University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

Operating a business is difficult territory for many business owners in this day and age. My guest today will help you navigate more treacherous territory: business law. My guest today is Robert Barrett, a lawyer and a professor of business law and cyber law for business students in the College of Business and Public Management. He is also a law professor at the University of La Verne College of Law. Professor Barrett will help you understand contracts, working with lawyers, along with all the pitfalls and perils of the modern legal environment of business.  So tell me, what is a contract? Let me start with a new business person who is not sophisticated and from the very basics and go from there. Contracts in law school is a full-year course…and business people don’t need to know what the lawyers know. After a full year of contracts as a law student, you still don’t really know anything. Of course like anything in school you need to get out there in the world and the first contract y

by Joshua Botello Many of our small business owners get intimidated when they are looking to open their business because of the paperwork and cost involved in getting started. In this video, I show you 4 tactics to start your small business for next to nothing so you can get started faster and cheaper. START HOME-BASED SERVICE BUSINESS First, you need to think about what kind of small business you want to start. If you are looking to spend the least amount of money then you want to see about doing a home-based service business. Unlike product or retail businesses, you don't need to buy a minimum amount of inventory and keep it in your garage. This could save you several hundred dollars in inventory costs. All you really need is a computer to do your work or proposals and a cellphone to take calls and make appointments. You can be a blogger, consultant, or photographer and start with no money you have to invest providing you already have the equipment to start. DO BUSINESS IN YOUR O

by Joshua Botello Getting an Alcohol Beverage Control license gives an establishment like a restaurant or bar the ability to serve alcohol to customers. Many new business owners may find this process confusing or never apply for the license because it is so daunting. In this video, I’ll explain what the ABC license is, walk you through the process and stay to the end for help with the application. What is an Alcohol Beverage Control License? The first thing you need to understand is what is an Alcohol Beverage Control license is. The license allows you to sell alcohol from your establishment legally. There are different categories of licenses but are in 2 general groups: On-Sale or Off-sale and the type of alcohol.  On-Sale refers to alcoholic beverages that are purchased and consumed on-premises like a Bar and Off-sale is where beverages are prepackaged and not available for consumption on-premises like a convenience store. Each category defines whether or not minors are allowed on-p