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 County 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 SCORE Ventura County 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 Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village Regional 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"