Annandale nonprofit offers business start-up assistance

Many people out of work or stuck in a boring or dead-end job
dream of owning their own business. But how to start?

The Business Development Assistance Group (BDAG) can help. The
Annandale-based nonprofit organization provides free assistance to help people
with ideas for start-ups through one-on-one counseling, entrepreneurship
training in collaboration with Northern Virginia Community College, and other
assistance.

Fairfax County provides office space for BDAG in the Heritage Center, 7911 Little River Turnpike. The organization moved there in August when the county health and social services from Leesburg Pike in Seven Corners in August to
the Heritage Center, 7911 Little River Turnpike, along with Fairfax County
health and social services departments that relocated to that complex.

“If someone has been fixing air conditioners for 20 years
and now wants to run their own business, this is where they go,” says BDAG
President Toa Do.

“Very few agencies do what BDAG does,” Do says. “Most
agencies help people who already have a business. We talk people through their
business idea—or in some cases, many ideas.” BDAG helps people understand a
business plan, the financing, legal structure, and how to attract customers.

Between July 2010 and June 2011, BDAG served 1,1158 clients,
supported the creation or retention of 58 jobs (81 percent of them new jobs),
and assisted 52 businesses. Of the 32 businesses, the organization helped
create, 17 percent are cleaning services, 13 percent are home-based child care,
20 percent are business services, 13 percent are trade-related. The rest are
mix of other types of businesses.

BDAG is aimed at lower-income people and minorities looking
to improve their economic situations, and about 70 to 80 percent of its clients
are from those groups. But BDAG also helps higher-income people, too, Do says, because
“they sometimes come back and create jobs, and we supply the people.”

Many people have unrealistic expectations. For example, if someone
comes in with the idea of opening a gas station, Do will ask, “have you ever
run a gas station before? Do you have any money?” If a person says no, and
can’t wait for five or six months to get financing, it’s probably not going to
work out.

More than half of the people who come abandon their ideas
when they realize what it takes, and another 40 percent drop out when they realize
it’s hard to get credit and they will need significant start-up money.

If people survive those hurdles, the last step is developing
a marketing plan. BDAG helps clients figure out who will be the first
clients—it’s usually someone they know—and put together a website and marketing
materials.

Do works closely with the SkillSource Center, which
has an office at the Heritage Center next door to BDAG. SkillSource, a county employment agency, hosts job fairs,
helps people write resumes and practice for interviews, provides office space
with computers and internet access for job seekers, and provides free computer
training to veterans through the Microsoft Elevate America program. For more
information, contact James Do, 703/533-5471.

For Do, creating BDAG was a way to give back. After
immigrating to the United States from Vietnam as one of the “boat people,” he eventually
started a successful business installing cable connections in office buildings.

During the Vietnam War, Do worked for the Americans and, for
that was thrown into prison for two years. After the war, he escaped on a
30-foot boat packed with 64 people. They were attacked by Thai pirates four
times. The pirates, armed with hammers, beat and robbed the refugees, even
taking the gold teeth from an elderly man.

It took four days to reach a refugee camp in Thailand. Do
eventually made it to the United States but it took him eight years to bring
his wife and two young sons here. Do now uses his expertise as a successful
entrepreneur to help others follow the American dream.