The Tennessee Small Business Development Center at ETSU will help talk you out of starting a business.
About 80 percent of new businesses in Tennessee fail in their first five years, but about 80 percent who receive counseling from the TSBDC succeed, said Robert Justice, director of the ETSU division of the TSBDC.
He said that the reason for this maybe about 90 percent of these possible entrepreneurs are talked out of starting a business.
“We walk them through the risks and rewards of owning your own business,” Justice said. He said some prefer receiving a weekly check rather than risking everything on a new business.
The TSBDC was started in 1984 by a matching grant from the United States Small Business Administration and ETSU. The goals are to assist people start businesses, run businesses and take advantage of business opportunities.
This is one of 14 centers in Tennessee and one of over a thousand in the United States.
“We provide education to get them set up in the business,” Justice said. This includes general business practices, financial planning, marketing plans, accounting and legal aspects.
For business students, “We can unlearn you,” Justice said, referring to the specialization taught in the College of Business. “The College of Business teaches you to work for someone else. (We) try to teach you to be a specialist in all areas.”
The TSBDC is regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The U.S. Small Business Administration requires that 40 workshops or seminars must be conducted each year and 2,600 hours must be spent counseling clients.
The TSBDC is currently in Sam Wilson Hall at ETSU but hopes in the future to move to the Marine Corps Reserve Center on West Market Street, which will offer easier access for the business community and provide the space needed to start a business information and resource center.
For more information contact Justice at 439-5630 or by e-mail at bjustice@mail.tsbdc.org or visit the TSBDC Web site at http://www.tsbdc.org.

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