Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Elza Minor advises business owners at the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center.

Small business advice offered by WV center

By Tim Persyn

Entrepreneur and consultant Gale Maxwell once had a joint venture go bankrupt because he didn't have a marketing plan.

Now, Maxwell, who also has 12 years of experience owning his own business consulting firm and once owned a highly successful manufacturing and sales company, helps other entrepreneurs avoid the pitfalls of the business world in his position as senior consultant at the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center.

The center is operated by the West Valley-Mission Community College District. It relies on state and federal funding.

The center, located in Sunnyvale, helps small businesses to grow and expand by providing consultation services. Elza Minor, the center's director, employs the resources of 35 contract consultants who have expertise in such areas as business plan development, marketing, finance, and law.

Through the center, small businesses can receive as much as eight to 10 free hours of consultation.

Minor said the center does face-to-face consulting with about 650 people a year. "Any problem or concern that a small business owner has, I try to have a consultant address that need," said Minor. The Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center serves south San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.

To be eligible for services, a business must gross less than $5 million a year. Before offering its help, the center checks to see that it can meet the needs of a business and that the business is serious.

In addition to consulting, the center also offers seminars and workshops.

The West Valley-Mission district successfully bid for the center, which has been open for about eight months.

"One of the missions of the community college is the economic development of the community," said Rose Tseng, chancellor of the district.

The center helps small businesses with consulting, it helps them get loans, it helps minority businesses. A lot of small businesses don't know how to get help."

The personnel with the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center also have a track record of helping woman-owned businesses qualify for loans.

Minor described an instance of a small business owner getting help through the center. This owner went to the bank to get a loan, but the banker told him he needed financial spreads and a business plan. The owner didn't know how to do these things, and the banker referred him to the center. After consulting with the center, the owner was able to develop the plans he needed and eventually got funded.

"The consultants don't do it for you," explained Suzi Blackman, director of the chamber of commerce for Sunnyvale. "They try to be a resource, and they try to help you find resources."

Minor, who has 20 years of experience in economic development, explained that having a successful small business takes more than the stroke of genius involved in thinking up a good idea.

"People have good ideas; then they get into it and learn there's a lot of issues they never thought of."

Maxwell, the consultant, said that even success can be a pitfall in the business world. "If a business is not sure what direction it wants to go, that can be fatal."

To help businesses avoid this pitfall, the center emphasizes the development of a business plan.

Bill Ireland, a marketing consultant for the center, helps small business owners develop a vision statement.

"A vision statement asks 'What are you in business for?" said Ireland. "When we empower someone to see what they are in business for, they can go out and market themselves."

Small businesses will continue to play a crucial role in the American economy, Minor said. He said that 80 to 90 percent of jobs being created in America are in the arena of small business, and that due to structural economic changes, entrepreneurship will continue to play a critical role in the economy.

"The work force in America has to be flexible and mobile, it has to be talented enough to change career paths and it needs to have enough entrepreneurial ability to start a business."

The Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center is one place people can go to develop their entrepreneurial talents.