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.

“I have done two projects with UD students. They helped us with a website and in developing our business plan. They were very helpful, professional, and fun to work with. I would encourage anyone to look into using them for a project. I truly can’t say enough about the exceptional work ethic of the UD students. I’m genuinely grateful for their help and feel so lucky we have such a wonderful program available to both small and large businesses in Delaware”

“It was fulfilling to give back to my alma mater and help Margo’s students learn about how to start, grow, and scale an international e-commerce business. This is what it’s all about for me. Helping the next generation just as the SBDC is helping us.”

“This course allowed the student to act as consultants and find ways to improve our agency’s marketing – this was an awesome experience and the students were able to share some amazing ideas that we will be implementing in our marketing plans for the future. Thank you to the Delaware Small Business Development Center for putting this program together to help local businesses.”

Please fill out the form below to apply for Spring 2022:

Please keep in mind that we receive multiple project proposals. Given a limited number of students, not all projects can be accepted.

The Delaware SBDC, a unit of the University of Delaware’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP), is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the State of Delaware. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA or the sponsoring agencies. All programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. As equal opportunity/affirmative action employers, the SBA, the University of Delaware and the State of Delaware are all committed to assuring equal opportunity to all persons. The University of Delaware is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and Title IX institution. For the University’s complete non-discrimination statement, please visit http://www.udel.edu/home/legal-notices/. - powered by Enfold WordPress Theme