Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
A Strategic Ally for the Front Lines of Small Business Support
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) serve on the front lines of America's small business economy, providing critical support to entrepreneurs navigating startup, growth, transition, and turnaround. But today's small business landscape is more volatile than ever. High interest rates, constrained capital access, labor challenges, and rising commercial debt burdens have created an environment where even promising businesses can falter. For SBDC advisors, this means increasingly complex client needs, tighter institutional partnerships, and greater demand for specialized guidance beyond the traditional advisory model that the SBDC staff can provide.
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​Our services complement the SBDC advisory team with hands-on help for the client's business. Fortis does business viability assessments, cash flow diagnostics, and turnaround planning tailored for small businesses and their owners. We offer actionable insight working with situations involving distressed inventory (whether known or unknown), helping with lender pressure, predatory loan interference (including MCA stacking), or ownership disputes. We can also work with the SBDC introductory training programs for its advisors, select business planning support in cases involving refinancing, asset sale preparation, and acquisition and sale preparation strategy.​
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Fortis Business Advisors partners with SBDCs to help address these challenges head-on. We provide strategic, real-world support for businesses in distress, in transition, or at key inflection points. Whether it is a retailer facing liquidation, a contractor seeking to restructure debt, or a second-generation owner preparing for succession, our experience spans industries and most situations small businesses face. By introducing Fortis to clients who may be personally overwhelmed by business operational issues or major financial problems, the SBDCs expand their impact to the community by having more resources to help new businesses get started and having a dedicated, trusted, tactical resource available when advanced needs arise.
WHAT FORTIS PROVIDES
Tactical solutions that extend SBDC impact, stabilize struggling businesses, and unlock pathways to recovery, repositioning, or responsible wind-down.
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SBDCs are often the first line of defense when a small business begins to falter, providing guidance, training, and access to resources. But not every business challenge fits within the advisory framework. Fortis steps in as a strategic partner when complexity rises: operational distress, liquidity shortfalls, lender pressure, or the need for a formal liquidation strategy.
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We offer practical, outcome-oriented support in situations that exceed typical technical assistance, from inventory appraisals for SBA loan readiness to full-scale liquidation of inventory and assets. In select cases, SBDCs have referred businesses directly to Fortis when client needs surpass their internal capacity, especially when speed, collateral management, or financial restructuring is required.
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Our services are designed to extend and strengthen SBDC support, preserving value and improving outcomes for business owners, lenders, and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Solutions for SBDCs & Their Clients
WHEN WE HELP
SBDCs play a critical role in early-stage business support, but there are moments when client needs exceed available tools. Fortis steps in at these inflection points, offering specialized, hands-on guidance to stabilize, reposition, or wind down a business when complexity, risk, or urgency rises.
Performance Decline or Cash Flow Instability
Sales declines, expense imbalances, or liquidity shortfalls that signal the need for in-depth viability analysis, margin modeline, and turnaround strategy.
Uncertain Valuation or Asset Use
Asset diagnostics and operational insight to guide financing, sale, or restructuring decisions for clients struggling to understand inventory, receivables, or other assets value.
Predatory Lending Interference
Actionable recovery pathways for clients burdened by merchant cash advances (MCAs), MCA stacking, or other high-cost lenders, compromising cash flow and repayment structure.
Owner Fatigue or Management Breakdown
Field-level guidance, interim planning, and stability frameworks to regain momentum when clients face operational drift, disorganized leadership, or decision paralysis.
Pre-Closure or
Exit Scenario
Structured transition strategies to recover value, reduce chaos, and maximize outcomes when clients face a business sale, business closure, or forced wind-down without a plan in place.
Ineligible for Traditional Financing or SBA Declined
Providing readiness diagnostics and restructuring strategies to realign a business for future eligibility or strategic alternatives when a client is turned down for bank financing or an SBA loan.
Why Fortis Business Advisors
SBDCs play a vital role in early-stage business guidance, but some client challenges require deeper intervention. Fortis steps in at these moments, offering specialized, hands-on support to stabilize, reposition, or wind down businesses facing heightened complexity or risk.
COMPLEMENTARY INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS
A targeted suite of services aligned with the needs of SBDCs and their clients, enhancing strategic planning, supporting at-risk businesses, and providing actionable paths forward when traditional resources fall short.
FEATURED SUCCESS
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
A presentation given at Webinar Wednesday for the CSUB Small Business Development Center.
A presentation given at the National Conference to Small Business Development Centers.