Previous Events

This event discussed what is to be expected for this series of business leader events. As a business leader in your local community it is challenging to know what the best way to manage your business is. There are many aspects of business and you don’t have enough time to become a master is all of them. That is the mission of this business series. This first event discussed – who to
trust, how to find them, making time to manage the seemingly unmanageable and stepping out of your day to day role (and with who).

Entrepreneurs, business owners, and prospective business owners often times form companies with little or no guidance. The results are companies which are not operated efficiently or effectively and can lead to headaches and frustration as the business matures and even through sale. In order to manage your business for success you need to understand:

1. How entity selection impacts your company as it relates to both governance and tax strategies.
2. As your company matures, understand the governance of your company and how to evolve its organization and management.
3. Understand common pitfalls to various entity types and how to avoid them.
4. How best to leverage your entity type to manage the flow of income, deductions, and tax liabilities based on entity type.

Through the information provided, you will be able to avoid pitfalls and make educated decisions with regards to formation, governance, and tax strategies in all of your current and future endeavors.

Putting the right pieces in place to make your employees your best advocate.

Do you have a strategy for attracting talent and for removing toxic team members?

Paying attention to the talent part of the business is critical to success. Total human capital costs account for as much as 70 percent of operating expenses.

Speakers: Richard Rossignol and Jon Light

This session of the Business Leaders Consortium was led by Mark Melton, Doug Holt, and Paul McLean as they discussed the power of your team rowing in the same direction and how to grow and manage a successful team. The invaluable knowledge and tools discussed in this meeting will aide you in growing the productivity and happiness of your team.

Congratulations – You did it! You beat the odds and built a successful, stable business. While you are savoring success, remember that every Business Owner will leave their business one day. What determines if a Business prospers or fails after the Founder’s departure? How can you prepare your Business for a successful transition to your management team, family, employees, or an outside buyer?

Planning is key to enable you to exit on your own terms and achieve your financial goals. We will examine the differences between Succession Planning, Exit Planning, and Planning for a Sale, and discuss when planning should begin. When an opportunity to sell presents itself, do you act, or pass? How do you evaluate a Purchase Offer? What factors impact the valuation of a privately held company, and what can you do to maximize that value?

We will also review some real-life examples and valuation methodologies. This program will offer valuable insights to Business Owners, their trusted advisors, and key members of their management teams.

Speakers: Michael Hamman, Rich Schuette, and James Lisi.

How to bully cyber criminals and automate your digital life in order to sleep well.

Speakers: Paul McLean and Van Haas

This Santa Barbara meeting of the Business Leader Consortium was led by Van Haas (Accountix), Tom Olson (CPA of Nasif, Hicks, Harris, & Co.) and Mike Bieza – Commercial Lending Officer at Pacific Premier Bank.

In this meeting are:

4 essential accounting basics that all successful business leaders must know. In language you understand!

Key Performance Indicators every business leader should be paying attention to and how to customize your own.

Profit vs Tax savings – Friends or enemies? How to avoid the most common banking mistakes.

Hear real examples and easy to understand terms to finally understand your financials and how to use them

In this discussion, you will learn how to craft your companies unique story and get that story out in front of your current and prospective clients leveraging the power of the Internet. You will leave this discussion with actionable steps that you and your team can use today to increase both your brand exposure and leads.

Presenters: Doug Holt & Rich Schuette

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Insights From the Front Lines: Entrepreneur’s Panel on Founding, Growing, Leading, and Exiting Successfully

Program Description: Being a Business Owner can be the greatest job in the world, but it also comes with constant challenges. Over the past year, The BLC has presented a series of insightful and informative presentations from respected local thought-leaders, addressing many of these challenges.

Our September event brings it all together, with a carefully curated panel of exceptional local entrepreneurs – All are founders who have successfully navigated these challenges to build thriving businesses. Our speakers bring a wealth of knowledge and insight that can only come from hands-on experience on the front lines. If you are a business owner or intend to become one, this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to learn from true experts.

Our Speakers:

Mark Melton, Founder/CEO, Serial Entrepreneur, Attorney, & Investor
John Tynan, Founder/CEO, TynanGroup Inc.
Ron Wolfe, Founder/CEO, Wolfe & Associates

Listen to Angel Martinez share his business experience as the former CEO of Deckers.

Dave Odell, President and CEO of MedBridge, shares his story of starting multiple professionals services companies inside the ever-changing healthcare space. From professional athlete training and development to physical therapy clinics to medical billing to ambulatory surgery center development, Odell has anticipated the trends in the industry and provided needed solutions and services to physicians, patients and other providers. His fantastic stories will inspire every entrepreneur.

Trudi Carey is a licensed architect, real estate broker and general contractor in the State of California. She is President of The Carey Group, Inc. an architectural, construction, property management and development firm celebrating thirty nine years in business.

In addition, she is President of Salesworks, Inc. a new home marketing, management and brokerage firm. Both firms are headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

The firms specialize in development of new homes and self storage centers. Their most recent homes were completed on White Rose Lane off of North Hope Avenue.

Trudi Carey is a frequent speaker and writer on new housing trends and self storage. Ms. Carey holds a B.S. in Architecture from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo with highest honors. She also completed that University’s International Program in Florence, Italy.

Listen to Cheyne Knight discuss some of his lessons learned as a business leader and CEO of QwikResponse. His growing company has played a critical part in the 805 recovery process post fire and mudslides.

Henry Dubroff of the Pacific Coast Business Times will lead us through an analysis of our local economy focusing on the technology sector. For 17 years, Henry and his team have kept us current on the most critical financial and technological trends in the area.

Listen to the story of Mighty Bright CEO Roger Edgar, whose light manufacturing business experienced a fire and survived. He will share about what he learned over the last 14 months. From leadership to insurance to technology, Roger and the Mighty Bright team have managed to navigate major obstacles and continue to deliver their lights around the world.