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Issue 12October  2010 
News You Can Use From Your SBDC
 
Galveston County - SBDC Newsletter

Welcome to the twelfth edition of our online newsletter! We hope that you enjoy reading about our exciting happenings this year, and we hope to see you soon!    

 
Jeanne Hudson    
News-News-News
 The Galveston SBDC is pleased to welcome Ms. Jeanne Hudson, CPA as a new consultant.  Jeanne is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in accounting and has over 20 years experience as a CPA.  Jeanne has recently returned from a sailing trip to the Virgin Islands, where she elected to stay for a while...eight years!  Now that she is Stateside, she splits her time between the SBDC and her own accounting practice.  She brings a wealth of knowledge of accounting and general business practice to us and adds depth to the services that can be provided by your Galveston County SBDC.
SBDC Consultant, Andrea Cortinas and former SBDC Administrative Assistant, Jodi Young welcomed new babies into this world on Sunday, September 5.  Baby girl Cortinas and baby boy Young are each doing well as are their moms.  Congratulations all around!
The Bay Area Network Group (BANG) will begin meeting in Texas City every Wednesday morning beginning 09/08/10 at 7:30 am at the City Caf� Restaurant, in Texas City, located at 3301 Palmer Highway.  Everyone is welcomed.
All consultants and Administrative Assistant, Jo-Ann Caron have

participated in the annual Association of Small Business Development Consultants conference in San Antonio during the week of September 20-25th. 

Doreen Hughe's Pic 
Mainland Testing Services
  Success Story    
  
 Doreen Hughes, owner and president of Mainland Testing Services is constantly searching for ways to grow her business and increase profits.  She started the business in June 2007, working with Susan Moore, the now retired Director of the Galveston County SBDC.  Together they made a business plan and Doreen launched her business with a bang.  Since that time, she has devoted much of her time and talents to the business of marketing the service.  Mainland Testing provides pre-employment screening including drug tests, criminal background checks, employment and professional credential verification, social security verification, and all the necessary investigations including fingerprinting required for a TWIA card. 
 Doreen also invested time in making sure that her business was well positioned to grow by gaining its certification as a minority and woman owned business.  She has gained visibility for her business by receiving several awards including: Minority Business Champion, Ambassador of the Year, 2010 Mainland Hero's, Better Business Pinacle Winner 2010, Finalist for Emerging Ten (E-10) Award, Texas City/LaMarque Chamber of Commerce Business of the Month Award (June 2010).  
Most recently, Doreen has again repositioned her business, and this time the positioning is physical.  Mainland Testing Services has moved to 3300 FM 1765, Texas City and is now more conveniently located for visitors to the Texas Safety Council.     
Doreen's Staff 


AND NOW, A WORD FROM OUR DIRECTOR...

   The Director's Corner 
            
Carroll Cobb
 

Last month, we discussed the importance of being in charge of your financial capital.  This month, our topic is "Owning your own Intellectual Capital." 

Intellectual Capital" is the sum of all the knowledge, skill, and experience one needs to perform the job of owner and CEO of a business.  Most businesses are started by a person who knows how to do or make something.  The owner believes in her product or service and is confident that she can do it better, faster, or cheaper than anyone else on the market.  Maybe the person is a plumber, a cook, an accountant, or an IT specialist.  Maybe he is a really, really great plumber or cook or accountant or IT specialist.   But, to be a successful business owner, he must know how to manage a plumbing business, or a restaurant, or an accounting practice, or an IT service firm. 

 When you create a business, even the most simple business, you create a new job for yourself-and that job is one that has its own skill set.  Unless you have already had experience as a business CEO, it is likely that you will need to acquire some additional "Intellectual capital." In order to succeed, an owner must equip himself with all the knowledge required to do every aspect of his business.  Just as the captain of a boat would want to know every square inch of her vessel before she leaves port-every bolt, every fitting, and every working part well enough to take it apart and put it back together again- the owner of a business needs to know her business just that well. 

 The broad basics of business ownership include: Accounting and bookkeeping; Marketing; Sales; Risk management and Legal; Human Resources; and Operations.  Each prospective business owner should examine himself and make an inventory of the skills and knowledge he has in each of these important aspects of business management.  Having done so, she should then make a plan for acquiring additional strength in the fields in which she does not feel confident.  Perhaps the plan involves taking some classes offered at the SBDC or elsewhere.  Maybe she will work with her SBDC consultant to bolster her strengths, or she might hire a specialist to cover the area until she has learned enough from the specialist to feel confident in her own ability.  The important thing is to be aware of the skills required, and have a plan in place to cover all these aspects of business ownership.  Your SBDC consultant will certainly be able to help you prepare your strategy for dealing with these important business components.

I am not suggesting that every business owner needs to know accounting well enough to earn a living as an accountant.  I am suggesting that every business owner needs to know accounting well enough to understand his own accounting system; be able to interrogate his system to get answers to the questions that will wake him up in the dark of night (and they will!); and to be able to judge whether someone else is performing properly.  This is true of all the other fields of management as well.  The owner should know the field well enough to be able to perform the necessary tasks in a pinch.  Without this knowledge, it will be very difficult for him to be effective in hiring, training, evaluating, and managing others who may perform these tasks in the future.  If you've never done it, it is very hard to tell whether someone else is doing it right.

In the beginning, a business owner may have to be able to perform well in all five areas.  The plumber may also keep the books; plan the marketing strategy; make the sales; hire and manage the personnel; take care of the insurance, legal questions, and safety management; and write a detailed operations manual for every kind of plumbing job he expects to encounter so that less skilled individuals can perform according to his quality standards.  Does that sound like a lot?  Well, of course it is!  But it is the difference between a good plumber and a successful owner of a plumbing business.  The Galveston County SBDC has consultants who are expert in all five of the components of business management.  Let us help you improve your chances for success.

 

We welcome any suggestions you may have for our newsletter.  We invite your comments and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
Sincerely,
 
Carroll Cobb
Director
 
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UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER NETWORK

The Galveston County SBDC is a business consulting and training center of the University of Houston Small Business Development Center Network.  The UH SBDC Network serves 32 counties in Southeast Texas and is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. 



In This Issue
Director Announcement
Success Story
Director's Corner

Free Consultation
 
The success of your business is our only priority. Call to meet a Senior Consultant in your area today.


 
Quick Links  
 
 

Galveston County Small Business Development Center

8419 E.F. Lowry Expressway

Texas City, TX 77591

(409) 933-1414

(409) 933-3365 fax

[email protected]