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Client Stories

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Zadin Restaurant

Truc Tran and Bao Phan signed up for San Francisco Small Business Development Services in 2006, approximately one year prior to launching their successful, upscale Vietnamese Restaurant, in March of this year, in the Castro.

Renatas Creperie

Renata Maculans started her dream business six years ago in a truck. Her idea was that people in her town wanted inexpensive, nutritious food that was also interesting and tasty. She came to the North Coast SBDC in 2000 for initial assistance in concept development and bookkeeping setup.

Buttons-N-Dollars

Outcome: Things have started to happen for Marble. On March 24th, she had her first book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Fairfield, has been featured on a KCRA 3 TV report with Edie Lambert, and has also been featured on a local TV report called “The View from the Bay.” She is also working with Motion Eclipse Pictures to film a documentary based on her book “Waiting for Wings.” Her determination to survive has turned into a new determination to not only build a business, but help the thousands of people who are also battling cancer or some other life threatening diagnosis.

Pine Creek Realty

Statement from the Client - “New Venture Training program is a wake-up call for anyone thinking about starting a business,” Giovannetti said. “The process is very thought provoking in terms of keeping family in mind and the importance of time management; for appropriate balance in your life. Too many people give up their soul to a business and then it consumes them. This class provided me with tools and ideas to avoid mistakes and get the job done effectively.”

CPR-Fast

Capitola Book Cafe

Client Statement - “With the help of the Central Coast Small Business Development Center's classes, counseling, and a terrific advisor like Wallace Berry — we got a sense of the challenges we faced, came up with a creative approach to fundraising, learned how we could accommodate the expenses of the transition, and made it happen,” Mayer-Lochtefled said. “We have a long road ahead of us, but the bottom line is that we're here and eager to maintain the Capitola Book Cafe's amazing legacy, while growing it with the community’s needs in mind.”

Independent Energy Systems

Client Statement- “We knew we needed an additional supplier but Jim really motivated us to make a more concerted effort to secure one. He gave us the basic tools we needed to better utilize our financial model, and told us to set our profitability goals higher. Jim also helped us define what made us outstanding versus our competition. This enabled us to strengthen our marketing impact and gain more market share. His assistance was invaluable and long lasting. We are still utilizing today the simple tools that we learned from Jim.”

Folia Designs

Julia said "In my previous work environments, I was allowed opportunities that became the basis for strong work ethic, creative exploration, good business development and relationship management - all to later blend into unique set of skills for a personal and professional working style that sets no limits while within a comfortable atmosphere with clients." Thus far, Folia Design is proving successful with a continuously flourishing business that has a track record of winning awards each year.

Jessicurl

Client Satisfaction: “We wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far if it wasn’t for the SBDC. We needed so much work on the day-to-day stuff needed in a start-up,” McGuinty said. “We really worked with the SBDC to understand and address our costs. It wasn’t just the direct services provided though – the SBDC staff reached out to other resources on our behalf as well.”

San Francisco Guitarworks

Client Satisfaction - “The San Francisco SBDC is really the best resource I have found to help get a cohesive view of what business is and can become and to develop the steps to get there,” Luttrell said.

TechPro Source

Background: Michael Cortez with Tech Pro Source approached the Solano College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) after being laid off from an IT position in the mortgage industry. Rather than seeking a new job in the IT industry, Mr. Cortez decided to start his own business providing technology management services for small to medium sized businesses. The company’s slogan is “The IT Department for Small Business.”