New Program Targets Entertainment, Arts Businesses

The Small Business Development Center at College of the Canyons is now offering free consulting and business assistance services to companies in the entertainment, arts and recreation sectors. The center is funding the program with a $130,000 federal grant that runs through the end of 2012. SBDC officials say the program will support business owners that aim to capitalize on the region’s 30-mile “studio zone” of filming activity, Cal Arts, and a proposed soundstage project by The Walt Disney Co. in the Santa Clarita Valley. The program caters to entrepreneurs who are passionate about their artistic interests but who lack a business background, said SBDC Director Steve Tannehill. “We have begun new outreach and new involvement in the community to make them aware of our activities,” Tannehill said. Advisors from the center have met with post-production companies, musicians, authors, disc jockeys, equipment suppliers, and sport-related companies. Ben Tenn, a counselor in the program, has one client who is a documentary filmmaker. Another is a married couple working on a television pilot. Tenn said the goal is introduce concepts from the business world into the creative world of these entrepreneurs. For example, they need to understand the importance of sales, marketing, distribution, contracts and other practices, Tenn said. “We attempt to get them to do that so that they are financially successful as well as creatively successful,” Tenn said. Some of the clients are established businesses and others are in the start-up stage, said SBDC Assistant Director Catherine Grooms, who is overseeing the initiative. Often business owners may need professional advice on their business, but may not consider it a priority, Grooms said. The center aims to make it easy for business owners to get the one-on-one help they need free of charge, she said. Abby and Dan Savell, who operate L.A. Percussion Rentals in Santa Clarita, have used the center’s services to get the word out about their business. L.A. Percussion rents drums and other percussion instruments for concerts and television and film production. Abby Savell said she and her husband often felt like, as business owners, they had to figure everything out for themselves. They say the SBDC has saved them time and frustration. “We’ve gotten advice on advertising in our industry and composed some press materials,” Abby Savell said. “It’s really helped us move past a lot of the business infrastructure tasks.” Lancaster Jethawks, the Class A minor league baseball team in the Antelope Valley, is utilizing the center to find ways to attract new fans during the season, said Will Murphy, the director of ticket operations. The team also is exploring ways it can use its stadium during the offseason, he said. Each season, the team hosts an Aerospace Appreciation weekend. The SBDC has provided the Jethawks with contacts at aerospace-related companies that had not participated in the team’s past events, Murphy said. “We basically are using their resources to get (in touch with) someone,” about the event, Murphy said. “A lot of times we will run into dead ends.” The basic skill sets needed to run a successful business are the same regardless of the industry. Business owners must know about marketing, finance, and working with social media, Grooms said. However, business owners that operate in creative fields often devote less attention to the nuts and bolts of running a business, Grooms said. Tenn chalks this up to creative people largely being uncomfortable with business and administrative duties. Many small business owners in the creative sector differ from entrepreneurs who open a restaurant, or who start a small manufacturing company, Tenn said. “Their brains don’t wrap around QuickBooks as quickly,” Tenn said.