ESCONDIDO -- Arnold Jaffa has spent the past 25 years drawing from his experiences as a business owner to counsel others on how to make their own enterprises successful.

"My philosophy in life is if someone succeeds, then everyone benefits," he said.

That's why the Escondido resident has volunteered as a counselor since 1982 for San Diego's Service Corps of Retired Executives, or SCORE, an organization sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The organization gets executives who have tried-and-true experience together with small-business owners. He received a Honorary Life Member Award from the organization in 2004.

As a counselor, Jaffa said he relies on lessons learned from running his own business, R&S Toy Mfg. Co., a toy manufacturer that he sold in 1980 before moving from New York to the San Diego area.

Because he believes "experience is the best teacher," he said he has been eager since he retired in 1980 to share his professional advice.

He created a booklet, the "3 Step Simplified Formula for Successful Business Start-Up," that provides a formula for cost pricing and break-even analysis. He said it could be applied to any retail, wholesale, service or manufacturing business.

Jaffa, 78, said the booklet, which can be obtained for free from SCORE's Web site, www.score-sandiego.org, provides a guide to determining how much a product or service has to be priced to offset the costs associated with it, along with other useful information. He said the formula, first published in 1994, uses basic arithmetic to help people analyze the break-even point of their businesses.

Jerry Greenspan, a former chairman of SCORE who has known Jaffa for about 20 years, said the booklet was a "terrific tool" for prospective business owners.

Even better, he said, is the way Jaffa delivers his messages as a counselor.

"I don't know many people who have his degree of sophistication and dedication," he said, adding that Jaffa is a "person who sympathizes" with clients.

While small business owners are his primary focus, Jaffa said he also has taught workshops to high school and college students about how to manage finances.

Eventually, the workshops led to the creation of his book, "Arnold R. Jaffa's Tools for Managing Your Money," published in 2006 by Dog Ear Publishing.

Jaffa, who remembers struggling to make ends meet during The Depression, said learning to manage money is invaluable for anyone.

"I still live in the same way as the Depression," he said.

Although his hard work and perseverance has helped him become a success, he said the real credit goes to his wife, Doris, who "has always helped and supported" him.

"She's a gem," he said.