Small Business Administration Creative Concept Testing;

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of

Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3245-0398)

Expiration Date: January 31, 2021

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Small Business Administration Creative Concept Testing: Women’s Digital Learning Platform

PURPOSE:

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will be sponsoring a series of discussions with individual women business owners to test receptivity to the SBA’s Women’s Digital Entrepreneurship online learning platform concept; to identify any barriers to the successful launch, adoption, and ongoing use of the platform; and to understand potential end users’ preferences for content, messaging, and marketing outreach channels.

One-on-one discussions are a useful and efficient research tool for obtaining audience insights about the appeal and potential use of a new product. Findings from these discussions will help the SBA develop both a research-informed marketing plan to promote the product as well as develop messages and creative outreach materials to encourage adoption and use of the product.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Growth-oriented women entrepreneurs with existing small businesses.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: One-on-One Discussion

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Allen Gutierrez, Associate Administrator for the Office of Entrepreneurial Development

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Respondent Participation Time	Total Burden Hours
Women Small Business Owners	20	30-60 minutes each	20 hours
Totals	20		20 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $7,200, which is attributed to the contractor that will be conducting and evaluating the discussions.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Response:

Individual discussions will be conducted on behalf of SBA by contractor LMD Agency (LMD). Participants will be recruited for the one-time discussion by SBA’s National Women’s Business Council (NWBC). The NWBC will be utilizing its council members and other key stakeholders to help SBA to identify women business owners interested in growth.

SBA will work with the NWBC to develop a list of 30-40 prospective research participants, with the expectation of 20 to participate. The SBA and NWBC will use the following screening criteria to identify prospective participants:

• Growth-oriented women entrepreneurs with existing small businesses who are:

  • Past start-up stage (2+ years in business)

  • Generating at least $100k in revenue

  • Interested in scaling/growing their business

  • Geographically diverse:

    • From various parts of the country

    • Located in urban, suburban and rural markets

  • Wide variety of industries—service industries, STEM/tech, retail, hospitality, etc.

  • Ethnically diverse

LMD Agency will email potential respondents an invitation to participate in an individual discussion via telephone. The invitation will contain a link for selecting their preferred date and time to participate in the discussion. LMD will follow up with prospective participants to confirm their participation. LMD will then conduct phone discussions with each participant for the amount of time they agree to participate (between 30-60 minutes), using the attached Discussion Guide. This guide consists of a series of questions, including “probes,” intended to guide the conversations to achieve the research objectives.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[X] Other, [invitations will be distributed by email.

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Attachments:

• Draft email invitation

• Draft Discussion Guide

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