ABOUT SBDA

Small Business Development Associates (SBDA*) was established in 1996 with the vision of providing affordable business development consulting services for small growing businesses. Over the years, SBDA has assisted small business owners in preparing business plans, technical qualification statements, competitive technical proposals and GSA schedule proposals.  

The owner has since retired, but continues to offer advice and assistance to small business owners on a pro bono basis as a public service. For additional information, contact:

John Shillinglaw
Small Business Development Associates
9214 Petersham Drive
Houston, TX 77031
Email: john.shillinglaw@sbda.com 

SBDA  subscribes to code of ethics adopted by the Association of Management Consulting Firms:

Clients

• We will serve our clients with integrity, competence, and objectivity.

• We will keep client information and records of client engagements confidential and will use proprietary client information only with the client's permission.

• We will not take advantage of confidential client information for ourselves or our firms.

• We will not allow conflicts of interest which provide a competitive advantage to one client through our use of confidential information from another client who is a direct competitor without that competitor's permission.

Engagements

• We will accept only engagements for which we are qualified by our experience and competence.

• We will assign staff to client engagements in accord with their experience, knowledge, and expertise.

• We will immediately acknowledge any influences on our objectivity to our clients and will offer to withdraw from a consulting engagement when our objectivity or integrity may be impaired.

Fees

• We will agree independently and in advance on the basis for our fees and expenses that are reasonable, legitimate, and commensurate with the services we deliver and the responsibility we accept.

• We will disclose to our clients in advance any fees or commissions that we will receive for equipment, supplies or services we recommend to our clients.

Profession

• We will respect the intellectual property rights of our clients, other consulting firms, and sole practitioners and will not use proprietary information or methodologies without permission.

• We will not advertise our services in a deceptive manner and will not misrepresent the consulting profession, consulting firms, or sole practitioners.

• We will report violations of this Code of Ethics.

*SBDA is a service mark of Small Business Development Associates, registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, all rights reserved.  Copyright laws allow you to download and copy portions of the content or graphics for  personal use; however, please obtain our written permission before distributing any of the contents or graphics or using them for commercial purposes.
Last modified: October 13, 2025  .