University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

If you have a passion for fixing things and enjoy working with your hands, starting a handyman business may be the perfect way to turn your skills into a profitable business. Starting a handyman business can be an excellent opportunity for those who enjoy working with their hands and want to be their own boss. With the demand for home repairs and renovations on the rise, starting a handyman business can be a lucrative venture. In this guide, we'll walk you through the essential steps to get your handyman business up and running successfully. Business Planning One of the first steps in starting a handyman business is identifying your target market and competition. Your target market includes the specific group of people or businesses you will be serving with your services. This may include homeowners, property managers, real estate agents, and small business owners. Another important step in starting a handyman business is creating a business plan and setting goals. Your goals shou...

Are you struggling to develop a successful marketing plan for your business? Creating an effective marketing strategy can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. By answering seven critical questions about your business, you can develop a comprehensive marketing plan that aligns with your goals and maximizes your return on investment. In this article, we'll walk you through each question and provide actionable tips and insights to help you create a marketing plan that drives results with examples. Let's get started. Check out the example here. Question #1: What is Your Business Identity? Your business identity is the unique set of characteristics that differentiate your brand from competitors and make it recognizable to customers. This includes factors such as your company's mission, values, unique selling proposition, brand name, logo, and visual identity. Consistency in these elements across all marketing channels and customer touchpoints helps reinforce your brand...

Do you have a small business website and are looking to sell a couple of products or are you looking to create a simple eCommerce website and think it takes hundreds or thousands of dollars? In this final part of my Google sites series, we will take your small business website and set up a simple eCommerce website with a cart integration and keep track of the money you make. This is part 3 of a series on building a small business website with Google sites. In part 1 , we created the site and set up our basic pages for a video marketing company. In part 2 , we upgraded the site with a professional domain name, email, booking page, and blog for our customers. In this final part, we are going to use a free app called Ecwid to create a store with some products and use a program called Wave Accounting to keep track of your finances.  Set up The first thing we need to do is to set up our store. Head to your google site backend and log in to edit your site and we are going to add a store ...

Do you have a small business google site and are looking for an upgrade? In this second part, let’s take your small business google site, give it an upgrade and make it a functional business site. In part 1 , I showed you how to use Google sites to create a simple website for your small business. In this part, I’ll show how to upgrade your site with a professional domain & email, set up an appointment calendar to schedule, and set up a blog. So, let’s get started.  Step 1: Professional Now that we have our business site set up and published, you may have noticed the web address for our website starts with sites.google.com/ with our business site name at the top of our builder page. If you want to have a professional site you want to have a professional domain that people can trust instead of some random name .  Domain name  Head to your google site and enter your google site editing screen. To add a domain, click on the gear in the top bar and move down to custom doma...

Google sites is a free web builder from google that has been retooled into a viable option for personal sites and even business sites. It’s not as robust as a lot of paid tools but it doesn’t need to be. If you want to create a simple website for your small business or local services company then this may be the one to use. So let’s get started. Creating your Google Site  The first thing you will need to do is to find where you can make your site. Head to Sites.google.com and you will find the google sites page. If you already have a Google account you can create your site and host it for free on your google drive. At the top are some templates you can start with or a blank one to start from scratch. The bottom is where all of your sites will be when you start making them. Let me show you the project I’m working on. This website is going to be a video production and marketing company for small businesses. This center pane is where all the content or the wording and graphics will ...

Leah Skinner is the Executive Director of the La Verne Chamber of Commerce in La Verne, Ca. Today she is going to explain what the Chamber of Commerce is, what the benefits of the local chamber are, and how to reach your local chamber to get help with your small business.  What is a Chamber of Commerce The chamber provides support and services for a specific community, in La Verne, it is the geographical community. There are chambers based around heritage and nationality, regional chambers, state chambers, and a World Chamber of Commerce.  We are not a government agency. We are not in any way affiliated with the government. We are our own tax-exempt nonprofit organization. We are a membership organization and our members are the businesses They do pay a membership investment every year. Chambers are tax-exempt but are not charitable organizations like a 501(C)3. your member investment does not count as a charitable donation but is a qualifying business expense. What are the be...

Hiring your first employee can be a daunting task especially if you have never done it before. In this video, I’ll show you how to notify the state when you hire an employee, what taxes you have to account for, and worker’s compensation insurance. Independent Contractor vs. Employee Before we get to how to set up with the state and in your business we have to cover what an employee is and the difference from an independent contractor. An independent contractor is a person or entity that provides a service but is not an employee. There is a 3 part test that determines if you are really an independent contractor if all of these conditions are met: ​​1.  The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work . For example, if I hire a plumber to fix my sink, I don’t need to manage how they actually perform the work step by step. As long as my sink gets fixed, I shoul...

By Joshua Botello Bookkeepers and accountants are professionals that help your business manage the money in your company and are worth their weight in gold. Accountants charge a hefty fee, while some bookkeepers run a simple business. But when do you need a bookkeeper and when do you need an accountant? In this video, I’ll cover what each professional does and stay till the end to find out which one you might need.   What’s a Bookkeeper or Accountant? So let’s start with what is a bookkeeper and what is an accountant. Let’s do a quick rundown before we get into the differences. Bookkeepers are in charge of recording and keeping financial data. The bookkeepers are responsible for keeping track of daily transactions. They are concerned with the day-to-day operations of the company. Accountants are responsible for the creation of reports. They are in charge of summarizing, evaluating, and interpreting the work of the bookkeeper. Accountants deal with financial issues such as cash flow...

By Joshua Botello If you are looking to take content like a blog, youtube channel, or a news company to the next level and turn it into a full-fledged business, there are some specific things you need to take care of. Many content creators start as a hobby but have no idea what it takes to turn their passion into a legitimate business. In this start-up guide, I will show the 5 steps to get your media business started and what you need to know to operate as a legitimate business. So let’s get started. Business Concept The very first step is to come up with a business concept. Many of you watching will already have this down if you have an existing blog or youtube channel. Beyond your concept, you may need to research if this is a sustainable topic that will last or if it’s just a fad. You also want to make sure the content you create is fresh and not being talked about in a saturated space that will increase your competition and make it harder for you to make money once you monetize you...