University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

Unspoken Language Services, Inc. https://www.unspokenasl.com Amanda Martin is the President and CEO of Unspoken Language Services, an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting service agency that provides onsite and virtual ASL interpretation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Amanda started the business as a sole proprietor, solely interpreting for as many deaf individuals as possible. After working full-time as an ASL interpreter, she thought, “how can I help more deaf people on a greater scale?” With what seemed impossible, she soon transitioned her sole prop to a corporation. Amanda described her business journey, “I took the unbelievable leap of faith and took a risk. I quit my full-time job, started Unspoken, and I haven’t looked back since. I began sharing our mission with more and more interpreters, who wanted to join a company with the same values and passion as them within the industry. Our primary focus at Unspoken is supplying effective communication to an under...

By Joshua Botello Many medical professionals start out careers learning and practicing with an already established office. These dentists were specifically trained in making notes and reading charts but not how to start or maintain those systems for building the practice.  Let’s face it, setting up a professional medical company like a dental practice is hard. Many dentists don’t know anything about the business of their practice when first starting out. They have spent several years and have acquired a particular set of skills, not necessarily conducive to running a business. In this article we’ll cover the 5 aspects of starting a dental practice from scratch and the particular considerations you need to have as a dentist opening up your own practice.  Business Concept  Providing medical advice or services is fairly straightforward. You have education and skills you have earned over the last decade of schooling(in many instances). This also changes if you have a specialt...

  by Sean Snider  1. Where to Look? There are a number of websites where you can search businesses for sale online. Two of the most common websites are www.bizbuysell.com and www.bizben.com. Here you can create a free account and set up search alerts much like if you were looking for a home on Zillow or Redfin. Once you set up your search the sites will notify you when new listings meet your search criteria. 2. Asset vs Stock Sale   Typically, there are two ways to buy a business: asset sales and stock sales. An asset sale is where the buyer sets up a new business entity and simply purchases the assets from the seller, whereas, a stock sale is the purchase of the owner’s shares in the corporation. Generally, when you buy a business you will do an asset sale. This is often the safer route because it helps create a clean breaking off point and can protect you from liabilities that may arise from the seller’s prior business activities. 3. Structuring the Deal  Find out...