Message from the Board
Columbia Business School places a lot of emphasis on "giving back to the community" and to that, the Small Business Consulting Program (SBCP) has successfully spearheaded the school's efforts in this space. It is a student organization that has been designed by the students, for the students to go out into the local business community and apply their business skills to deliver impact to various clients.
Since its inception, this program has served over 200 clients in more than 15 industries on a range of strategic and operational issues. Every year, we have successfully engaged around 150 students to provide consulting services to these clients. As we endeavor to grow and expand our presence in the New York City community, we have drawn attention from a number of stakeholders, notably the NYC Business Solutions which is run by the Mayor's Office. This has given us an additional platform to not only source new clients but also provide another resource to our current client base. Within the student community, the Small Business Consulting Program has gained unparalleled attention in offering a real-world experience and also being the learning bridge towards a career in management consulting.
As we pursue opportunities to improve and grow this program, we owe our success to our two most important constituents - clients and students. Looking forward to continuing this partnership into the future.
- President, Small Business Consulting Program
Updates
Prospective Clients: How to Apply?
The program has two starting dates, in September and January, with the biggest pool traditionally starting in September.
The process for being enrolled in this program begins with the submission of a fully complete application form. The client application form for Fall 2013 intake can be downloaded by clicking here. File will download in a MS-WORD format.
Please apply by submitting your completed application to smallbusinessconsultingprogram@gmail.com.
The current deadline for client applications for Fall 2013 projects is September 6, 2013.
Process - Application Submission
In order to be guaranteed a consideration for the consulting program, clients will have to submit completed applications by the stated deadline. Clients who miss the deadline are still encouraged to apply, but they will not be guaranteed immediate consideration. All clients that are not considered for the program this period will be rolled over to the next recruiting period subject to client's explicit interest in being reconsidered.
Process - Application Decision
First round decision will be made by club officers based on a review of the applications submitted by clients. The evaluation is designed to identify projects that based on:
- reasonable scope,
- well-defined deliverables,
- clear commitment from the client organization,
- provide learning opportunity to students,
- strategic for the client organization.
This is a very competitive process and clients are encouraged to complete the application keeping in mind the evaluation criteria.
Club officers will match students' preferences with the available projects and will notify the clients in case they are selected to be part of the program. However, there could be projects that might not draw sufficient student interest based on the project proposal.
For more details, you can reach out to any VP/AVP from Client Relations through the information on the Contact Us page.