University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

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

By Sophia Nyborg-Andersen Why Email Marketing? Email marketing has been around for many years and while it seems so outdated, in reality, it is a successful method for business. When digital marketing comes to mind we tend to think of social media, but with algorithms and mixed up timelines, your post promoting your business may not be seen by your most probable consumer. When you have someone’s email or in this case an email list, you as a business owner can come directly in contact with potential buyers. When sending out emails you can engage with your subscribers by viewing what they are clicking on, what calls to action they make, and with a click of a button, you can reach innumerable subscribers. Utilizing an email marketing platform enables you to track your engagement, open rates, and track the progress of your campaigns. Another great reason is to measure your return on investment (ROI) because, as a business owner, your time and money is valuable and it is important to know

by Joshua Botello So you are looking to start your own business but aren't sure how big the market is, then look no further. There is a deceptively easy way to validate that business concept.  The Total Addressable Market or TAM is a helpful figure to evaluate your business idea. TAM is actually really easy to calculate: Total Addressable Market Value in $ = # of Customers x Price of your Product.  Like said, it's really easy to calculate but there are different ways to approach it. There are two main ways to arrive at this number: Top-down or bottom-up approach .  Top-down Approach Let's start with the top-down approach. Many businesses opt for this approach because it's really easy. In certain cases, this calculation does work and is used for business plans. Let’s show you an example. Say you want to start up your own specialty soap e-commerce business. This chart came from one of our research tools that the University of La Verne SBDC uses called IBISWorld . We mai

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