Following is a list of various professional service providers I know that are local to Southern California. These are all companies and organizations that I have worked with personally, on one level or another. As such, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their services if you are in need. All I ask is that you tell them that I sent you.
Professional Services
Payroll Providers
HR Ledger is a payroll, personnel, compliance, and cash flow outsourcing company dedicated to helping small to midsize employers manage their administrative tasks and remain compliant with all the continually changing laws and regulations. Contact Scott Evers for assistance.
Payment Processing / Merchant Services
Square is more than a payment processor; Square combines simple, easy-to-use merchant services with additional options to help the small business owner including Gift Cards, Loyalty programs, Marketing tools, and more.
Tax Consultants
Fox Consulting Group is a consulting firm that assists business taxpayers in claiming credits and incentives. FCG works with clients to obtain tax refunds and eliminate any current-year liability while also acting as an advocate for clients on all tax matters. Contact John Langreck for assistance.
Legal Services
Consensus Legal Consensus Legal is a boutique law firm specializing in real estate transactions in California involving industrial, office, retail, residential, and mixed-use properties. Contact Usman Mohammed for assistance.
Lobb & Plewe provides entrepreneurs with creative solutions to complex legal problems. Lobb & Plewe promotes long-term client relationships by delivering measurable value at a predictable cost in a timely manner. Contact Tim Plewe for assistance.
IT Services
ABSS Networks assures business managers and owners alike, complete peace of mind knowing we have expert staff, tools, and methodologies to manage your network and protect your organization’s data.
Trinity Networx is a local managed services firm that specializes in cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and several other components in the technology spectrum that a business will need to effectively implement technology in day-to-day operations. The company prides itself on being focused on service to others.
Organizations
SCORE
SCORE is a great resource for entrepreneurs. They have been dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship for over 50 years. Most of their services are provided for free or at a low cost.
SBA
Since July 30, 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions, and other forms of assistance to small businesses. The SBA can assist entrepreneurs through programs that include Access to Capital (Business Financing), Entrepreneurial Development (Education, Information, Technical Assistance & Training), Government Contracting (Federal Procurement), and Small Business Advocacy.
Books
As an avid reader, I have found many insightful books from which I have learned more than I can quantify. Following is a short list of some of the books that have been the most eye-opening to me.
Profit First
by Mike Michalowicz
Author of cult classics The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur offers a simple, counterintuitive cash management solution that will help small businesses break out of the doom spiral and achieve instant profitability.
Conventional accounting uses the logical (albeit, flawed) formula: Sales – Expenses = Profit. The problem is, businesses are run by humans, and humans aren’t always logical. Serial entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz has developed a behavioral approach to accounting to flip the formula: Sales – Profit = Expenses. Just as the most effective weight loss strategy is to limit portions by using smaller plates, Michalowicz shows that by taking profit first and apportioning only what remains for expenses, entrepreneurs will transform their businesses from cash-eating monsters to profitable cash cows. Using Michalowicz’s Profit First system, readers will learn that:
- Following 4 simple principles can simplify accounting and make it easier to manage a profitable business by looking at bank account balances.
- A small, profitable business can be worth much more than a large business surviving on its top line.
- Businesses that attain early and sustained profitability have a better shot at achieving long-term growth.
With dozens of case studies, practical, step-by-step advice, and his signature sense of humor, Michalowicz has the game-changing roadmap for any entrepreneur to make the money they always dreamed of.
Business Models For Dummies
by Jim Muehlhausen
Business Models For Dummies helps you write a solid business model to further define your company’s goals and increase attractiveness to customers. Inside, you’ll discover how to: make a value proposition; define a market segment; locate your company’s position in the value chain; create a revenue generation statement; identify competitors, complementors, and other network effects; develop a competitive strategy; and much more.
Built To Last
by Jim Collins and Jerry I Porras
Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day — as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: “What makes the truly exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed throughout their history?”
Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the 21st century and beyond.
Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)
by Verne Harnish
It’s been over a decade since Verne Harnish’s best-selling book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits was first released. Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) is the first major revision of this business classic which details practical tools and techniques for building an industry-dominating business. This book is written so everyone ― from front-line employees to senior executives ― can get aligned in contributing to the growth of a firm. Scaling Up focuses on the four major decision areas every company must get right: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. The book includes a series of new one-page tools including the updated One-Page Strategic Plan and the Rockefeller Habits ChecklistTM, which more than 40,000 firms around the globe have used to scale their companies successfully ― many to $10 million, $100 million, and $1 billion and beyond – while enjoying the climb!
Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
by John Warrillow
Most business owners started their companies because they wanted more freedom—to work on their own schedules, make the kind of money they deserve, and eventually retire on the fruits of their labor.
Unfortunately, according to John Warrillow, most owners find that stepping out of the picture is extremely difficult because their business relies too heavily on their personal involvement. Without them, their company—no matter how big or profitable—is essentially worthless.
But the good news is that entrepreneurs can take specific steps—no matter what stage a business is in—to create a valuable, sellable company. Warrillow shows exactly what it takes to create a solid business that can thrive long into the future.
The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry
by John Warrillow
The lifeblood of your business is repeat customers. But customers can be fickle, markets shift, and competitors are ruthless. So how do you ensure a steady flow of repeat business? The secret—no matter what industry you’re in—is finding and keeping automatic customers.