Development centers offer guiding light to small companies
Counselors offer valuable lessons as simple as how to use QuickBooks software to as complex as how to do business in China.
Nervously practicing her pitch for hours in her home office, the co-founder of educational toy maker Budding Brilliance Corp. tried not to think about the dollars at stake in her presentation to a group of Tech Coast Angels, an influential Southland organization of wealthy investors.
Eight months of intense preparation from equity experts, courtesy of TriTech Small Business Development Center in Irvine, had polished Tina Davis' spiel. Watching herself on video helped curb her unconscious swaying and jittery hands.
In the end, her efforts didn't win the hoped-for investment, but the 15-minute pitch in November 2006 resulted in something almost more valuable for Davis and business partner, Jennifer Cook: The angels validated their idea for a toy that evaluates how children learn, offered a detailed critique of the presentation arranged by TriTech and extended an invitation to pitch again.
"It became an invaluable learning process for us, and it opened up a lot of doors and those doors opened more doors," said Davis, president of the Aliso Viejo start-up. "We never would have gotten to that stage if it was not for TriTech."
TriTech, which more than doubled the number of its consultants this year to seven, is one of 14 Small Business Development Centers in Southern California that help small-business owners or those thinking about starting their own business.
The centers provide free counseling, low-cost workshops, loan advice and valuable networking. Most focus on general business help. Some, like TriTech, whose Irvine and Riverside offices target firms with potential for fast growth and big payoffs, specialize in niche markets. A listing of centers can be found at www.sba.gov/ aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbdc/ sbdclocator/index.html.
There are about 125 consultants working for the centers, which operate under a network of three districts that get half their funding from the Small Business Administration.
Last year, the counselors sat down with nearly 8,300 individuals for one-on-one consulting. Nearly 16,000 clients attended workshops on topics as simple as how to use QuickBooks software to as complex as how to do business in China.
Companies that take advantage of center services do better than their peers, said Don Wilson, chief executive of the Assn. of Small Business Development Centers in Burke, Va. Clients who completed at least five consulting sessions grew about 19% in 2006 compared with 6% for the average business, Wilson said.
