>> Hello. My name is Professor Derek Dokter.
I teach in our business department,
if you don't know me by now.
I'd love to meet you one day, but I'm here
to represent our new Small Business Management
and Entrepreneur Pathway.
Cerritos College was honored to get a mini grant in support
of our entrepreneurship pathway.
The State of California is recognizing
California because of so many small business
and entrepreneurs.
That leads us to our gig economy that we're currently living in.
So I'm happy to note that Cerritos is forward-thinking
and wants you to be a part of this segue.
So today we're going
to be having a guest speaker here today to talk to you
about what their personal experience is
to help you better recognize something maybe you can improve
on if you're an entrepreneur or a small business.
So here we go.
This is Dr. Vic Bezjian.
>> Hi, Derek.
Call me Vic.
Let's keep it a first-name basis.
>> I like that.
Vic, can you tell our students
about where you come from, maybe a little bit
about your background.
>> Sure. I'm a first-generation graduate and immigrant.
I came here from Beirut, Lebanon.
I was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
I came to California to go to university.
And I earned my Bachelor's degree
in International Business,
and then I joined the US Air Force Reserves and, finally,
from the day I enlisted till now, I just retired 37 years
of service in the Air Force.
And I started as an E2 and ended as an O6, which is a Colonel.
So I'm very proud that I was able to achieve that rank
from enlisted all the way to Colonel.
At the same time, I've earned a Master's degree
in International Business and a Doctorate degree in Business.
And my passion is international business and marketing.
I have worked over 20 years in the electronics industry
and marketing electronics' manufacturing equipment all
over the world.
And, at the same time,
after those 20 years, I joined university.
I went in the academic field because I wanted
to teach the new generation lessons I've learned
from international business into the future business students.
So I was teaching marketing, international business strategy
and distribution and a lot of the things
that small businesses would need when they go overseas,
doing marketing and distributing their equipment and products.
So my passion is to help the younger generation
to learn faster from the mistakes of the people
that have gone ahead of them.
So that's culminated both my military background,
my academic background and my electronics sales
and marketing background.
And now I am retired from the military,
and I have my own consulting business
where I advise small businesses how
to improve their marketing capabilities in global markets
and not to make the mistakes other companies have made.
My best thing that I can bring in is to minimize blunders.
Most companies have blunders when they go overseas
and because of culture nuances and the language differences.
So my job is to help them prevent those kinds of mistakes.
So that's a nutshell of my background.
>> Wow. Very diverse.
Wonderful.
I just love the passion that you have for students.
>> I do. I do.
I really enjoy working with students.
>> Both sides, the marketable side and the education side.
>> Yes.
>> Unreal.
Can you show us or tell us a little bit more
about what a person would need to know to be an entrepreneur
or maybe some steps for a small business how to be successful.
>> Well, entrepreneurship is a very big word.
People don't realize what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
It takes a lot of effort.
It's a 24/7 job.
And it is something that's a passion you have to have,
and it's something that you need
to be involved, fully vested in it.
Now, what I mean by that is this: When someone tells me,
I would like to be a business entrepreneur, I always say,
What is it that you want to do?
And, you know, it could be a variety of things.
It could be a big corporate environment, or it could be
on a mom-and-pop store type thing on a small scale.
So your options are do you want to start small
or do you want to start big?
Ideally, a lot of --
the start-up entrepreneurs are more on the small scale.
And for those who are doing something small scale,
let's say they want to start a restaurant
or some small business retail store outlet or service,
I always say make sure you find something
that you are passionate about because every morning you have
to get up, go to work.
You want to be able to say, I'm excited to go to work.
And, if you're not excited to work,
then you don't belong there.
So it's not a job.
It's basically an adventure for you.
Every day is a new adventure.
And it's tough.
You have to work on it.
You have to work really hard with this.
So, to me, my best advice is, if you are going to do something,
make sure you are passionate about what you're doing.
You have to connect in your heart
and in your mind what you're doing.
That's very key for it.
The next question comes up is a lot
of people say, Well, what do I need?
Do I need money?
Do I need investors?
Do I need partners?
Corporations?
A lot of these questions can be answered via basic research.
You can do a lot of research.
A lot of this information is available for you.
I've heard people say, Should I file a C Corp, S Corp or LLC?
A lot depends, and I cannot give blanket information for you
to go ahead and do it like a standard type thing
because every case is different, depending on where you are,
whether you're in the city, whether you're trying to market
to a local area or citywide or region-wide or nationwide.
So it becomes very dependent on the case,
whether it's a product, service, whether it's technology.
A lot depends.
Now, I understand there's the gig market now is --
ideally with the gig market is you already have a job.
You're working for somebody,
and on the side you're doing something else.
Believe me.
As an entrepreneur, that's the best way to do it
because you have a steady income,
and you're not cutting your income from livelihood,
your family or whatever your livelihood is.
So you have income.
But in your free time you're doing something on the side.
You're building it.
Now, provided you have a good product or service,
whatever you're doing, that's going to take off.
A lot of people think
about entrepreneurism is I want to make money.
That's not the key for it.
Making money is not an issue.
Do something that you bring value.
You bring value to the customer.
When you bring value to the customer, that money will come.
So, if you do something you're passionate about,
you bring value to the customer, the money will come.
So that should not be your goal that I want to make money.
That's secondary.
That's the byproduct of being an entrepreneur.
So be careful that you want to do something you really enjoy
and you're excited about it.
Every Monday morning, if you say I dread going
to work Monday morning, forget it [laughing].
So that's the key for it.
>> I really like how you mentioned the strategy
of having your own job and doing it on the side.
>> Right. That is very important to do it because usually
for startups it takes a lot of time and a lot of money.
And, if you let's say don't have a job or you quit your job
to launch a product, what if it doesn't work?
So you still have bills to pay, and you're not able to do it.
So, ideally, keep your job.
Do this on the side.
Build up till you find to get to the point
where you're almost breaking even and you're able
to sustain yourself and you find that there's a success with it,
then you can consider, okay.
Do I go work part-time and put more effort on my project,
or do I quit and then start full-time on my job?
But that's the best ideal way of doing it.
Especially with gig market,
that's how it's supposed to be done.
You do it that way and, you know, you might not like it
to make it a full time but continue doing.
I'll give an example.
Like Uber driver or a Lyft driver, that's a gig market.
So you're not stopping your business.
You're not -- as a student,
you're not stopping doing what you're doing.
But you can generate funds and money
on the side and meet people.
So many Uber drivers I've met, they always tell me,
What I like about my job is I meet so many different people.
And, you know, that makes connections.
You learn from people.
But that's the idea of having networks, building networks.
So, to me, if you can, keep your job and do something on the side
and then build it up till you're comfortable
with it and then move on.
Another question a lot of people ask me is,
when I'm starting my business, should I hire my relatives?
Okay. My question --
this question is a very sensitive question.
Usually people want to bring in relatives into the business.
I say yes and no.
You can hire or not.
My reasoning is this.
Why would you bring someone into the business?
What value are they bringing to the business?
If this person is let's say an accountant, they're expert
in accounting, I say, Okay.
Bring the person as an employee.
They'll do the accounting for you.
But, if you're bringing them just for the sake of, well,
I want to hire somebody from my family,
keep in mind are you willing to fire this person
if they don't produce?
If this person is not performing,
are you willing to fire them?
And, if you fire them, is that going
to create a problem in the family?
So be careful who you hire.
But, if you hire someone who's a specialist and you don't
like what they're doing, you can fire them.
It's a business.
So it's a fine line you have to work.
Now, it depends.
If you have a good family relationship and everything
and they understand, that's fine.
The key is, usually when you bring family into business,
there's always problems because somebody will say,
well, I'm making money.
I'm working too hard.
You're not working too hard.
So it's going to be very difficult to cut the tie
in a family because you're going to see them
after you cut the tie.
>> That's very challenging.
>> So I recommend not to unless they have a very specialty
expertise that you want to bring in like a lawyer.
Say your brother's a lawyer.
You bring him as a retainer.
Bring him over to advise you but not
to be a full-time employee with you.
So those are types of things that a lot of people ask
when they're launching a business.
But some of the best resources for you, as a new entrepreneur,
I would highly recommend you to go and talk to somebody
at the Small Business Administration.
If you go to sba.gov website, they have tons
of resources available for you free, at no charge.
They even provide you mentors and they give you advice.
They even show you how to write a marketing plan,
a business plan and everything that you need
to launch a product, whether you need a loan.
They even help you with government loans for you.
So it is important for you
to find what resources you have available free,
and that's where I would start.
Don't pay anybody to help you establish something.
Go to SBA.
It's a government entity that is helping small businesses,
entrepreneurs to start business.
So for me, to advise anybody, start at SBA, sba.gov.
And they have two offices, one in Glendale, one in Santa Ana.
Those are the regional offices.
You can go to the office.
They have tons of paperwork that you can get for free,
booklets and online resources.
Start from there.
I would say 80 to 90 percent
of your questions will be answered at the SBA.
>> Or, Vic, they can go and be a part
of our Small Business Entrepreneur Pathway.
>> Absolutely.
>> Then they can learn how
to do a business plan and all that stuff.
But, if you want to use that as an alternate method,
that works as well.
>> It always helps to be
with other people, like-minded people.
So, if you're in a classroom like Derek said,
the classroom can help each other, give you ideas.
That's the idea of entrepreneurism.
You want to network with other people, like-minded people
who can give you options or give you do's and don'ts or what
if this, what do you do?
So those are the types of things when you are involved
in an organization like Derek is doing,
then you can go to the SBA.
SBA can help you and you brainstorm.
You get ideas from each other, and together we can all rise up.
>> Great. Great Thank you for sharing, Vic.
I really appreciate that.
>> That's very critical for students to understand.
You know, you're not alone out there.
And many people have gone ahead of you, so it is important
for you to tap on what other people have learned.
And most entrepreneurs that I know, they used to help
because they've gone through the difficulties.
They want to help others to succeed because,
if I did it the hard way
and I see someone coming behind me doing it,
I want to help them launch their business and not go
through the same problems.
If you can save time and energy
and funds doing it that way, why not?
>> You're more efficient.
>> Absolutely.
Absolutely.
>> Thank you, Vic, for your time.
>> Thank you. No problem.
>> I really appreciate it.
And I know our students are going to really benefit
from all the things you had to say.
Wonderful points.
>> And I wish you all good luck, and don't give up.
If you have a dream, pursue it.
That's how it's done.
>> Make sure, students, you listen to that.
Maybe re-listen to it again and practice it in your own life.
You'll be successful.
And, lastly, just, if you're interested
in the Small Business Management Entrepreneurship Pathway here
at Cerritos College, it's an excellent program.
It's four units.
You can contact me personally at ddokter@Cerritos.edu.
>> Thanks, Derek.