| Shelly Benton & Suzanne Canepa, while working as
bartenders in a fine dining establishment, in an evening only bar, decided that
they wanted to work days, not nights. Going into the breakfast/lunch restaurant
business, was the best way for them to accomplish this goal. They enrolled in a
couple of classes offered by SCORE Ventura at Oxnard College. They took the
basic "Going Into Business" & "Financial Management" courses. Then they set out
to look for a location to start their small venture. This turned out to be a
greater & longer process than they were willing to undertake.
They contacted the Ventura SCORE office for some personal advice on how to
speed up the process towards reaching their goal of going into their own
business. The office made an arrangement for them to meet a counselor in the
Westlake/Thousand Oaks Chamber of Commerce office, which was in their area.
The first meeting led to their locating an existing business. The owner
wanted to retire, but was uncertain as to how to go about it. Shelly & Suzanne
met again with a counselor who just happened to have expertise in the restaurant
business. With his help, they drafted a plan for taking over the existing
business in a fast & efficient way.
The rest is history. They have been running the "Side Street Cafe" in Newbury
Park, for 3 years. This breakfast/lunch diner has been completely redecorated to
resemble the "little mother's home type" cafe. They have come up with many new
menu items, better public image and are experiencing a 60% increase in business.
Now when they talk to their SCORE counselors, they say "Thank You SCORE" with
big smiles on their faces.
Side Street Cafe Stat Sheet:
Company: Side Street Cafe
Incorporated:
July 2002
Phone: (805)499-9323
Employees: 9
Business Type: Woman -
owned (C) Corporation
Best advise to someone starting out: "Don't be afraid
to ask questions because there is a lot of good advice out there and SCORE
really eager to give it"
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