Small Business Outreach Programs and Effect on Opportunity Recognition: Evidence from Wisconsin

Women-owned businesses grow faster than other sectors of the economy. Although the government has mandated goals, they have missed awarding the targeted volume of contracts to women each year. The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers outreach programs to educate business startups about government procurement opportunities. The problem addressed was the lack of participation in outreach programs such as the SBA, viewed through opportunity recognition theory. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the voice of the target population using case study design. The eight participants were small business owners in Wisconsin. Data analysis resulted in six themes: three for research question 1: (a) SBA not engaged due to bureaucracy, (b) SBA not aligned with business needs, and (c) other outreach programs more supportive, two themes for research question 2: (a) formal networks preferred for business development and (b) informal networks preferred to leverage experience of others, and one theme for research question 3: previous experience contributed to opportunity recognition. The conclusions were (a) women experienced stereotypes, (b) women preferred to learn from women, (c) women use both formal and informal networks based on need, and (d) prior exposure positively influenced participation in government business. Recommendations for practice included (a) evaluation of policies to eliminate complexity (b) more non-traditional programs aligned with the business ventures women pursue (c) tailored outreach programs aligned with formats suited for women, (d) targeted training on government procurement to audiences with prior experience. Recommendations for future research included: (a) a quantitative descriptive study to understand the types of businesses that women choose to pursue, (b) a qualitative multiple case study to understand women's preferences for outreach programs, and (c) a correlational quantitative analysis of businesses owned by individuals with prior experience to explore the impact of prior knowledge on pursuing public procurement activities.