University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

  If you are a minority or women owned small business and are looking to gain an advantage for government contracting, there is certification you might be interested in. A DBE Certification is one focused on California businesses that gives construction firms an edge in public contracts. So in this video, I’ll explain how the DBE certification works, including eligibility, required documents and how to apply for one to grow your business in government contracting. About the Certification The DBE or Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, began in 1980 as a minority/women's business enterprise program established by regulation under the authority of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Its main purpose was “to ensure nondiscrimination in the award and administration of DOT-assisted contracts in the Department's highway, transit, and airport financial assistance programs; To create a level playing field on which DBEs can compete fairly for DOT-assisted contracts. The Act

  Starting a business can be difficult especially if you are not sure if it will work. Market research is vital for ensuring success since 42% of all businesses fail because they lack a market for their product. It’s easy to say you need to do research, but what exactly does that mean? In this video, I will cover how to use free resources to conduct your market research and what to look for in your research to increase your success. Step 1. Why do the Research? The first step we need to do is ask: why are we doing this research? Now, for most of our clients who come to the SBDC, they are looking to start a new business. So they need to know what the industry looks like if they are just getting into it or getting more information about the larger industry if they have been in it for a while but may not know the big picture. The other aspect of why we are doing the research is what is the goal of your marketing that this research will do? For an existing business, you may have been in b