SBA/SCORE of Santa Ana is sponsoring an upcoming live workshop on Wednesday, May 20th regarding how to utilize your talants to start a consulting business. Here are the details:

Consulting as a Successful Businesss!

To be a successful consultant requires technical knowledge, of course.  But business and people skills are also necessary.  Development of those skills is the subject of this workshop.   The workshop is for both the existing consultant and those contemplating this type of business.  Anyone who has the skills companies need and are willing to pay for can become a successful consultant with planning and hard work.

Date:   Tuesday May 20, 2008

Time:   6:00-9:00 PM

Location:   Westminster Public Library

Community Room
8180 13th Street
Westminster, CA 92683

A no-charge event.  Limited seating - Save your seat by pre-registering at  www.score114.org 

Sponsored by;  Westminster Public Library and National Merchant Center

Free business plan CD for all attendees; a $24.95 value.

Seating - Pre-register at www.score114.org to save your seat!

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Here's a way to get lawyers and accountants to send you a client who want to sell a business. Offer these professionals the use of your $200,000 sports car!  California business brokers may want to take the lead from this Boston area business broker.

That's the strategy devised by David Humphrey, a Boston area business broker who wanted a way to reward those who refer business to him. He knows he can't reciprocate, because his clients--once they've sold their businesses--simply retire, possibly move to a warmer climate, and don't require much more in the way of professional services.

So Humphrey put out the word that those who refer a seller to him can look forward to a few days-maybe as much as a week if it's a bigger deal--behind the wheel of his Ferrari 380 Spider. It's a unique proposition that gets attention for his company, Beacon Capital Group (not affiliated with the Beacon Capital Partners real estate organization), and helps to produce valuable leads.

Five people have taken the broker up on his offer, according to an item in the Boston Herald's online periodical, Bostonherald.com.  That includes two people who donated their "Ferrari days" to charity.

The online publication notes that Humphrey's deals average between $3 million and $10 million. He's clearly motivated to keep a steady stream of sellers coming his way.  It helps to pay for the car.

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Now is the time to become a business brokerage professional as baby boomers look to sell their businesses.  The California Association of Business Brokers will be offering an “Introduction to California Business Brokerage” course on Thursday and Friday, June 12-13, 2008 in Northern and Southern California.  The course will be offered simultaneously at the Biltmore Hotel and Suites in Santa Clara, and the Grand Long Beach Event Center in Long Beach.

“As baby boomers retire or look for new opportunities, they will be looking to experienced business brokers to oversee the selling process,” said Ron Hottes, president of CABB.  “This introductory course on business brokerage will cover all of the industry basics as well as tips on how to be successful in the California market.”

The 2-day, 15-hour course, which includes lunch, is free to all new members.  Topics to be discussed include the business of business brokerage, recasting seller’s discretionary earnings, closing the sale and broker cooperation.  Space is limited to CABB members only, but new members are accepted.

For more information on the course “Introduction to California Business Brokerage,” or to register for the program, phone CABB at 866-972-2220.

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Franchised businesses are more than twice as likely to still be in business after 5 years than non-franchised businesses.  This is a compelling reason for any aspiring entrepreneur to consider buying a franchise.  But just what is it that makes a franchise more successful than non-franchised businesses?

There are several reasons:

Established Operating System.  Franchises have developed, tested and honed an operating system that has proven to be highly successful.  By applying this proven formula for success, new franchisees greatly increase the odds in their favor that they will also be successful.

Collective Buying Power.  Since franchisors make arrangements to supply all of their franchisees with the goods and services they sell, the franchisor can leverage this buying power into lower costs of goods sold for their franchisees.  And one of the keys to success in any business is keeping more of every dollar you earn, this buying power gives franchisees a powerful advantage over their competition in the marketplace.

Branding Power and Marketing Plan.  People buy from companies they know and trust.  And the more they see and hear about a company, the more they tend to trust it.  By pooling all of their money together, franchisees are able to build a strong nationwide brand that benefits all franchisees equally.  It’s truly a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Startup Assistance.  Getting started is one of the most critical periods for any new business.  The franchisor has been through the startup process many times and is experienced at making the right decisions.  Franchisees weather this timeframe successfully because they have the support and expertise of the franchisor behind them.

On-Going Support.  Once the doors are open and the business is up and running, the franchisee has the on-going support of the franchisor.  This is critical to success because the franchisee has an experienced mentor they can rely on to continue to make the correct business decisions that will ensure their long-term success.

To view a directory of hundreds of successful franchise opportunities, visit the BizBen Franchise Directory at http://franchises.bizben.com and use the powerful search tools to find the perfect new franchise for you to buy.

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The annual Summit conference of the Angel Capital Association (ACA) kicks off on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego and runs through Friday, May 9.

The conference, to be attended by members of angel groups throughout the U.S. and Canada, provides a valuable opportunity for successful entrepreneurs to learn more about how they can invest their capital and their skills in small businesses in their communities. Among the programs will be interactive sessions focused on increasing investor skill and investor returns, supporting portfolio companies, negotiating deals, and co-investing with other angel groups.

(Angels function much like venture capitalists--searching for promising companies and business ideas, reviewing proposals from entrepreneurs, and providing capital along with management expertise for small businesses. The companies in which angels are involved usually are smaller than those which attract venture capital investors. And angel ?clients? are not ordinarily destined to be sold via public offerings the goal of most venture capital clients.)

Tech Coast Angels, a San Diego-based member of the ACA, is host of this year's summit and is sponsoring a program on investing in medical devices and life science companies. Special sessions will be conducted to explore the need to recruit more women angels and improve ties with university-connected angel groups.

The summit is open to members only and not available to business people seeking support of angel organizations. However, entrepreneurs who want to explore the financial and non-financial resources offered by the many U.S. and Canada-based angel groups associated with ACA, are encouraged to visit the organization's website

www.angelcapitalassociation.org

The ACA has conducted member summits since 2002, and was formally incorporated as a non-profit membership organization in 2005.

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SCORE of Central California is hosting a workshop this Friday, May 9th in Fresno:

Learn How to Double and Triple Your Web Site Sales

Keynote Speaker is:

Eric Stein - Director, Local Markets, Google

As Director of Local Markets at Google, Eric Stein is responsible for Google's efforts to bring online solutions to small business advertisers and generate revenue from national advertisers in a Local context.  The Local Markets team does this through partnerships with a variety of companies that have relationships with SMB's, including media companies, technology providers and financial service institutions.

Eric is a former Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Bessemer Ventures where he led an effort to build a hedge fund using a new strategy relying on fundamental data from a variety of new sources. He began focusing on the usefulness of new data sources for investment research as a co-founder of Majestic Research, a private research firm that provides unique fundamental insight into key performance metrics. Prior to Majestic Research, Eric was an early employee at DoubleClick and led several key areas of operation, including Abacus and International Media as VP and GM of both divisions.

Eric is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School.  He is on the Board of Advisors of Collective Intellect, a new media business intelligence company, and the Awards Committee of the Empowerment Schools in New York City.

Our Other Informative Speakers include:

Nancy Johnson – Online Advertising Pioneer and Gary Janzen of Theilan IdeaCorp

Jim Lowe – Vice President of Jeffrey Scott Advertising

Marc Raygoza – President of Vine Global a new global sales tool that will open up billions of
dollars of new American Online Exports.

Tina Henson – President of Plastic Jungle, Inc. of Clovis, California who was written up in the March issue of INC for creating so much demand that it over powered her web site.

The workshop is being held at National University which is located at the NE corner of the 41 Freeway and Friant Avenue with a continental breakfast starting at 7 A.M. and the first speaker at 7:30 AM. The workshop will be over at Noon.

We are limited to only 80 seats which should go quickly.

People can sign up for an advance ticket for $50 at www.centralcal.score.org.

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This Saturday Sport Clips Franchise is having a grand opening in Glendora, California. The location is the corner of Lone Hill Ave. & Gladstone, next to Corner Bakery, across from Best Buy.

Meet Sport Clips VP of Market Development from 11am to 3pm who will answer your questions about our rapidly expanding franchise program in California. Sport Clips currently has more than 550 locations opened across the country and more opening across California.

This is a great opportunity for you to experience Sport Clips and learn more about their expansion plans here in California.  If you have any questions please call Judy Mills at 800-872-4247 X240 for more information.  Lakers fans will get a chance to meet the world famous Lake Girls from Noon to 2PM!

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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that California's small and disabled veteran businesses are registered at record-breaking numbers to compete for the state's more than $9 billion a year in contracts, and exceeding goals he put forth two years ago.

There are now 16,005 certified small and disabled veteran businesses able to bid on state contracts, up from 12,000 just one year ago. "Small businesses are the backbone of our state's economy," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "Ensuring that small businesses have the tools they need to succeed has always been a priority of my administration, and I'm pleased that more small businesses and disabled veteran businesses are taking advantage of one of the many tools available by registering and competing for state contracts."

Under State and Consumer Services Agency (SCSA) Secretary Rosario Marin's leadership, the Department of General Services Procurement Division has made simplifying the small business certification process a priority.

"In most cases, the new online application process can be completed in twenty minutes-a wonderful accomplishment, compared to the former paper-based system that oftentimes could take months," said SCSA Secretary Marin. "This is a prime example of technology successfully serving our citizens and enabling our government to operate at the speed of business."

Last year, more than $2.7 billion in contracting went to small and disabled veteran businesses. This was more than 28.3 percent of all the state's contract spending and exceeded the goal of 25 percent that Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order (S-02-06) requires.

Expanding on these efforts is a high priority for the administration this year. Representatives from the State and Consumer Services Agency sponsored and attended more than 137 small and disabled veteran business outreach events in 2007, and they plan to exceed that amount in 2008.

Ninety-eight percent of California businesses are defined as small, which means they have fewer than 100 employees and less than $12 million in average gross annual receipts.

For more information about how you can register your small or disabled veteran business with the State of California, go to www.getcertified.dgs.ca.gov.

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I speak with many (over 80 daily on the phone) business owners/sellers, business brokers, and agents about deals they are doing and the complications that can arise when selling a small business. What most people don't realize is that over 50% of all deals fall out after they enter into an LOI or purchase agreement to buy or sell a business.

Reason vary - for instance a current BizBen advertiser, Robert (a business owner) who is selling a couple of Sears retail stores in the Central coast area has been in escrow 3 times with buyers who have backed out due to 'the current housing situation" and other financing problems.  Even though he has gotten a tremendous response on the BizBen Fast Track advertising program - he has taken back-up buyers knowing that deals can "fall out" at any time. He tells me he is currently in escrow again and things look good, but until a deal is done and the final check in escrow is cut - keep on taking names!

To Avoid Your Deal From Falling Out Make Sure You:

1. When selling a business keep taking names/back up offers of interested parties until the deal closes.

2. Make sure the buyers you are dealing with have been pre-qualified by quality contacts at SBA lending institutions if there is possible financing in the picture.

3. Keep marketing/advertising the business heavily (utilize the BizBen Fast Track advertising for maximum exposure) until it sells - do not believe you have a buyer and then "stop taking calls and names".

4. Make sure your business for sale ad and profile you have written up is complete, honest, and varifiable so when buyers go into escrow and do their due diligence the deal doesn't fall apart because you didn't do your part in preparing the business and documents before you went on the market.

5. Have your advisers - CPA, attorney, SBA lender, and other resources ready to go at any time when you go into contract and the due diligence begins!

Do you have a recent experience of a deal falling out? Share your comments and tell us why your past deals have fallen out!

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SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" announces a new section specifically for young entrepreneurs at the SCORE Web site, www.score.org. The new content area offers valuable mentoring and resources to help high school, college-age and 20-something small business owners succeed.

Visitors to www.score.org/young.html will find the following resources:

*  Insights for Young Entrepreneurs features key articles on: entrepreneurship as a career choice; Web site design; university assistance; and how to start smart.

*  Resources for Young Entrepreneurs lists more than 35 organizations, groups and Web sites that offer news, strategies and assistance.

*  Competitions for Young Entrepreneurs features eight awards that help encourage and recognize business success.

*  Stats on Young Entrepreneurs provides the latest research and facts on Generation X and Generation Y entrepreneurship.

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