Small Business Development Center hosted by College of the Canyons
DDx Media • Stevenson Ranch, CA

Before:
Tania Mulry had 18 years of experience on Wall Street, as a financial services executive, and in mobile marketing when she started DDx Media Inc., a mobile strategy, product development and marketing firm, in May 2010. Two months later, Mulry launched her first mobile product, edRover, and nonprofit EdRover, Inc. The edRover app helps parents raise funds for schools by “checking in” to participating businesses on mobile devices. Despite rapid progress, Mulry needed help. “As a solopreneur personally investing in the businesses,” she explains, “I
needed a sounding board to talk through the strategic growth decisions facing me.”

Best Advice:
In October 2010 Mulry visited the SBDC and i3 Advanced Technology Incubator (i3ATI) hosted by College of the Canyons. Business Advisor Nina Grooms-Lee helped her develop a formal business plan, find resources including internship programs and low-cost office space, and plan for access to capital.

Lessons Learned:

• Get feedback. “I had written a business plan, but working with Nina, I set milestones and goals,” Mulry says. “She was a great sounding board.”
• Plan ahead. Grooms-Lee encouraged Mulry to network in the angel investor community. “We may or may not go for angel funding in the future,” says Mulry,“but should the need arise, I’ve made a lot of good contacts at SBDC events.”
• Maximize your exposure. Community exposure has been a huge benefit of working with the SBDC. “The SBDC invited me to speak on a panel at the Dream & Discover Entrepreneurship Conference in May 2011, which was attended by more than 200 people,” Mulry says. “I was also featured in an i3 ATI article in The Signal newspaper. Things like that are very helpful in building credibility and making connections.”

After:
In less than a year, DDx has ramped up revenue to over $10K per month. The edRover app won a $10,000 prize from AT&T and a $30,000 prize from Microsoft, which helped develop the app, now available in the Windows Phone Marketplace and the iTunes App Store. The company now has two full-time employees and one part-time employee, and is outsourcing to workers in the community. And Mulry has been featured by dozens of media outlets, including TV news, business magazines and websites, and local business publications.

Mulry’s current focus is getting local Santa Clarita merchants and schools on board with the edRover program, and to continue serving DDx’s growing number of marketing clients, including Anaheim-based wirelessWERX. Her long-term goals are to grow the edRover platform and her marketing business to serve the needs of businesses, schools and charities nationwide.

“I’m thrilled with the support I’ve received at the SBDC,” says Mulry. “Their consultants and support services provide a tremendous value during startup, a time when entrepreneurs need the most assistance.”