LESSONS HELP SMALL BUSINESSES SUCCEED.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

Some of the best advice Roya Saberzadeh ever received about running her small business, Rochie's Greek Row in Northridge, came with a hard-to-resist price. It was free.

She found it in the entrepreneur training program sponsored by the Valley Economic Development Center and is busy putting some of those lessons to work.

``It has been a big help to me,'' she said of the training. ``It gave me a whole bunch of other ideas for the business that I have been trying to implement as I go along.''

The store - started by her sister, Rochie, who died in a scuba diving accident shortly after the business opened - initially specialized in merchandise for fraternities and sororities at CSUN and other Los Angeles area colleges. But the 1994 Northridge Earthquake did about $200,000 in damage to the business.

At first the center helped Saberzadeh apply for loans from the federal Small Business Administration. Then a counselor at the center suggested she enroll in the entrepreneur training course.

She completed one of the fist sessions in 1994. One of the critical projects that she and other participants undertook was either writing or refining a business plan.

That endeavor is now starting to pay off as she has expanded her business to include products like shirts, caps and cups for a variety of businesses.

Saberzadeh has a just-completed mail order catalog that she hopes will help increase sales.

So the class continues to pay dividends.

``The presence of the Valley Economic Development Center is absolutely vital to the health of the small business community. The consultants are like guardian angels . . . helping you stay on the path to success,'' she said.

About 800 small-business owners have gone through the entrepreneurial training program since it started 3-1/2 years ago, in part to help the Valley's economy recover from the devastation wrought by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Each company participating in the program has a goal of creating at least one new job.

And by that standard, the program is succeeding because about 800 new jobs have been created, said John Rooney, president of the nonprofit center.

Rooney and other consultants at the center created the training program essentially by melding together free workshops that had been offered on an intermittent basis.

``We wanted to have a total support system for businesses rather than a piecemeal effort,'' Rooney said. ``The idea was to begin a boot camp for entrepreneurs, which teaches them every aspect of growing their company.''

Participants get about 10 hours of one-on-one counseling and classmates function as a quasi board of directors, offering guidance long after the formal training sessions end.

Sean Goulden, owner of the Digital Cafe, an Agoura Hills-based marketing company, thought the class was so valuable he was willing to pay several hundred dollars for it.

Since the business is located outside the city of Los Angeles he could not get the class for free.

``I wanted some growth for my business and to see if there was something I was not doing or that needed improvement,'' he said of his decision to take the 10-week class.

Short answer? There was.

``It was revealing. We found that certain jobs were more cost effective for us to outsource rather than do in-house,'' Goulden recalled. ``That freed us up to do jobs that were more profitable.''

For example, tasks like stuffing press kits into envelopes took time that employees could use to make sales. Farming that job out actually made the company more productive.

The upshot is that Goulden's already been able to hire an additional sales representative. Digital Cafe does about $365,000 in sales annually and business is steadily increasing, Goulden said.

BUSINESS TIPS

WHAT: Ten-week class for small-business owners.

WHEN: Classes start Tuesday and usually meet from 6 to 9 p.m. one night a week. Two class sessions are longer and start in the morning.

WHERE: Valley Economic Development Center, 4717 Van Nuys Blvd.

REQUIREMENTS: Participants must own at least 30 percent of a small business in the city of Los Angeles and have a valid business license. A $50 deposit is required but is refunded once the class is completed. The fee reserves a spot in the class. The business must be at least six months and less than five years old.

CALL: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Box: (Color) BUSINESS TIPS (See text)

Photo: (Color) Rochie's Greek Row owner Roya Saberzadeh has used tips from the Valley Economic Development Center.

Tina Gerson/Daily News