Cal Lutheran MBA Students Lend a Hand to Small Businesses

William Merritt admits that he and business partner Mark Glasmeier were a bit unprepared in 1988 when they founded Automated Applications, a Moorpark-based manufacturer of automated assembly machines.

By 1994, that lack of experience was taking its toll--annual sales, which had peaked at $1 million, had dropped to $600,000, and a staff that had once totaled 11 was down to five.

“We really had no formal management training at all,” Merritt said. “We were just sort of winging it.”

Those days of uncertainty and crossed fingers, however, are long gone. Automated Applications now has 20 employees, and Merritt is expecting year-end sales to reach $4 million. Last week, the company held an open house at a 10,500-square-foot building the owners purchased this year.

Merritt attributes the turnaround largely to training received through the Ventura County Entrepreneur Academy and from free consultations provided by three students enrolled in the Master’s of Business Administration program at Cal Lutheran University.

Through its “Consulting to Small Business” class, Cal Lutheran MBA students, most of them nearing completion of their degrees, provide assistance to area business owners seeking help establishing their companies or stepping up to a higher level of operation.

Participating businesses generally have less than $30 million in annual revenue and fewer than 200 employees. The university is in the process of looking for business owners to participate in the 1997-98 program, an 11-week course that will begin Nov. 22.

“Those three students worked with us on a weekly basis for a month or two and put together a summary of our company as it was then and the things we needed to improve on,” Merritt said. “It’s always nice to have outside people look at your business. You get so caught up in the day-to-day running of it, you get trapped.”

Typical of many of the businesses working with the Cal Lutheran students, Automated Applications needed assistance with many of the basics, incorporating suggestions on sales, marketing and financial administration into their business plan.

Over the past couple of years, company executives have put the advice into practice.

“We’ve done it through marketing surveys, advertising, establishing budgets, controlling the manufacturing process, analyzing financial data,” Merritt said. “They came in and said, ‘These are the things you guys need to do, and this is how professional organizations are run.’ ”

Cal Lutheran’s MBA consulting course originated in 1980 in association with the Small Business Administration, which regularly required its loan applicants to consult with MBA students at various universities. The program is now under the auspices of the Small Business Institute.

As the program benefits the entrepreneurs, it serves as a real-world assignment for students.

“The students get a really good opportunity to get an inside look at business, how a small business really works,” said Ronald Hagler, director of Cal Lutheran’s MBA program. “I think it appeals to the person who may want to become his or her own boss. It appeals to bankers or accountants or purchasing agents that may want to deal with smaller companies. Some may want to invest in smaller companies.”

Hagler, who oversees the consulting course, does an initial review of the businesses interested in participating to determine if their needs are appropriate for his students. If possible, he said, he tries to get a variety of industries involved.

In teams of three or four, students first meet with the business owners to determine the scope of work to be done. They outline a timetable--to complete the job during the 11-week program--and ultimately write a report for the client, making suggestions for progress.

“What happens is initially when the students get into it, they say, ‘I’ve only got so much time I can spend on this thing,’ like any class,” Merritt said. “First thing you know, they’re putting in so much work and time on this course, it’s unbelievable.”

Hui Ling Tanouye, director of the Ventura County Entrepreneur Academy, said the MBA consulting program at Cal Lutheran can be invaluable to local entrepreneurs.

“We always try to bring resources to academy participants,” said Tanouye, who refers academy graduates to the university program as well as other local business-support organizations.

“These are students with a lot of business training, and a lot of them are able to assist employers in tackling some pressing business problems,” she said.

Business owners interested in working with the Cal Lutheran “Consulting to Small Business” course may call 493-3371.