University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

  Gael Sylvia Pullen, the founder of Girls Fly! and Ghail Media Group, that provide educational financial literacy programs for school districts. Her journey from owning the largest minority and female commercial brokerage firm to managing McDonald's restaurants eventually led her to create Girls Fly as a non-profit organization and Ghail Media Group, driven by her passion for financial literacy and empowering individuals with essential money knowledge. Challenges Gael encountered significant challenges when venturing outside the McDonald's system, stating, "I was at a loss for where to go or what to do because my prior banking relationships were all very easily tied within the McDonald's system." She also highlighted a broader issue, saying, "I'm not gonna limit it to just the African American or Latino population, but I think that there is a significant reason why our business progress may not be at the rate it could be because of lack of knowledge and

Verus Wellness, LLC. 185 Lexington Ln Costa Mesa, Ca 92626 Karla Andrade is the owner of Verus Wellness, LLC, and her journey began with a vision to address the limited access to registered dietitians faced by the majority of the population. Recognizing the need for health consulting services beyond hospital settings, she expanded her business from personal training to health consulting. Through networking and meeting with other providers, she realized the shared challenges in their respective sectors and sought ways to bridge the gap in healthcare access. Karla's mentor, who had previously received assistance from the SBDC, recommended the University of La Verne and specifically Sean, a business mentor at SBDC, to help Karla with her business plan and marketing strategies. "I have a business mentor, and Sean had helped her in previous years... She put me in contact with the University of La Verne, specifically with Sean,” Karla explained. Having no prior business education, K

La Forme 238 N. CItrus Ave Covina, Ca www.Laformefit.com Christina Lemaire is the owner of La Forme, a boutique wellness studio that offers Barre, Pilates, and Yoga that caters to women's health and fitness. Christina was originally a Barre instructor until 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when all the classes moved online. She then started teaching classes virtually from a courtyard. Christina’s first introduction to the SBDC was finding workshops in the LA Regional Network for starting and managing a business. “I’m pretty positive I googled ‘small business resources’ and it led me down a little rabbit hole to seminars online for the SBDC,” Christina explained. Christina was connected with the University of La Verne SBDC and was able to schedule an appointment with business advisor Mark Hicks within a week. Like most new business owners, Christina didn’t have a background in business and did not know how to plan a business or even where to begin. “The challenge was understanding

www.accreditation101.com www.Christianacademiamagazine.com David Agron is the owner of Agron & Associates, Inc., a Christian college accreditation consulting firm. “Primarily what we do is accreditation, consulting, and helping small Christian colleges achieve their initial accreditation,” David explained. He was looking for help with managing and marketing his business for growth and reached out to the University of La Verne SBDC. David was connected with SBDC consultant Malcolm Geffen to help manage and grow the business. Challenges Agron & Associates, Inc. had challenges managing their business and keeping up with marketing to grow their business. “David, the problem you have is when you're busy with consulting." You're not marketing, and then, finally, a client gets done with accreditation and doesn't need you anymore. You lose a client, and now you have to scramble,” David described Malcolm's assessment. David also had technical challenges related to

  Cinderella's Closet Lingerie 9033 Base Line Road, Suite C, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 www.cinderellasclosetlingerie.com Dana Walker is the owner of Cinderella's Closet, a post-mastectomy bra, and breast prosthesis company. “My journey as a breast cancer survivor led me to open a business that addressed the emotional well-being of women diagnosed with breast cancer,” Dana said. Dana opened on March 3, 2020, and two weeks later, COVID put the world on lockdown but was able to get five clients in 2020 but was still in the red. Dana received help from the Inland Empire's Women's Business Center and was formally introduced to the University of La Verne SBDC shortly after. Challenges Dana’s first challenge was managing the business financially and having enough working capital to keep it open and running without struggling as the business did in 2020 due to COVID-19. Dana’s other concern was marketing to grow the business to become self-sustainable and communicate the valu

Mel Austin is an actor, comedian, and owner of Squeaky Clean Comedy, inc, also known as Laughing 2 Success. Mel is a self-described clean comedian and motivational speaker for church events, corporate training, and anti-bullying seminars for school-age children. “We are taking the benefits of laughter and making it available to everyone by being clean,” Mel explained. Mel is a United States Marine Corps Veteran who, as a high school student, liked to motivate students in pep rallies and eventually motivate soldiers in the Marine Corps. Mel continued to increase his skills through Toastmasters and speaking engagements. A friend eventually got Mel into acting and he branched out into comedy. “So it is here, now 29 years later. It all comes full circle, and I'm literally combining all of them: motivation, comedy, and inspiration. All in one and bringing that in many different venues,” Mel said. Challenges One of the challenges Mel experienced, like most performers, is taking gigs and

Magic Oil Box, LLC www.themagicoilbox.com/ Alex Cordova is the owner of Magic Oil Box, LLC, a horror-inspired aromatherapy business whose name is a reference to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer '' tv show magic shop. “Working with essential oils, I simply added ‘oil’. So, the Magic Oil Box,” Alex explained. Alex is a 1st generation Hispanic college graduate from the University of La Verne and a member of the Los Angeles LGBT Chamber of Commerce.  Alex was receiving information from several different organizations including NASE and LALCC . Alex received updates on the California Dream Fund, a grant aimed to fund new start-up businesses with up to $10,000 in seed funding. Alex reached out to start working with the University of La Verne SBDC to get help with his business and the Dream Fund Program. Challenges Alex's main challenge was having the working capital to run the business. As the Magic Oil Box was only starting up and Alex was still working a full-time job and doing even

www.ACRAtech.net   ACRAtech, Inc.  2502 Supply St Pomona, CA 91767 Scott Dordick is the CEO of Acratech, inc., which designs and manufactures photographic tripods and equipment. Scott became a client of the University of La Verne SBDC and Malcolm Geffen for help with automating and managing their accounting systems for the business.  The photography industry was in decline due to the improvement in cellphone picture quality. Cameras had been getting incrementally better years before but had gotten to the point where consumers were upgrading their cameras less often. "We were looking at our sales numbers over the years and they were just declining. We would go to the trades shows and it was doom and gloom...The writing was one the wall that we needed to do something," explained Scott.  Scott continued to work with Malcolm to help with declining sales and increasing production costs. Malcolm advised to established strategic alliances with major competitors and Acratech has some

Binary Exercise and Sports Training Los Angeles, Ca https://www.beastathletics.org/  Follow on  Instagram Arthur Romero is the founder of Binary Exercise and Sports Training (BEAST), a non-profit organization that trains local kids in the San Gabriel Valley. Arthur recognized a lack of coaches who genuinely care about the kids and community. “One of the reasons I started BEAST is to bring people together and offer opportunities to the youth as far as sports training, sports development, and just being able to succeed in their respective sport overall. Because everything in sports translates to life,” Arthur explained. “I had actually developed the idea for BEAST early on when I started as a freshman at the University of La Verne. I was really all over the place as far as what I wanted to do with it and how to take it to the next level,” Arthur said. By chance, Arthur introduced himself to University President Devorah Leiberman while walking on campus and asked for any resources to get

  Sensational Organizing Services www.Sensationalorganizing.com Elva Fonseca is the owner of Sensational Organizing Services, a professional organizing service for individuals and businesses. Sensational Organizing Services takes care of all the details including hauling away the unwanted items, decluttering, and procuring the organizational containers. Founded in 2015, the business was doing ok as they were getting clients, but Elva recognized there were still gaps involved with running her business that she wanted to address. “I didn’t go to school to run a business. I just knew how to do my trade and how to serve people, but as far as running a business was operating out of trial and error,” Elva explained. She reached out to the San Dimas Chamber and was eventually referred to the University of La Verne SBDC. The specific challenges Elva had were a steady flow of clients and communicating the pricing of her services with clients. “I didn’t know what my marketing strategy was to get

Wicked Bionic, LLC.  www.WickedBionic.com Dana Arnett is the Co-CEO of Wicked Bionic, a multicultural marketing and advertising agency in Los Angeles California. Wicked Bionic was established in 2015 and began to engage in government contracting about 2 years ago starting with the City of Los Angeles.  Looking to expand her business, Dana attended a presentation on government contracting from University of La Verne SBDC consultant Rene Cota. “I looked at him on Zoom and said ‘that’s the guy I want to work with -  the amount of knowledge he had, blew me away,’” Dana said, describing Rene's knowledge and experience with helping small businesses in the government contracting space.   Wicked Bionic dabbled in writing a few proposals a quarter but wanted to expand into contracting with the state and federal government. Dana felt overwhelmed writing each proposal from scratch with all the information and research involved and couldn’t keep up with the opportunities they found. “We were w

Joy Helou DDS, Inc.  1434 S Grand Ave Glendora,CA,91740 Joy Helou DDS is a professional dental corporation located in Glendora, California. Joy purchased an existing practice due to the previous owner’s philosophy of practice and existing clientele, which proved to be a great fit. Joy is a relative of the Dean of Business and Public Management, she reached out to him for help with a business plan since the dental school didn’t equip graduates in that area. Joy’s biggest challenge was the lack of a business background. Since dental students spend years gaining skills in medicine, they would not have time or instruction dedicated to running a business. “My background in the sciences like biology and dentistry. I graduated with a B.S. from the University of La Verne in biology. The hardest part was having to buckle down, look at the business plan with Sean and make decisions with numbers. Currently, I look at that plan almost daily because it gives me a refresher on what I need to be look

General Driveshaft Service, Inc. 133 W Maple Avenue Monrovia, CA 91016 Duane and Kristin Howland are the management team of General Driveshaft Service, Inc in Monrovia, California. The company builds and modifies driveshafts for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The vehicles Duane works on range from large diesel trucks to high-performance race cars and even classic cars. Duane worked for the company for 23 years when the previous owner decided to retire and sell the business. “In 2016, we were trying to figure out if we were going to buy this business (General Driveshaft) or if Duane was going out on his own. We got to the point where we wanted to buy this business and we weren’t quite sure how to do that or how to negotiate with the previous owner. We really didn’t know where to start,” Kristin explained. The University of La Verne SBDC had just opened its doors and became the talk in certain circles on campus. Kristin became familiar with the center and reached out for consulting. There we

by Joshua Botello Dr. Shawn Smith and Dr. Brian Nyamwange are the Co-founders of Symba Center, a non-profit free clinic that provides care for people who do not have insurance. As a graduate of Loma Linda University, Shawn saw firsthand the disparities of Loma Linda and neighboring San Bernardino. “Dr. ‘Bowtie’ Brian and I were healthcare professional students asking ourselves, 'how can we address the health needs in this community?” When Shawn started working at Western University of Health Sciences he found some resources that may be able to help get his idea off the ground. “I immediately went to our Innovation Center at WesternU and they were pretty excited about it,” Shawn recounted. The innovation center focused on technology and commercial applications instead of philanthropic ventures. The staff said “There is a small business development center locally at the University of La Verne. We’ve heard a lot about the great work they are doing and I can put you into contact with

JigsawTek www.JigsawTek.com   Richard Hanson is the owner of JigsawTek in La Verne, California. JigsawTek is an IT management and services company for small businesses with a background in IT services for corporate players like Northrop Grumman. Richard’s background was software development working on projects between New York and Orange County California. In 2013, JigsawTek Needed to change it’s focus towards managed services targeting small businesses. “We recognized we needed to do a business plan and started putting it together. There were certain areas that we just didn't know how to deal with,” Richard explained.  At a business planning seminar, Richard was informed by the speaker that SBDC’s have mentors and you really should pick up a mentor to help “define and move forward with your business..The University of La Verne has an SBDC right on campus. You should talk to them and get a mentor and that's when we met Malcolm Geffen.” JigsawTek’s chief challenge was that Richa

Riverside Game Lab www.riversidegamelab.com Alexander Teran is the Co-Owner of Riverside Game Lab, is an arcade, bar, restaurant, and virtual reality entertainment location that offers 100 arcade games and 6 virtual reality stations. Alexander had entrepreneurial aspirations at an early age and has always wanted his own business. The idea came when spending time with friends playing video games, “one of my friends was like ‘you know we could turn this into a business.’ I said ‘that’s crazy, I wonder if anyone else has.’ I looked it up and lo and behold people have been doing it with Dave and Busters setting the standard in the 80’s,” said Alexander. “We’re an experience where video games and arcade nostalgia meets food and alcohol,” Alexander explained the concept of business.  Top Left: August and Alex; Top Right: Arcade Machine; Bottom Right: Riverside Game Lab Interior; Bottom Right: Virtual Reality Station As most first time business owners Alexander quickly discovered three challe

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