SBI® Program Testimonials

“The SBI program was an eye-opening experience, uncovering hidden gems in the market and offering essential strategies for growth. Highly recommended for any entrepreneur seeking to elevate their business.”

Adel Youssef
Superior Business Solutions Inc.

“Your program is excellent. It’s a $50,000 consulting project that is free to a business. I think if there is a decision maker that is open to the process and results, it would be hard for them to not benefit from the results of the MBA students.”

Greg Sausaman
Ice Cream 4 You International

My SBI® team actually took a deep dive into my business and presented me with a plan for further growth in my business which I implemented with great results,”

Gladys Salicrup
Trapline Pest Solutions

“We were delighted with the process and the results. The students assigned to us were very knowledgeable and committed to the project. This program is a great way to give back to the community while also providing a different perspective on one’s organization.”

Alexander Perez
AMP Pediatric Therapy

“A team of three graduate level students from UCF out classed, outperformed, and out hustled each and every consultation team I have hired over the past 20 years. It was an absolute breath of fresh air to deal with a team so well organized and focused. They have made a greater impact on our company than they will ever know.”

Adam Dovi
Dovi Windows & Doors

“Working with our SBI student team was amazing! They were interested, responsive, and delivered a great product. I’m excited to launch the new program that these students so carefully put together.”

Nancy Benet
Fix-It Accounting

“I was completely impressed with The SBI Program.  The team we were assigned worked very well together and this interaction and diversity was able to reveal to me a view of my company from many different angles which allowed me to improve the way we target customers, advertise to customers and grow the company deep into the future.”

Matthew Floeter
Aqua Cops Water Systems Inc

“Great program. I really enjoyed working with motivated students on a real business problem and brainstorm possible solutions.”

Edwin Sosa
Embark Safety

“Top Shelf Aquatics’ experience with the SBDC was a highly valuable and instrumental opportunity for our business development and growth. We learned things and brought to light opportunities we had missed as owners. This program will definitely lead us to a better organization, increased sales, and stronger customer service.”

Alexander Dillard
Top Shelf Aquatics

“The SBI program was a great way to gain insight into our business from an unbiased perspective. The MBA team assigned to us went through mountains of data to give us a better understanding of our own customer base. This is a great opportunity for small businesses that might not have the resources to complete research on this scale.”

Jerry Allen
Orlando Waste Paper Company

The SBI program gave us a fresh perspective on how our value proposition is perceived by a younger generation. This lead to new considerations in our growth strategy. I’d recommend the program to any small business.

Marcelo Zolessi
Convention News Television

The SBI graduate student program exceeded our expectations. The students were professional in their interactions and their recommendations were based on solid research and were substantive. They were so well researched and substantive that we are incorporating them into our strategic planning. Comparative consulting services would have cost our company several thousands of dollars. It was a pleasure interacting with the students and seeing through a new set of eyes our company’s profile and its operations. The students assigned to us were professional, organized, methodical, and acted as an effective consulting team. I would recommend this program to any other small business needing targeted professional services focused on what needs to be done to generate growth.

Nicholas Pisano
SNA Software LLC

I enjoyed working with the team from the Small Business Institute at UCF and I was impressed by how quickly they learned about our industry, our company and our needs. Every time we met they provided fresh and innovative ideas and they seemed eager to learn. Their advice from day one has been instrumental in key implementations that have resulted in new business opportunities. Thank you so much for believing in my business and I wish you the best! Any organization will be lucky to have you!

Indy Vega
CCI Group

The very energetic and thought-provoking UCF MBA Team researched, organized and developed a business plan for a new Eagle 6 commercial healthcare cybersecurity offering that will greatly assist our efforts to achieve a better government-commercial business balance and portfolio.

John Burns
Eagle 6 Technical Services, LLC

I thoroughly loved participating in this SBI program.  I was amazed at how passionate, sincere, eager and professional the students were, and how they quickly jumped in to start analyzing my situation and questioning how we were currently operating.  Throughout the process they asked some tough questions, as well as some simple ones that just made me rethink what we were doing.  It was a great experience and one I would recommend for other small business owners.

Sharon Fisher
Play with a  Purpose

Your selection of students was awesome. Some very dedicated, smart and professional people. I fully recommend any business to participate in this program, if they ever have the chance.

Ervin LeMand
Lost Returns, Inc.

The MBA students who participated in our SBI project provided us with insight and high-level analysis into areas of our operation that had become stale.  Their fresh observations brought clarity to some aspects of our service that we were taking for granted.  The work they did in Customer and Competitive Analysis was professional and insightful and gave us a new view of who our customer was and how our market area had changed 13 years after opening.  From speaking with our customers, they provided detailed analysis of what we need to be doing to maintain our competitive edge in order to attract and re-attract customer who had been lured away by multiple new restaurant openings in an already over saturated market.  The team was very professional, focused, intelligent, willing and excited about the project, which made the process fun and the results very meaningful.

Rick Brown
Rhythm & Blues Enterprises, LLC
A Franchise Partner of Tijuana Flats

Each of the SBI student team members were professional, informative and eager to assist with our mission to identify who we are as a company in today’s market. They provided in depth information to help guide us forward. The services they provided are truly invaluable to us as a small business.

Bill Davis
IM Solutions, Inc.

The students worked diligently on our project and provided us with insightful and thought out market comparable for our project.

Andre Uribe
Power Grid Engineering.

As a small business owner I am driven to continue to find ways to improve and grow my business.  The SBI program has provided me exceptional information on ways to improve.  Often as business owners we become complacent and think we understand our business, but gaining information from an outside source that is not biased can open your eyes to new ideas.  This program is well worth the time.

Greg Martin
Sign-O-Saurus of Daytona, Inc.

Please continue this program because it has worked for me.  The students were able to open my eyes to what was going on inside my organization. I was comfortable opening all my books to them because I felt confident as they came across very professional and caring; that is very important to me.  I could tell that they wanted to do it right and wanted me to implement those changes to make my organization better.  I did and it shows that they knew what they were doing.

Ivan and Kyle Padilla
Tuskawilla Lawn Maintenance

In a word, “IMPRESSED”  is what I felt about my student team. In a short period of time, they were able to research and analyze my company and industry. They were able to apply their knowledge from their own professional experiences and the MBA program to provide specific and valuable recommendations that will help to achieve our company goals.

Karen McKinnon
CE Avionics, Inc.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this program. The three students were great to work with. They were attentive, focused, and receptive to our comments. Their final presentation was spot-on and provided some great suggestions for us to consider.

Rob Maphis
The Collage Companies

It is a great program that gives you the opportunity to work with professional people who provide a fresh eye on your business. The report supplied many new ideas for my future marketing and sales decisions.

Larry Zhou
Universal Timber Structures

The program, supported and organized by the SBI, created a win-win opportunity for the students as well as for my business.

The students gain valuable and realistic business experience instead of reading about case studies in a book. We gained valuable insight into our business that we neither had the time nor the resources to do before.

Students got to delve into the inner workings of a viable business and presented us with solid recommendations backed up with factual research that will help us continue to grow our business.

Brent Triebel
Triebel Family Enterprises, Inc.
(dba Jimmy Johns)

“Thanks to the UCF SBI, the USA Shoe Company is better prepared to engage other companies in future business. It is absolutely an invaluable program for any company looking to refine their strategic management goals. Thanks again, we appreciate all of the support from the entire organization!”

Julian Felipe Henao
USA Shoe Company

“Great group of dedicated, talented kids that put their full energy into research and trying to help my company.”

Katerina Fedotova
Russian Ballet Orlando

“We enjoyed working with the team assigned to us. The topic was a huge challenge as so much of it was in development but they really did a great job and became really educated on the subject quickly to provide valuable suggestions and ideas.”

Marcie Dearth
Impower

“It was a pleasure working with Natalin and Rebecca, both showed genuine interest in researching solutions and providing insight to the project at hand.”

Kevin Brotz
Get Bit Outdoors

“The report and recommendations that the MBA students produced is a very useful tool for our business.  We are using the report to implement new Strategies in guiding our company growth.  We have been thinking about many of the items analyzed for years, but have not had the time to run the business and develop an action plan.  With the hard work of the UCF MBA students we now have an action plan.”

Paul R. Holmes
JK2 Holmes Constructors

“The SBI has created a channel to provide insights to our market placement outside of our region. The students provided valuable information which enabled us to make intelligent decisions in growing our company.”

Andre Uribe
Power Grid Engineering

“This is a tremendous resource. The UCF Masters students were bright and very engaged. They provided not only a valuable final report, but gave us a fresh perspective with their thought-provoking questions of us in the process. We will definitely be back with other projects and recommend the SBI program to businesses seeking solid business data and analysis.”

Pam Weber
ROAR! Internet Marketing

“The UCF MBA Student Consulting Program has helped our company enter into the Renewable Energy Industry.  They provided insights that we would have not been able to acquire ourselves.  We are now able to approach this industry effectively and with minimal risk.”

Andre Uribe
Power Grid Engineering, LLC

“Thoroughly enjoyed working with the students.  We felt they presented an exceptional analysis/product and would highly recommend this program.”

Susan Headley
Crane Institute of America, Inc.

“The team who worked with us was knowledgeable, helpful, and extremely enthusiastic about the project.  They were also genuinely interested in our company’s outcome in the long run.  The pricing model [the students] developed has proven to be very eye-opening and helpful in pricing our custom software projects in order to make a profit – what a concept!”

Alison Wildblood McKillop
CAMcad Technologies Inc.

“The SBI program not only offers an objective look at your business but it comes from a vantage point (education) that most small businesses can benefit from.”

Craig Caswell
Common Sense Office Furniture

“Our SBI consulting team conducted an analysis of our firm’s cost structure and advised us on profitable growth strategies.  The team provided invaluable information that we didn’t have the time or knowledge to access.  Due to the information that we learned we made changes to how we structure our business and our business model.  The students proved to us the value of a shift in our business model from a company-owned fleet to an owner-operator model.  They also provided a host of best practices and money-saving suggestions regarding our operations and developed a program to improve the fleet’s fuel efficiency.  I am optimistic that these changes will help improve our profitability and facilitate our business expansion.  We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this valuable program.”

Brandi Jones
Solutions 1 Transport

“’Invaluable.’  That’s the word I would use to describe the work of our UCF graduate students. The combination of our management team’s knowledge of our business and the students’ research, analysis and recommendations contributed materially to strengthening our company’s marketing, inventory management and financial planning.  Recognition of the students’ consulting analyses by the Small Business Institute® is very appropriate and well deserved.” [Merit Fasteners’ UCF SBI team earned second place in the national 2012 SBI Project of the Year competition in the Graduate Comprehensive Category for their consulting project with Merit Fasteners Corporation.”

Donna Best
Merit Fasteners Corporation

“The team members were focused on the set objectives, provided valuable current market research and information, provided a respectable and thorough analysis with solid recommendations that has potential for a very successful outcome.”

Jane Cardenas
Pridmore Corporation

“I did not know what to expect and the project exceeded all my expectations. The students were very professional providing a timely resource which we could not have staffed internally.”

Joseph Sefcik
Employment Technologies Corp.

“We were impressed with results of the project presented by the UCF MBA Students. Their research findings and strategic recommendations will be considered and incorporated in our strategic business plan. I highly recommend small businesses in Central Florida looking for business consulting services to approach SBI and seek the assistance and insights that UCF MBA students have to offer.”

Rafael Irastorza
Power Grid Engineering

“The project with the MBA students at UCF worked great and we were able to refine our strategies and save a few thousand dollars in the process.”

Chuck Barnett
Barnett Murphy Direct Marketing

“The Students did a great job identifying a huge market segment that I had overlooked.”

Rick Hardin
Asystech

“The SBI program is a fantastic way to receive focused support in critical business processes or challenges while allowing the MBA students to gain first-hand experience from an actual operational business and not a text book.”

Gabriel Ruiz
Advanced IT Concepts

“The SBI program recommendations are the road map we will be using for the future of our company. The students diligently learned our business which resulted in sustainable growth recommendations. The research they uncovered on our industry has helped us to better define the risk and opportunities for us to allocate resources and efforts. We are very grateful to have been a part of the process.”

Ray Rivera
Diamond Systems

“Students were well organized and listened to our needs. They provided excellent research results in a very concise and clear manner that is easy to understand and implement.”

Shailesh K. Patel
Dredging Machine Consultants

“The market team assigned to our organization was very professional and thorough. They provided us with a 100 page marketing plan that described the market(s) for our product as well as the specific companies to contact as first adopters of our new product.”

Brian Caudill
JCA Solutions