“I got tired of listening to news reports on the economy over the last few years, it was time to turn off the news and move forward,” said Dr. Harvey Ledesma, the CEO of Ledesma Optometry, Inc.
Dr. Ledesma needed to obtain a small working capital loan to help the practice increase the inventory and the efficiency, he also wanted to participate in the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center Technical Assistance Program, to learn how to use the QuickBooks software, and get training on accounting and finance to manage his business better and make educated decisions.
Dr. Ledesma sought a loan from CDC Small Business Finance and took advantage of the no-cost technical assistance program at the SBDC. CDC often requires that loan recipients undergo the TAP as a condition of receiving financing. In this case, he met with Al Gohary, business consultant and QuickBooks ProAdvisor, where they worked on accounting, finance and the use of QuickBooks software.
Thanks to a $25,000 microloan from CDC Small Business Finance and $10,000 of his own capital, Dr. Ledesma was able to retain five jobs, increase inventory and generate an additional $200,000 in revenue.
“Mr. Gohary walked me through the process from the beginning to the end with QuickBooks, it helped me get a clearer picture of the use of information and reports in the decision making process. I didn’t realize the resources available to business people like me and best of all, it was free to me!”
Dr Ledesma says he is more equipped to deal with the turbulent times with the knowledge and resources available from the Inland Empire SBDC.
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