Mapping out details said to be vital for becoming an entrepreneur

Entrepreneur Ric Guerrero said he had no road map to get his food truck street-legal and licensed two years ago.

The then-22-year-old was a culinary-school dropout who liked cooking for his friends and family when he decided to launch his Slidin' Thru food truck. The successful business recently spurred a restaurant at 6440 N. Durango Drive .

But roadblocks, risk and reward were Guerrero 's co-pilot along the way.

"It's a very expensive and tedious process to get your food truck license," he said. "It was all new to me. I hadn't worked in a kitchen a day in my life."

Idea and business plan in hand, Guerrero had to seek business licenses and supplementary background checks in the city of Las Vegas , Clark County , Henderson and North Las Vegas on top of state registration requirements. His commercial business was based out of a southwest warehouse, and all of his workers, who were a group of his buddies, and the truck he purchased via craigslist had to pass Southern Nevada Health District standards.

It was almost a year before Slidin' Thru was ready to sling gourmet burgers.

"I was like, 'Geez, I'm just trying to have a food truck,' " he said.

The hard work paid off. Guerrero invested $20,000 to start his business and grossed $300,000 in Slidin' Thru's first year, he said.

"That was a whirlwind success for us," he said. "Google and the Internet taught me everything. I didn't have much guidance or leadership, and I'm still learning as I go. I have to learn from my own mistakes."

His lessons, he said, include trying to open a second restaurant too quickly, clouding business with personal relationships and expecting too much.

Although Guerrero has found success, his lessons are common with budding entrepreneurs.

Larry Vierra , director of the Nevada Small Business Development Center , a nonprofit group that offers free mentoring services and counseling classes , said planning eases the transition from idea to execution and success.

Gayla Coughlin , owner of Namaste Yoga Studio, 7240 W. Azure Drive , Suite 115 , equated her journey of opening her fitness and therapeutic massage studio to a deconstructed puzzle.

"People can dream and vision anything, (but) you have to come down to the details and finalize the picture," she said. "When the painting is complete, you have to take it back apart like a puzzle."

She said her puzzle pieces were creating a strategic business plan and online buzz while ensuring all the legal aspects were ironed out.

"Background checks, licenses and permits are the largest headache for any business owner," she said.

Coughlin sought financial backing and solicited input from experts, other fitness instructors and clients to develop her business plan. She said she weighed location, timing and competition while defining her plan.

Three months into operations, Coughlin said she is starting to see profits.

"I knew I had a solid business plan and model," she said. "It's just keeping it going from here on out."

Coughlin had experience in corporate finance but said her decision to open a business was still a risk.

"It's a huge gamble, with the economy the way it is," she said. "A great deal of thought was put into every detail of my business."

Centennial Hills hasn't been immune to the economic downturn.

Fostering business has been a key issue on Ward 6 Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross' political pulpit.

"I've been preaching this for a long time in regards to streamlining the way the city of Las Vegas does business," he said. "I've been pounding the table for years to make it easier for entrepreneurs, for business startups and existing business to come to Las Vegas and for the city of Las Vegas to treat them like gold in regards to helping them get started ... and helping them be successful."

He said the city has a one-stop shop in the Development Services Center at Las Vegas City Hall for budding businesspeople.

The centralized facility has a formidable foe in the downed economy but conditions are improving, Ross said.

"This is probably the golden time for young people and even old people like me to think about starting a new business," he said. "They used to say homeownership is the American dream, which it still is . But you know what ? Business ownership is the American dream, too."

Abroad in the state, some officials think entrepreneurs are integral in bettering the economy.

"That's where you're going to see the growth, in the entrepreneurs," said Earl McDowell , deputy administrator for the Employment Security Division of the Nevada Department of Employment . "As a state, we make sure we provide the necessary training so they have a good, qualified workforce in those areas. One of the areas they've been talking a great deal about is entrepreneurship. That's the quickest way to get the grow that you want in Nevada."

Ross and McDowell participated in the White House Urban Economic Forum on March 29 at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority . Las Vegas was one of 12 cities nationwide selected to host such an event.

"It's an exciting time in our economy because we're at the bottom, but we're going to climb out of this thing," Ross said. "Those who get in the saddle (now) are going to make money."

Staff writer Jan Hogan contributed to this report.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.