University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

  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...

by Joshua Botello Introduction Many of our small business clients who are looking to get into business, lack the fundamentals in accounting to know how to judge the health of their business. In this first episode of a new series, I will show you the basics of accounting including financial sheets and how to use them. In this video, we are covering our first financial statement, the Balance Sheet. I’ll show what a balance sheet is, the components, and stay to the end on how you can use it for your business.  What is a Balance Sheet  So let's get right to it. What is a balance sheet? A balance sheet is a financial statement that is a snapshot of your business's health. The balance sheet shows your business’s net worth and it is broken down into 3 sections: Assets, Liabilities, and Equity. These 3 sections will always be in balance when looking at this document. This formula is often associated with the balance sheet: Assets - Liabilities = Equity  Typically, you will see ba...

by Joshua Botello Starting your barbershop or salon seems like an easy proposition, especially if you've been in the industry for a few years. The barber and beauty industry is fairly regulated here in California and there are a bunch of hoops that you'll have to jump through to make your dream happen. In this guide, I'll give you a 5 step guide on how to start your barbershop or beauty salon. So let’s go... Business Concept The first thing you're going to need to figure out is what kind of services you're going to offer. Are you going to be offering straight haircuts or are there other services such as shaving or color that customers are going to want? You also have to determine whether or not you're going to be selling products such as hair care products or beard care in your location. When it comes to customers you'll have to decide if you're going to serve strictly men or women or a mix of both. Each type of customer will have their own set of nee...

By Joshua Botello Getting a small business loan is an integral part of many small businesses to start up or grow. The most common SBA loans offered for small businesses are 7a and 504 loans. The terms of loans may seem confusing and small business owners may not understand which one they need or qualify for. In this article, we will break down the major differences between the two loan programs and which might be right for your small business. Difference #1: Eligible Business size Each type of SBA loan has business size requirements that may impact your eligibility. Eligibility for 7a loans is determined mainly by industry. For example retail, service or agriculture businesses' sales must not exceed the range of $750,000 - $33.5 million. For 504 loans a business’ net worth cannot exceed $15 million. Meanwhile, the average net profit (after taxes) over 2 consecutive years cannot exceed $5 million. Difference #2: Program Requirements The program requirements for a 7a and 504 loans ...

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 c...

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 ...

By Joshua Botello Starting a business is difficult when it comes to finding the money to launch. Not every business owner has savings or credit for a business loan. There are many options for small business owners to get their business off the ground and they don’t always involve getting a business loan. You discover 5 ways to fund your business start-up from bootstrapping to crowdfunding find out which is right for you. So let’s get started. Bootstrapping Bootstrapping a business comes the phrase “pulling up by one’s bootstraps”. Essentially, this means you are going to fund your business yourself. This may mean you have a full-time job and your new business becomes a “side hustle” that you grow. How it works For many business owners with simple ideas or who don’t want or can’t go to a bank to fund their business, this is their option. If you are starting a consulting business or even a small eCommerce business this may be the easiest way, to begin with, the least amount of initial i...

Starting a small business with a family is a natural first for entrepreneurs because of the accessibility and trust with relatives. However, family-owned businesses have their own set of challenges that we will explore today. My guest is Dr. Giacomo Laffranchini , an associate professor of management, here at the University of La Verne College of Business and Public Management. Dr. Laffranchini’s expertise is in the strategy and management of family-owned businesses here in the U.S. and abroad.    The challenges of managing a family-owned small business with relatives The main challenge of a family business whether it be a small business or a professional organization is the coexistence of 3 subsystems: the family, the shareholder, and the management. Those systems overlap so you have family members who are also shareholders and are also involved in the management of the firm. The challenge is to instill in the organization some kind of discipline. So how can we keep the...