MAryland Success Stories
Maryland Business Owners, In Their Own Words
Every business on this page arrived with a problem and no budget to solve it. See what changed once they sat down with an MBOC advisor, at no out-of-pocket cost.
No cost to eligible businesses
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Real Businesses. Real Results. Maryland Success Stories.
See How Maryland Entrepreneurs Succeed With Expert Support
Free expert support raises a fair question: what is the catch?
There is not one. Every business below came to MBOC with a specific problem, worked with an advisor from the University of Maryland SBDC network, and paid nothing out of pocket. Some needed a contract reviewed. Some needed to understand their own numbers before applying for a loan. One needed a website that customers could actually find.
Read what they said, then decide whether your business belongs on this page too.
Watch Testimonials
Hear It Straight From The Owner
Six short conversations about what they needed, who they worked with, and what changed.
“The bank said yes on the second try.”
Renee C. · Catering company · Bowie, MD
“I signed the lease knowing exactly what I was signing.”
Tomas L. · Food truck · Hyattsville, MD
“Six months of guessing turned into one working sample.”
Aisha K. · Consumer products startup · College Park, MD
“People find us now without asking me for directions.”
Gregory D. · Print and signage shop · Annapolis, MD
“I stopped discounting and my margins came back.”
Nia F. · Home health agency · Baltimore, MD
“We opened the second location without betting the first.”
Victor S. · Specialty grocery · Rockville, MD
Spotlight
From a declined loan to a second kitchen in fourteen months
Renee had been catering out of a rented church kitchen for six years and was turning down work she could not physically produce. Her first loan application came back declined with no explanation she could act on.
MBOC matched her with a financial advisory consultant through the University of Maryland SBDC network. They spent four sessions rebuilding her financial statements and separating personal spending from the business. The advisor then walked her through what the lender was actually reading.
The second application was approved. Fourteen months later she runs her own kitchen in Bowie and has hired three people from her neighbourhood.
In Writing
What Owners Tell Us After The First Session
“My books were three years behind and I was scared to look at them. The advisor sat with me twice a month until they were current. Tax season took four days instead of six weeks.”
Denise W. · Family-run cleaning company · Baltimore, MD
Accounting and Bookkeeping
“I was posting every day and getting nothing back. We cut it to twice a week and changed who we were talking to. Bookings from Instagram went from two a month to eleven.”
Marcus T. · Independent barbershop · Silver Spring, MD
Social Media and Digital Marketing
“I came in with a spreadsheet and a lot of hope. My advisor walked me through what the numbers actually had to do before I quit my job. I waited nine months, and I was ready.”
Priya R. · Home bakery · Frederick, MD
Financial Advisory
“A supplier contract had a clause I did not understand and had already signed once. The legal advisor read the new one line by line with me. I renegotiated two terms and saved the relationship.”
Andre B. · HVAC contractor · Landover, MD
Legal Advisory
“Customers kept calling to ask if we were still open. The new site answered that before they picked up the phone. Calls dropped, orders went up, and I got my evenings back.”
Sofia M. · Auto repair shop · Salisbury, MD
Website Design
“We were winning small jobs and losing the ones worth having. My advisor rebuilt how we quote. Our average job size doubled inside two quarters and we stopped chasing work that never paid.”
James O. · Commercial landscaping company · Hagerstown, MD
Sales Strategy
Program To Date
The Support Behind The Stories
Maryland businesses supported
Advisory hours delivered at no cost
Counties reached
Partner organizations in the network
Figures current as of August 2026.
For Current Clients
Worked With An MBOC Advisor? Tell Us How It Went
Your story is what convinces the next owner to ask for help. It takes about five minutes to write, and we will do the rest.
Nothing gets published without your written approval, including your name, your photo and your business.
Questions first? Call (240) 828-5205 or email mbocadmin@umd.edu
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