NaplesNews:
Entrepreneur Stella Sandoval listened attentively and took notes in her native language during the ‘Starting Your Own Business’ seminar at the Naples Branch of the Collier County Public Library. ‘There are so many things!’ Sandoval exclaimed midway through the presentation organized by the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and Florida Gulf Coast University’s Small Business Development Center.
The general information seminar, which was the 1st offered by SCORE Latino in Spanish, included information on business plans, legal issues, finances, insurance and general business strategy.
Sandoval, a native of Colombia, hopes to open a combined grocery/restaurant in Lehigh Acres offering Colombian food and products, as well as goods from the rest of Central and South America. She has lived in Lehigh Acres for 3 years and works at Physicians Regional Medical Center in North Naples. Some of the information was surprising, especially the complicated regulations for restaurants, she said.
Seeking help from community resources to overcome those challenges is essential, the seminar emphasized. ‘Because they come from a foreign country where the system, the laws and the requirements are different, (Hispanic entrepreneurs) have adapt,’ said Frank Rodriguez, a consultant with Small Business Advisors, a Bonita Springs company, and SCORE volunteer who organized the seminar. ‘That costs not only time, but often money as well. And another obstacle, of course, is the language.’…
In the future, SCORE Latino will be offering seminars in Spanish on more specific topics related to running a business.
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