Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic
In 2013, the Wisconsin School of Business and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) funded a new program aimed at helping nascent entrepreneurs navigate through the many business issues that arise when starting and growing a new business. This program is known as the Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic.
Our Mission
The Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic, in collaboration with the Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic (L&E), the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery, and WARF, provides free business advice and services for Wisconsin-based entrepreneurs. Under the direction of Michael Williams, MBA students and senior-level undergraduates undertake various projects that the businesses require.
Helping researchers, students, and university affiliates start new businesses
Expanding business support for entrepreneurs in the local community, starting with researchers at UW–Madison
Expanding experiential learning opportunities for business students and law students at the intersection of their respective fields and in the domain of entrepreneurship
How we can help your business
The Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic provides assistance and advice in the following areas:
- Vision / Mission
- Entrepreneurial, Business and Personal Goals
- Compensation (deferred, competitive, analysis)
- Structure of Equity
- Roles of Founders and Top Management Team
- Management Hiring and Development
- Accounting Software Analysis
- Accounting System Setup
- Proforma Analysis
- Summary Financials with Relevant Metrics
- Sources and Uses of Funds
- Balance Sheets
- Income Statement
- Cash Flow/Table
- Controls
- A/R Collections Monitoring
- Billing
- Target Market
- Market Sizing
- Pricing Structure
- Revenue Modeling
- Customer Service Model
- Brand
- Pricing
- Customer Acquisition Strategy
- Advertising – Entry into Markets
- Direct/Indirect Analysis
- Sales Cycles
- Sales Compensation Structure
- Sales Goals
- Competitive Advantage
- Number of Current Competitors
- Number of Substitute Products
- Pricing Structure of Competition
- Comparative Analysis of Competition vs COMPANY
- IP Barriers
- Future Potential Competitors
- Derive Estimate of Window of Opportunity
- Customer Service
- Warehouse/Manufacturing Process – Identification of Systems
- IT Infrastructure
- Supply Chain Contracts
- Capital Equipment Needs
- Location (Choice, Evaluation, Valuation, Lease Negotiations)
- People – Organizational Charts (over time)
- Total Capital Needed
Apply for Services
If you need us to evaluate your business needs and determine if we can help your business, please apply for services.
Potential clients need to fill out a survey and complete an interview to better evaluate the company’s business needs. Should the Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic decide to provide services, a Scope of Work (SoW) will be defined. We recognize that every business has different needs and timelines, all of this will be taken into consideration when defining the SoW.
After you’ve completed your application, we will contact you about setting up a 30-45 minute intake meeting. We can meet virtually or in-person during our office hours. Currently, our office hours are on Fridays from 9am – 12pm. For more information about the clinic, please contact us at beclinic@bus.wisc.edu.
B&E Clinic Features
Rice-ing to the Occasion
UW Alum Develops New Product to Teach Children How to Swallow Pills
Consultant Biographies
Michael Williams
Michael Williams has over 23 years of experience as a financial and operations executive in small, mid-sized and large companies. He has experience in accounting, finance, treasury, sales operations, budgeting and strategic planning. He has direct experience in managing small and mid-sized companies through expansive growth. Mr. Williams is well versed in start-up businesses’ challenges and their specific needs. He also has experience starting and running his own consulting business that helped small to mid-sized companies raise capital for growth. He is currently the Director of Entrepreneurship Activities and the Director of the Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic at the Wisconsin School of Business.
Hector Aviles
Hector enlisted in the United States Navy as a Combat Medic at 18, dedicating five years to service before receiving an honorable discharge in 2018. He then attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Communication Arts in 2021. During this period, he also secured an internship as an Area Manager in operations at Amazon.
After completing his undergraduate studies, Hector worked as a Credit Analyst at a regional bank. In 2022, he enrolled in a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program with a focus on Corporate Finance & Investment Banking. During the fall semester of 2022, he further expanded his skills by undertaking a Venture Capital Internship and participating in two campus-based accelerators/incubators.
In the summer of 2023, Hector had the privilege of interning at Sam’s Club as an MBA Merchant. In this role, he served as a business unit leader, managing and growing the U.S commercial bakery muffins category—a segment valued at over $100 million in a $1 billion market.
Outside of his academic and professional pursuits, Hector co-founded a car detailing business with his brother.
Barry Shepherd
Barry is very excited to join the B&E clinic and help local entrepreneurs succeed in their business goals. Barry grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and has thoroughly enjoyed becoming more involved in the entrepreneurship community in Madison while earning his MBA at the Wisconsin School of Business.
Barry is currently specializing in marketing and spent this past summer interning at Intuit where he developed an audience-specific go-to-market plan for a new QuickBooks product. Prior to starting his MBA, Barry worked as an engineer at Ford where he helped launch their new EV products. Outside of work, Barry enjoys cooking, hiking, traveling, and working on projects around the house.