According to a 2022 SmartAsset data finding, San Luis Obispo County is ranked tenth in the state for having the highest small business income.
“San Luis Obispo is made up almost entirely of small businesses because again we are a small community,” Jim Dantona, President and CEO of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, said.
Dantona says they see a lot of revenue from local small businesses because of new destination locations from the San Luis Obispo airport.
“Small businesses here in our community are definitely able to reach new consumers,” Dantona said.
SmartAsset determined the best places for small business owners based on the population, small business income, taxes, and other factors. Here in San Luis Obispo the community supports the community.
“We are spending our dollars locally because we know that it benefits the rest of our community,” Dantona said.
“There’s a lot of support here in the business community and I think the locals here really do go out of their way to support local business,” Adamski said.
Nathan Adamski, Operations Manager at Slo Cider says that they get a good mix of tourists and locals which produces steady growth.
“A lot of tourism is coming in and they also like to buy local products and they go back to where they’re from and talk about it and that kind of helps,” Adamski said.
Adamski says the cost of living in San Luis Obispo does not always balance out.
“I think that it is difficult for employees to make a living off their salary here in San Luis Obispo,” Adamski said.
Gizmo Hayes, Head Chef at Kitchen and Vine in San Luis Obispo says he feels like San Luis Obispo is a prime spot to have a small business.
“With Covid, being in a big city was difficult for a lot of people and I think people started exploring farther than they were ready to originally,” Hayes said.
He shared what he believes the secret to success is.
“You need to have passionate workers in order to succeed here,” Hayes continued.
“It’s also a location where people like to visit and like to be, so there's a strong sense of community identity and I think that really helps,” Adamski said.
The City of San Luis Obispo encourages locals to shop locally.
“Shop local bonus programs where we are actually incentivizing consumers to go shop locally and we will give you a gift card when you do so,”Dantona said.
To continue to support local business, the City of San Luis Obispo will hold its' Shop Local Bonus Program again this year between Black Friday and Christmas Eve.
