Small business ‘speed dating’ leads to relationships, but few sales

Last week, the Small Business Administration hosted a matchmaking event for small businesses that ended up looking like a mix between the syndicated TV series Blind Date and NBC's The Apprentice.

Hopeful small-business executives lined up outside the Washington Hilton's Grand Ballroom and waited to be called to meet with their counterparts in Fortune 500 companies and various government agencies. When the executives' turn came, they hurried down the stairs for the opportunity to spend 15 minutes asking for advice and pitching their products.

Over 600 small companies signed up for the matchmaking event, which was sponsored by Hewlett-Packard and American Airlines, along with SBA. The agency says the program, which began in 2002, has generated $26 million worth of contracts for small businesses.

"The idea is to start a conversation with somebody," said Manish Gupta, owner of DBSentry Solutions, a Falls Church, Va.-based software company. He decided to come after reading about the event on the Internet. "As a small business owner and non-native English speaker, one of the biggest hurdles is getting in front of the right person," he said.

Even at the event, that wasn't always easy. Kajal Kapur, owner of a Charlottesville, Va., energy and environmental consulting firm that bears her name, tried to sign up to meet with an Energy Department official a week before the event and found the agency was all booked up. She did, however, manage to schedule time with representatives of the Pennsylvania state government and a utility company.

Kapur said the trip was worth her time. "I could not have met these people without the matchmaking program," she said.

Not everyone is such an enthusiastic supporter. The program is "nothing more than a trade show," said Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., a member of the House Small Business Committee. "But the most frustrating aspect is that small business owners have been taking time away from running their businesses to attend these events, only to leave discouraged that they are not able to secure contracts."

Velázquez said the program is a waste of taxpayer money and should be shut down immediately. She said that less than 2 percent of small businesses that participate have won contracts as a result. "This program clearly has failed in every respect," she said.

Some participants said they still benefited even if their meetings didn't result in sales. Gregory Franklin Sr., owner of Sign Promotional Solutions, a Parkville, Md.-based company, said he felt good about his meeting with The Hartford, an insurance and investment company, even though it didn't generate a contract.

"Realistically, making a sale would be like winning the lottery. I'm hoping to build a relationship," he said. He said he plans to stay in touch with the company and to follow up with phone calls and free merchandise. He also had meetings scheduled with American Airlines, Office Depot and the State Department.

The SBA remains strongly supportive of the matchmaking program. At an acquisition panel in March, SBA deputy administrator Melanie Sabelhaus called it "SBA's version of speed dating," and "one of the greatest things we've ever done."

SBA announced last week that it will work more closely with the General Services Administration to help administer contracting workshops and matchmaking programs designed to help small businesses.