Small Business Management

StUDent Link Program

The opportunity to work with an actual business provides an invaluable experience for University of Delaware business students, allowing them to apply various business disciplines through hands-on experience. It also provides an invaluable opportunity for the small business owner to receive outside input or work done by college students, with the only cost being their time and commitment to the project. There is no cost to participate, but business owners would need to cover any costs incurred for the project (e.g., reserving a domain name, buying an email list, etc.)

What Small Businesses Should Expect:

• To become involved in a dynamic interchange with students, faculty, and advisors to solve complex business challenges.
• An industry analysis from the team of students.
• A SWOT and KPI analysis
• Social media and website audits to determine how you stack up to your competitors.
• A final presentation and report with agreed upon deliverables and actionable next steps.

The Students, (Under Guidance) Can Help With:

• Research new markets
• Develop a marketing strategy
• Help design a website strategy (not create a website for you)
• Develop social media campaigns
• Analyze financial statements
• Create projections
• Help create HR templates

Students Projects For The Small Business:

• Need to be specific and definable. Please clearly describe the project and what you need from the students. “Help with marketing” does not constitute a clear project scope, and will not be considered for a project.
• Must have a measurable impact on your business.
• Able to be completed during the semester. Keep in mind this is not the student team’s only course in the semester–some are taking full course loads.
• The project should involve either marketing, finance, operational or management issues.
• Students are not to be used as non-paid employees doing day-to-day work.

Business Owner Requirements:

• The business owner, or appropriate designee, must be available during class time to meet with the students at least 7 times during the semester. The meetings will be held during class time; Friday’s at 9:00 am and will last no longer than 1 hour. Semesters run from September to December (Fall term) & February to May (Spring term) however business owners do not typically start until a month into the course.
• Understand these are college students who can provide assistance, but will also be learning at the same time. These are not professional consultants.
• Be willing to freely share the struggles of the business, the financial information (as needed) and all the information necessary to complete the project.