $75 Aug 23, 1:00 pm (JCCC) - Know Your Numbers and Make More Money - $35 Sep 7, 5:30 pm (Topeka) - How to Start a Business Sep 13, 10:00 am (JCCC) - Business Foundations: Putting It All Together - $24 Sep 20, 8:30 am (JCCC) - Going Global Via Exporting - $35 To register for our upcoming virtual and in-person events, click here

Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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Kansas Small Business Development Center Kansassbdc.net | (800) 949-7661 | [email protected] ‌ ‌ ‌ Questions? Don't hesitate to contact our 7 day-a-week assistance line at (800) 949-7661. For Espanol, call (800) 707-0580.