Vision To Venture Program

Create Your Own Small Business

Do you want to learn how to start your own business? Curious if you have what it takes to start up your own business? Many of the business owners on the Central Coast would attribute some of their success to the tools and techniques they learned from Mission Community Services’ Vision to Venture Program.

Vision to Venture is also available in Spanish. Please contact us for more information or sign up for a free orientation in Spanish.

Vision to Venture Description

What is Vision to Venture? We’re glad you asked. Vision to Venture is a 14 week evening class hosted at Mission Community Services in San Luis Obispo. This program is specifically targeted to help people who:

  • Have an idea and want to start a new business
  • Want to be their own boss, but don’t know what business they want to start and are looking for tools to better understand what’s involved in starting a business
  • Have an existing business and want to get better business skills for managing their company
  • Want to learn how to write a business plan for raising capital, going to the bank or finding investors for their business

What You’ll Learn in the Vision to Venture Program

We like to say the Vision to Venture Program is a business fundamentals course for entrepreneurs of all sorts that helps build the foundation for your role as a business owner.

The 14 week intensive program is divided into three main sections:

  1. Marketing
  2. Financials
  3. Operations

In each module of the program students are introduced to the essential aspects of each primary function in a business.  Our goal is to make sure you understand the basics of what it takes to run your own business and teach you how and where to learn more about the areas of business that you need to understand more in order to thrive, not just survive.

Vision to Venture Testimonials

“Vision to Venture” gave me exactly what I need – the ideas, structure and motivation to take my life by the reins!”

Camay Arad – Chameleon Home

“Mission Community Services provided me the essential tools to launch my business, and the on-going support and education to succeed”

Leticia Pérez Milller – Tilde Translations

Vision to Venture Syllabus – San Luis Obispo Program

Week 1 – Welcome and Business Owner 101
Week 2 -– Time Management and Organization
Week 3 – Introduction to Marketing
Week 4 – Marketing Research and Identifying Your Target Market
Week 5 – Competitive Analysis and Sales Forecasting
Week 6 – Promotions and Developing a Marketing Budget
Week 7 – Operations Overview and Legal Forms of Business Ownership
Week 8 – Employees and Employment Law
Week 9 – Risk Management and Insurance
Week 10 – Introduction to Financial Statements
Week 11 – Creating Financial Statements
Week 12 – Decision Making from Financial Statements
Week 13 – Raising Money and Credit
Week 14 – Graduation