University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

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

By Joshua Botello  Starting an e-commerce business seems like a simple proposition because it’s so easy to start selling in a simple online store. However, many new prospective business owners are unaware of the principles of business. In this video, I'll cover what you need to know to start an e-commerce business. We continue our business start-up series with one of the most common businesses clients approach us for help with. Starting an online business that sells products seems pretty straightforward but quickly gets complicated when clients need to make it legitimate with licensing, taxes, and accounting. So let's take a look at 5 areas you need to know about before starting an e-commerce site. Business Concept The first area we need to look into before you start is the concept of the business, specifically, what you are planning to sell. Is it going to be a product you will make? Then you will probably need some equipment or supplies. Or is it a product you are going to b

by Joshua Botello  Transcript: Say goodbye to never-ending workweeks and burnout for your business. Coming up next… I'm Josh from the University of La Verne Small Business Development Center. Here at the SBDC, we provide small business owners free one on one consulting and business tip videos just like this one. So consider subscribing to the channel.  Running a business hard and finding the time to make sure your business runs smoothly is frankly exhausting.  Many small business owners work so long and hard in their business they can never have time to work on growing their business. Which leads to 80 hour work weeks and zero vacations.  In this video, I’ll show you an effective time management technique called time blocking and how to use it for small business success.  What is Time Blocking? So what is time blocking? Time blocking is the time management tool of creating blocks during the day or week where you can focus on a singular task or type of task.  This encourages the con

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

By Joshua Botello Many medical professionals start out careers learning and practicing with an already established office. These dentists were specifically trained in making notes and reading charts but not how to start or maintain those systems for building the practice.  Let’s face it, setting up a professional medical company like a dental practice is hard. Many dentists don’t know anything about the business of their practice when first starting out. They have spent several years and have acquired a particular set of skills, not necessarily conducive to running a business. In this article we’ll cover the 5 aspects of starting a dental practice from scratch and the particular considerations you need to have as a dentist opening up your own practice.  Business Concept  Providing medical advice or services is fairly straightforward. You have education and skills you have earned over the last decade of schooling(in many instances). This also changes if you have a specialty. That’s our

  by Sean Snider  1. Where to Look? There are a number of websites where you can search businesses for sale online. Two of the most common websites are www.bizbuysell.com and www.bizben.com. Here you can create a free account and set up search alerts much like if you were looking for a home on Zillow or Redfin. Once you set up your search the sites will notify you when new listings meet your search criteria. 2. Asset vs Stock Sale   Typically, there are two ways to buy a business: asset sales and stock sales. An asset sale is where the buyer sets up a new business entity and simply purchases the assets from the seller, whereas, a stock sale is the purchase of the owner’s shares in the corporation. Generally, when you buy a business you will do an asset sale. This is often the safer route because it helps create a clean breaking off point and can protect you from liabilities that may arise from the seller’s prior business activities. 3. Structuring the Deal  Find out why the seller is

By Joshua Botello Transcript: In this video I’ll show how to get and use a resale certificate.  Im Josh from the University of LaVerne Small Business Development Center. Here at the SBDC we provide small business owners with free one on one consulting and business tip videos just like this one. So if you are new here, consider subscribing to our channel.  And check out the companion article and resources in the description below.  Many people who are looking to start selling retail products will eventually come across this issue. That’s why it is one of the most frequently asked questions we get about licenses and permits: How do I get a resale certificate?  So in this video I'll go into what a resale certificate is and how it’s different than a seller’s permit; how to get one and fill it out; and how to use it when purchasing products for resale. And check out the companion Article for all the resources in the description below  So what is a Resale Certificate?  Well a Resale Cert

by Joshua Botello  We continue videos on social media marketing and this time we are delving into Instagram. Instagram is the photo-sharing site that is owned by Facebook. Instagram offers creative filters effects, live video, stories, and its own Youtube-like video platform IGTV. Businesses can take advantage of Instagram’s younger demographic to share photos, videos and engage with their audience. Instagram is primarily phone-based, so this entire how-to will be done through a smartphone. I'll show you how to set up an Instagram account, convert it to a business account and show you some business features. So grab your phone and let's dive into Instagram for Business.  Open Your Instagram Account The first thing I need to do is to preface this guide with this: you need to have your Itunes account up and running to download the app. That’s it. Ok? Ok. So let's go to the app store and search Instagram and click get to download the app. Since I just need to update it, I ca

by Joshua Botello If you are starting a business and need some start up funding for you may feel limited in what is available for getting your business off the ground.  Traditionally a prospective business owner would create a business plan like we do here at the SBDC and that client would take it to a bank, angel investor or VC to get their venture funded. Unfortunately, because this method narrows your chances to a few major players, the likelihood of getting the capital you need diminishes when pitching to those few people.  Enter Crowdfunding.   What is Crowdfunding? What exactly is Crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is a way to raise the capital for your business or project through the collective efforts of family, friends and investors. The hallmark of crowdfunding is using small amounts from "the crowd" to invest enough collectively to fund the business. This is usually done through efforts in campaigns coordinated on social media and video media.  Don’t worry we’ll get to tha