Christy Paul, a young school teacher, saw a need in Santa Cruz for a quality educational toys and games store for children under 10.   She wanted both a store for educators and parents, and also for children to play interactively with the products and create in workshops.  She contacted the Central Coast SBDC and became part of the Youth Entrepreneur Program (YEP) to plan her business and obtain financing with the help of Keith Holtaway, SBDC Certified Business Plan Advisor.  Though the economic climate was a challenge to open a retail business, Paul was hopeful the business would be well received.

Paul anticipated funding needs would require financial help from her family and a local bank for a SBA Microloan, so she began the process of developing financial projections and completing the loan application. Most important of all, she was unsure of a location, so she worked with Holtaway and the Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency to research available locations.

Holtaway reviewed the financials and assisted Paul in updating them to show profitability, reducing startup costs to increase working capital.  In just a few short weeks, the loan application was completed and approved by the Cal Coastal Rural Development Corporation for $35K.  The other half of the startup costs were invested by the owner and her family.

After only another month Paul and Holtaway found a location and the lease was negotiated and signed during the next few weeks.  Holtaway referred her to the SBDC Certified Bookkeeping Advisor Kathy McClure, who assisted in setting up her Quickbooks financial system, merchant services and POS systems.  Paul had taken the SBDC Marketing 101 seminar for marketing planning, so she was confident her opening ideas and publicity would go well.

Paul held her grand opening of her business just as she planned on Halloween day. She hired her first employee, and offered face painting, trick or treat bag decorating, a reading nook and tabletop village.  The local Sentinel newspaper printed a feature article and highlighted the positives of families shopping in downtown Santa Cruz and the “Green Toys” brand made out of recycled materials.

Paul reports that there has been so much excitement and support for the store that through the first few months, her sales  have exceeded forecasts.  She has increased staff to 2 employees and created a family-friendly website, with special programs weekly.

“The SBDC at Cabrillo College has been an amazing resource through the entire process of opening the store. The monthly classes offered through the center are great because they provide a huge amount of applicable information in just a couple of hours. For me, the most invaluable resources have been my two SBDC advisors. Keith Holtaway helped me through the planning, loan acquisition, and business plan execution phases of opening the business. I don't know how I would have done it without his support and expertise. Kathy McClure has helped me wade through the intricacies of Quickbooks and Quickbooks POS. At this point I couldn't imagine working without those programs, and I surely would have had many more challenges with the software had it not been for Kathy's guidance.”

Client: Lolly Tree Toys
Business Owner(s): Christy Paul
Phone: (831) 713-5136
Email: Christy.paul@lollytreetoys.com
www.lollytreetoys.com