Manufacturing Help


Charlie Woo
MegaToys

"When we grew to about $8-to-$10 million, then it became very difficult for the family members to do everything by themselves. When it was $2 or $3 million dollars, I used to get up in the morning and talk to customers and sell the items, and at night I would try to balance my books and keep the records, and sometimes I don't get to sleep until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. Sometimes I constantly had to remind myself that I cannot be in everywhere at once."
- Charlie Woo


Los Angeles. In this segment of the show, called In the Trenches, we visit with Charlie Woo, the founder of MegaToys. He manufactures and distributes a wide range of children's toys. Charlie has been the inspiration to develop several blocks near downtown L.A. into what is now called Toy Town.

An LA Times writer said, "Mr. Charlie Woo knows every wrinkle on his territory, a ramshackle patch of downtown Los Angeles. This is Toy Town and Mr. Woo is its unofficial Mister Mayor."



KEY IDEAS


GO FURTHER :


OTHER SEGMENTS:
Velez
Sliver of Genius: Tom Velez is a founder of CTA; they build satellites. Although he started out as an SBA 8A contractor, he not only graduated out of the program, he has been one of the SBA's real success stories. Since 1989 CTA has done work for the government and with the downsizing of defense and spacecraft, he has expanded into the commercial arena.

Laura NashDo the right thing.
Professor Dr. Laura Nash of Harvard University and Boston University is the author of Good Intentions Aside and talks here about business ethics.

Ron Willingham Integrity Selling.
Ron Willingham, author of Integrity Selling and several other books -- When Good isn't Good Enough, The Best Seller, and Hey, I'm the customer talks about the heart of business.

John DolanLaw Talk.
John Dolan talks about key legal issues facing all small business owners at one time or another. There are twelve key points.

 

Jeff SlutskyStreetFighter Marketing.
Jeff Slutsky takes us into the creative mind and the enterprising, rather bold, spirit... great market tips for the viewing!


EVEN FURTHER:
  • GO TO SCHOOL: If you enroll in Small Business School, you can watch this show as well as learn from over 300 other entrepreneurs. It is all online. It requires DSL or cable connection with no firewalls. If you answer the questions in the teaching notes and study guide, you may qualify:
    • to get listed within your business type and within your state's listings,
    • to be profiled on a show (local or national),
    • to generate automatically a business plan for debt financing and/or a SCOR for equity financing,
    • to be listed within the Small Business Index, and
    • to qualify as one of the 400,000 small businesses to be listed and then further qualified as the first 2000 to be the best of small business within each business category.
  • AT YOUR LOCAL COLLEGE: Check this list of schools (partial). Also, check for classes with your local Small Business Development Center, Chamber of Commerce, and Economic Development Commission.
  • LOOK AT STEPS 1 - 8. Think about where you are and where you want to be.
  • STUDY BUSINESSES BY TYPE.
  • WATCH TV! To find out what is airing in your market, usually on your local PBS-member station, click here.


We invite your questions or comments.