Centers provide free guidance

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, such as 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.

“When you realize that 52% of the GDP [gross domestic product] and about 51% of the employment is from small businesses, you realize we need to be paying attention to their health and welfare,” he said.

Carson-based Special Operations Technologies Inc. credits the small-business development center at Santa Monica College for helping to keep its bottom line healthy.

James Cragg, an Army Reserve captain, first visited the center a decade ago when he started his military and law-enforcement gear company.

He returned two years ago for advice on branching out into the adventure sports market. And he was back this year to explore financing options and learn how to work with lenders.

“I’ve been on the phone every day this week and last week with their counselors,” said Cragg, who employs 50 people and is negotiating to buy a third building for his growing company.

He’s looking for a major line of credit to help fill the increasingly large orders for his products, including medical gear pouches, rifle slings and shoulder bags.

The money also could fund orders he hopes to write this August when he launches his new civilian line at the Outdoor Retailer trade show.

“As a business owner you are out there all alone,” Cragg said. “The SBDC program gives you that structure and support system. It’s a place where I continue to learn the rules of business.”

Center directors complain that their service remains something of a secret.

The Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center Network, the largest in Southern California with seven centers, turned to running test ads on local radio for eight weeks last year. The encouraging results helped prompt plans for a region-wide marketing campaign.

“It showed if we do outreach and marketing, it does work,” regional director Sheneui Sloan said.

She is signing up a marketing company to help figure out how the network can better reach its target communities, including the ethnic populations in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

All the centers have to serve a certain number of clients and create measurable economic effect each year to receive federal funding.

They also have to pass an accreditation process. The SBA also is considering setting up a credential program for center counselors, Wilson said.

Budding Brilliance founders Davis and Cook benefited from TriTech counselors’ contacts, who led them to high-powered mentors whom they tapped for advice and additional contacts.

“They aggressively went through the program and absorbed everything like sponges,” said their consultant, Mark Monaghan, who also is founding principal of Markus Group, a business-growth consulting firm.

Like most new entrepreneurs in love with a their ideas, the women had to learn to “present an investment opportunity as opposed to a great business idea,” he said.

The pair ended up rewriting their business plan, adding the detailed financial information investors demand. They rethought their target market and their insistence on retaining complete control.

Sometimes they heard things they didn’t like.

“I struggled with this myself, really learning to understand the value of coachability and not holding that tight grip on so much of your ideas,” Cook said.

She and Davis are still benefiting from the advice they get from the network of investors TriTech unlocked.

“It’s great at providing connections that you wouldn’t have otherwise, and it’s free,” Cook said. “That’s amazing. It’s a beautiful thing.”

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cyndia.zwahlen@latimes.com