business owners, former business owners, and future business owners. You won't find a bureaucrat, bottom feeder or retired executive in the bunch. (Click here to learn why this is so important.)

Which may be why co-op companies have won virtually every award for growth in Houston. Some nationally and some even internationally, and why the co-op was named "One of Houston's Core Entrepreneurial Groups" by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation simply because of the substantial difference in the levels of expertise between those with actual entrepreneurial hands-on business ownership and those without.

You may already know that Houston is startup friendly, with more business starts, since 1999, than any other city in America. Houston has the most supportive entrepreneurial infrastructure in the nation for starting, expanding or relocating a business.

Our co-op is one of the reasons why. Emerging businesses and small businesses startups are mainstream to us and have been since 1977.

We were the first co-op in the nation to focus exclusively on early stage companies.

Our specialty is service companies. "Services" Cooperative Association. Get it?

Services is our first name and we have virtually every support service a startup company is likely to need, including counseling, guidance, mentors, advisory board, business incubation, business development coach, tips, tricks, reference guides, shortcuts, plus selling, marketing and growth strategies that work, all provided by successful business owners who have been there, done that and donated the tee-shirt to charity.

When you're starting a service business, click here and we'll help.

Now, should you be an economic development professional with the mission to grow startup businesses, you've also come to the right place.

We've been providing startup business development, small business incubation, entrepreneurial education and emerging business assistance, since 1983, totally without public funding and that may be why we were "recognized by the National Business Incubation Association as an industry leader and pioneer in business incubation."

This means we also have virtually every support service an economic development group is likely to need to fulfill its mission and we're as close as your telephone.

To learn about business incubation, click here. To learn about self-sufficiency for business incubators, click here. To see a small sampling of our former clients, click here.

Should you not be a startup or economic development group and you need reliable general or specialized services, we're here for you, too. Click here for some of the services available through the co-op and click here for a few of the companies that are our service providers under the co-op's Seal of Service Excellence.

Are you a business owner ready for an SCA co-op, Business Building Breakfast and business incubator in your community? We'll be happy to show you how to do that, too. Just send us an email and we'll get you started.

You already know a co-op is the most cost-effective way to build a business or businesses, especially in a tough economy.

Services Cooperative Association, with the Rapid Growth System,* is Houston's Emerging Business CrossRoads and is proud sponsor of both the Entrepreneurial Development Center, Houston's first and Texas' oldest small business incubator and the Womens Business Center, the first incubator for women business owners in the United States.

The co-op also supplies a full range of services for companies relocating/expanding to Houston, companies past the startup stage wanting a larger market share,  corporations seeking team intrapreneurship training for innovation/profit improvement, female executives seeking professional development and well-established, independent, entrepreneurs seeking strategic planning, advisory board or mentor. For more information on these benefits, send an email here with your requests or questions.

For women only, the Women's Business Assistance Forum conducts monthly assistance and new business development forums online.

Come see us for growth!
Solutions for Business Owners

Click here for business certification.
Click here to expand a business.
Click here for new business development.
Click here to improve your 30 second intromercial.
Click here to improve your personal selling skills.
Click here to list your business with the OPEN 24/7 directory.

Bring us your bright ideas!
Solutions for Start-up Businesses

Click here for information about seeking assistance.
Click here for starting a business.
Click here for an office in the business incubator.
Click here for a business identity package.
Click here for Coworking.
Click here to learn about Resultants.
Click here for our Start A Business Store

Bring us your economic development project!
Solutions for Incubator Developers

Click here for starting a business incubator.
Click here for starting an emerging business development group.
Click here to learn about Entrepreneurons.

Need something done?
Solutions for consumers

Since 1983 SCA has been providing a wide variety of support services to business customers.

Click here when you want fast, dependable services.
Click here when you want to be a service provider.

Looking for a Speaker?
Solutions for event planners and program managers

SCA can provide your group with entertaining, educational or motivational experts from a 30 minute presentation to an all day workshop.

Click here when you want a speaker.

Use the drop down menu selections at the upper left for additional choices..

Services Cooperative Association provides hands on entrepreneurship education to the startup and emerging business owner in marketing, operations, administration and finance of the venture to accelerate business growth.

For companies seeking venture funding, the business incubators sponsored by Services Cooperative Association will take you through the "Proof of Concept", "Successful Business Model", "Due Diligence" and "Business Plan" processes, which are required by virtually all venture capital firms, angel investors and those individuals/organizations making private placements.

Services Cooperative Association maintains a seed fund and has been successful in virtually every form of business financing in both debt and equity.

*Service Mark of Services Cooperative Association