
Assess Yourself - Are You a Fit?
One of the first steps you should take before deciding to go into business is to determine why you, the prospective business owner, want to go into business. Have you realistically calculated the rewards and challenges of owning a business? Do you have the essential characteristics to be a successful business owner? Are you ready to handle the common types of problems faced by small businesses? Are you prepared to make the commitment and take the risks? Are you sure that this is what you really want? These are important questions you need to ask yourself.


SCORE San Luis Obispo would like to thank the Santa Barbara Economic Development Collaborative for the framework for the Santa Maria Valley Business Start-up Guide. Their document, Santa Barbara County Business Start-up Guide (score.org/santabarbara/resource/eguide/how-start-business-santa-barbara), formed the basis for this document and we are most grateful for their permission to share their document on our website with a few changes for Santa Maria Valley
This guide is meant to give you the steps you need to take to begin your business. It is not a legal document but we have made every





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