Business Advisor (Goldman Sachs)

Babson College•Wellesley, MA

About The Position

The Business Advisor supports designated groups of 5-7 business owners as they complete the main 10KSB deliverables: a written growth plan and growth pitch. A Business Advisor typically oversees 2 groups of business owners. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program is part of a national investment by the Goldman Sachs Foundation to unlock the growth and job creation potential of small businesses and is based on the broadly held view of leading experts that a combination of education, business support services, and access to capital best addresses the barriers to growth for small businesses. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program is comprised of three main components: business education, business support services (technical assistance and customized, one-on-one business advising) and the opportunity to access capital. The ultimate goal of the initiative is for the participating business owners to increase their revenues and create jobs in their community and surrounding areas. Babson College is the national education partner for 10,000 Small Businesses. Babson College created the program curriculum and oversees training and program delivery at community college partner sites across the country.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business, entrepreneurship, sales, or related field.
A minimum of three years successful experience in business advising for a small business clientele.
Strong understanding of financial forecasting and construction of small business financial statements.
Proven ability to work in a diverse team environment and manage multiple tasks efficiently and effectively.
Ability to recruit, select, train, oversee, and develop Faculty and Business Advisors.
Strong spoken and written communication skills.
Ability to work a flexible schedule.
High personal and professional ethical standards.
Ability to engage business owners in small group interactions.
Proficiency with MS Office tools (WORD, PowerPoint, Excel, e.g.) and a willingness to learn new tools (e.g., Basecamp, Canvas, LivePlan, Salesforce, Zoom, etc.).
Ability to give feedback in a positive and constructive manner.
Envisions and proposes new methods to perform tasks that support ET&A; takes thoughtful risks; and accepts new and ongoing initiatives, objectives, and solutions to gain sought-after results.
Anticipates and embraces change; demonstrates willingness to achieve, acquire, and utilize new skills and challenging tasks; and is flexible in changing conditions.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Meets with each business owner on an individual basis approximately 8-10 times to guide business growth and completion of the Growth Plan.
Connects business owners to external Business Support Services (local entrepreneurship ecosystem) as needed for specialty services.
Works with business owners to collect, understand, and apply business metrics to support growth.
Assists within the classroom (in-person and on-line) to coordinate group activities and support faculty.
Helps business owners apply course content to their businesses.
Participates in bi-weekly team meetings that focus on the business owner support system to identify business owners needs and brainstorm how to meet those needs using the broader delivery team network.
Attends all modules, clinics and program events to support business owner learning.
Facilitates workshops for business owners around financial forecasting, growth plan completion, etc.
Ensures business owners complete Baseline and Graduation diagnostics with 100% validation.
Participates in assessment of curriculum sessions through post session debriefings.
Ability to coach business owners in the construction and presentation of their growth pitch.
Assists with recruiting and interviewing program applicants on an as needed basis.
Communicates with alumni on an as needed basis to facilitate completion of post-program surveys.
Participates in regular national BA calls to get updates, exchange best practices, discuss new challenges, etc.
Networks with local and regional business support services to enhance local entrepreneurship ecosystem, be able to direct business owners their way, and to advance program recruitment.
Engages in business owner alumni program events as needed.
Assume additional responsibilities as required.