“As an attorney in Los Angeles before I moved to Northern
California, I taught courses for SCORE and referred clients to
SCORE, so I knew the excellent help that they provide to small
businesses,” says Barbara Frantz, partner in the law firm of
Allen & Frantz, LLP in Brentwood, California. From 1987 to 1998,
Frantz ran her own successful firm in L.A. that provided general
counsel services to small businesses. Most of her clients were
small computer software and internet related companies with
revenues that typically ranged from $1 million to $3 million per
year. In 1997, Frantz won the Small Business Administration’s
(SBA) Small Business Advocate Award for the western U.S. region.
In addition, she was very active in the National Association of
Women Business Owners (NAWBO), wrote articles for Entrepreneur
magazine, and gave courses and workshops to SCORE clients about
business law.
Frantz and her husband often traveled to their vacation home on
the Sacramento Delta near Brentwood, California in East Contra
Costa County. In 1998 she gave up her practice in L.A. and with
her husband permanently relocated to Brentwood.
From 1998 to 2003 Frantz was General Counsel for Vanguard
Integrity Professionals, where she was responsible for corporate
organization; mergers and acquisitions; employee issues and
contract administration. When the owner of Vanguard decided to
relocate the business out of the area in 2002, Frantz decided to
open her own legal practice in Brentwood rather than move. “I
quickly learned that the market for legal services in East
Contra Costa County is very different from the market in
metropolitan L.A., and you have to market yourself differently,”
says Frantz. Having worked with and referred clients to SCORE in
the past, she decided to seek SCORE’s help in dealing with this
challenge.
In early 2003, Frantz met with a SCORE counselor, Charlie
Askanas, to map out a marketing plan. “Besides helping with the
marketing plan, Charlie helped me focus my resources and time as
well as set priorities, so that I wouldn’t spend a lot of money
before it was necessary,” adds Frantz. She met with Askanas
monthly over a six month period and began quickly to see
positive results. In the three years since opening her Brentwood
practice, Frantz says that “gross monthly billings have grown to
exceed the billings in my L.A. practice and I’m only working
four days per week now.” Her client base is largely developers,
construction contractors and small manufacturing companies
versus the software and internet clients that she had in L.A.
Frantz has been able to achieve another goal also. In the last
year she has sustained her monthly billing level while cutting
the number of active clients by fifty percent. This allows her
to develop closer relationships with her clients and also gain
additional free time for family and other interests.
Frantz now has a partner, former Contra Costa County Superior
Court Judge, John Allen. The firm employs a paralegal, legal
assistant and two additional administrative staff. For three out
of the last four years Allen & Frantz, LLP has won the “Best of
Brentwood – Attorneys” award for exemplary contributions to the
local community.
Frantz sums up her experience with SCORE by saying, “SCORE has
been invaluable in helping me to grow a successful business.
They have listened to what is important to me about my goals and
helped me create a business framework that is consistent with my
values.”
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