Advocating for small businesses

Petaluma-based government subcontractor runs nationally recognized small business

August 3, 2005

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

GC Micro president and CEO Belinda Guadarrama knows a lot about small businesses.

"Small businesses tend to do much more for the economy than the larger businesses do," the Petaluma executive said. "All of the new growth in jobs over the last 10 years has been with small businesses, not large corporations."

Guadarrama should know. Since starting her business in 1986, she has been an advocate for small businesses around the country through her various efforts with NASA, the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies and corporations.

The distributor of computer hardware, software, peripheral products and customized systems relocated to Petaluma from Novato two years ago, bringing its national reputation with it.

For six years, Guadarrama chaired NASA's Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee, a group set up by NASA to help minority and women-owned businesses gain a greater foothold in the agency's procurement process.

"Every small business is a great taxpayer for the federal government, so it only seems fair that some of the money that the federal government is spending should go back to those small businesses," she said.

A positive side effect of her work on that committee was that as she traveled the country and met with NASA's biggest contractors. It helped generate a fair amount of free publicity and name recognition for GC Micro.

"There's so much that small businesses have to offer the federal government in terms of innovative ideas, in terms of some of the product that they're working with that can make a huge difference," she said. "There's a lot of opportunity for small businesses out there."

This corporate recognition is a far cry from being the person who was refused a $5,000 loan from a bank in the early days of her business. Not only refused a loan, Guadarrama was actually refused the application for a loan.

Two decades later, her company is one of the most respected subcontractors and distributors for NASA, the departments of Energy and Defense, and a variety of other government contractors, agencies and corporations, including Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. The company has $35 million in yearly revenue.

Guadarrama said that good employees, teamwork and a high level customer service are the hallmarks of GC Micro.

"Computer products, the type of products that we're working with, are not all that unique. You can find hundreds of other companies that sell the same things that we do. But very, very few of the companies are going to have the focus on the customer service side of it like we do."

GC Micro has an on-time delivery rating of about 98.5 percent, and Guadarrama sees it going to 99 percent and higher soon.

This sort of attention to detail has helped GC Micro earn a number of customer service awards from their clients.

Giving back

One of her suggestions is that businesses utilize resources offered by the SBA.

When that bank rejected her for that $5,000 loan, she researched SBA loans and was approved. Now she's a success story for the program. In 2002 she was the SBA's California Small Business Person of the Year and was the second runner up nationwide.

Guadarrama strongly recommends that anyone thinking about starting a new business attend a few SBA workshops before leaving their current employment.

"If you're not sure how to run your business, they'll show you how to do it."

She said that while enthusiasm for the idea of owning one's own business or interest in a particular product or service are helpful, they are not the most important factors in whether a business succeeds or fails.

The key question each prospective business owner must ask themselves is "Is there a viable customer out there to buy that product or service?"

Guadarrama said that the inability to answer this question is the primary factor in the failure of 98 percent of all businesses.

"My advice to individuals is to always make sure you have planned out exactly what the business is going to do, who the customers are going to be, the potential customers that you want to work with, and how are you going to finance it," she said.

In addition, a business owner should have six months of money in the bank to support themselves until the business starts to make money.

Guadarrama, who was Hispanic Magazine's Hispanic entrepreneur for 2003, said that you've got to know who your client is and what they need, regardless of your personal background.

"People buy from people that they're comfortable with," she said.

"I've never gone into an organization and portrayed myself as a Hispanic female. I've gone into a business and portrayed myself as a business owner who has a very good product and/or service that we believe would be beneficial for that customer to be working with."

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)

GC MICRO CORPORATION

President and CEO: Belinda Guadarrama

Privately Held Corporation

Founded: 1986 in Novato

Moved to Petaluma: June 2003

Employees: 28

Yearly Revenue: $35 million

Address: 3910 Cypress Drive (no retail services)

Phone: 789-0600

Web: www.gcmicro.com

PETALUMA BUSINESSPERSON PROFILE: BELINDA GUADARRAMA

GC Micro president and CEO Belinda Guadarrama has lived in Petaluma for six years. She has a degree in economics from Trinity University in San Antonio. Guadarrama was the SBA's California Small Business Person of the Year 2002, and was second runner up nationally the same year. She spends a lot of time doing advocacy work, including the San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma Hispanic chambers of commerce. She's currently on the Department of Energy's small business advisory committee and the Bank of Marin's Petaluma advisory board. She thinks Petaluma is a wonderful city with a walkable downtown and lots of great activities, including the Butter and Eggs Days parade. She is continually impressed that Petaluma has so many successful people and yet maintains its small town character.