When the 2001 economic downturn left Sunny Rajab unemployed, she decided to become her own boss.
Rajab, who was 23 at the time, used some of the money she saved while working for another telecommunications company to start Business Communications Sol-utions.
The Irvine-based company generates about $4 million in yearly sales installing cabling, phones, computers and other communications gear at businesses. Rajab, now 27, runs the company as chief executive.
Rajab says she gets her work ethic from her parents, who left their native Iran in the early 1980s. The family first came to Germany, where Rajab learned German. She also speaks Farsi.
Her parents started Persian restaurants in Anaheim and Mission Viejo, where Rajab grew up working.
“My parents taught me all about the value of owning a business,” she said. “They worked seven days a week from 11 in the morning to 10 at night. They never took vacations.”
Rajab runs BCS as a family business. Husband Reza Khorramian is vice president of sales. Brothers Amir and Ari Rajab handle projects and purchasing.
BCS installs cabling and sets up phones, computers and other communications gear made by Toshiba Corp., Nortel Networks Corp. and others. BCS also sells services from AT & T; Inc., Cox Communications Inc. and others.
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Rajab: “My parents taught me all about the value of owning a business” |
The company employs about 20 workers at its 6,000-square-foot office, which sits on the corner of Irvine Center Drive and Lake Forest Avenue. BCS also owns two 2,000-square-foot buildings in the Irvine Spectrum that will be used for additional office space, Rajab said.
BCS competes with several companies that install cabling and phones and sell service plans. Among them are Strategic Products & Services in Irvine and Mission Viejo’s Reece Communications Inc.
Rajab’s business targets small to midsize companies that don’t want to tap several contractors and vendors to set up their communications systems, she said.
A good chunk of BCS’ customers are startup businesses, according to Rajab.
“A lot of startup companies are so busy getting their businesses off the ground that they don’t have time to think about how they’re going to set up their communications (gear),” she said.
Getting BCS off the ground wasn’t easy. Like the startup businesses Rajab often works with, BCS dealt with limited money, long hours, managing costs, hiring and building customers.
Rajab hired a few former coworkers to help her get started. She used her contacts in the telecommunication industry to help BCS nab partners and customers, Rajab said.
Before long the company began generating revenue, she said.
“We were really lucky,” Rajab said.
Still, running BCS isn’t easy, according to Rajab.
New and changing technology keeps BCS on its toes when it comes to learning how to install and use products, she said.
“We invest a lot of money in training our workers so that they have a lot of knowledge about new products and technologies out on the market,” Rajab said.
BCS, like other businesses in OC, is bracing for a slower economy.
The company lost a few customers in the mortgage and finance sectors due to last year’s subprime mortgage meltdown and subsequent credit crunch, Rajab said.
This year, BCS plans to become more aggressive about attracting business. The company also plans to introduce products and services so that it can offer more to customers.
Glitzy Earphones
Irvine-based ChicBlvd Inc. expects to hit $1.5 million in sales this year making blinged out earphones.
The earphones, dubbed chicBuds, are decorated with Swarovski crystals and can be used for iPods and other digital audio players.
ChicBuds are made in factories in Asia and sold on the company’s Web site, chicblvd.com. They’re also sold through Internet stores including Redondo Beach’s Kolobags.com and in hotels and resorts such as the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas and Macau.
Celebrities including Ren & #233;e Zellweger, Kanye West and Nick Cannon wear them.
Nikki Gutshall and Kailynn Bowling started ChicBlvd in 2004 after spending years in advertising and marketing.
The company started out as a public relations firm that helped get exposure for small to midsize companies that make products for women.
ChicBlvd then opened an Internet-based store to help its clients sell their products online.
Wanting to add more products to their Web site, Gutshall and Bowling started brainstorming ideas of what they could sell that could bring more value to their Internet store.
They noticed how popular iPods were becoming and decided to make stylish earphones that could be used as a fun alternative to the stock earphones provided by Apple Inc.
“We wanted to make earphones that were stylish,” Gutshall said.
The entrepreneurs had to learn a thing or two about designing prototypes and working with factories overseas in order to have them made. They also discovered the expensive and lengthy process of filing patents and trademarks on their product with the U.S Patent and Trademark office.
Selling their earphones through their own Internet store was manageable, but getting other stores to pick them up was a challenge. They made as many calls to as many retailers as possible in order to get the word out about their product. Once they started landing customers, Gutshall and Bowling then had to learn about shipping products from Asia and how to get their products to stores on time.
Today, earphones make up a good chunk of ChicBlvd’s business, although the company is still active in the public relations industry with more than 40 clients, according to Gutshall.
Like other businesses these days, ChicBlvd is trying to diversify its products and services so that it can be more aggressive in attracting customers in a down economy.
ChicBlvd is a lean operation. The company has just two employees,Gutshall and Bowling,and relies on help from interns.
Hat Trick
Looking for a hat?
Fullerton-based E4hats.com generates $2 million in yearly sales selling more than 9,000 styles of hats, headbands and headscarves through its Web site and 1,600-square-foot store on Harbor Boulevard.
Young Kim, a Korean immigrant, founded the company in 2000.
E4hats buys its products from local and national vendors and stores them in its 7,000-square-foot warehouse.
The company’s business model is similar to Internet shoe retailer Zappos.com Inc. of Nevada in that it sells a lot of variations of one type of product.
Kim wanted to carve his niche by building a business around a specific group of products, he said.
On e4hats’ Web site, customers can find everything from baseball caps and fedoras to cowboy hats and visors in a variety of colors and prints.
This year, Kim wants to introduce new products and invest more money in marketing.
E4hats employs seven people.
