SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Tired of having a boss? You may be thinking of starting your own business, but it's not easy, especially for single parents.
Nir Avital would know. He opened the Simon Says Coffee bar in the Gaslamp Quarter three years ago while raising his now 13-year-old daughter.
"I drop her at school at 8 a.m., and I come right away here," he said. "After 4 p.m., I pick her up from school, I drop her at home and I come back here."
Avital said he works as early as 3 a.m., and he has to cover for employees who are unavailable or call out sick.
However, he likes being his own boss. Avital left his sales job about three years ago to open the coffee bar.
His friend Jacob Sapochnick, who is also a single father, guided him along the way. Sapochnick also happens to own the Co-mmunity co-working spaces in Hillcrest and La Jolla.
Now, he's creating a bi-monthly mentorship program for single parent entrepreneurs.
The Co-mmunity members who have been running a business for more than five years would volunteer as mentors.
Sapochnick said the program is free to try as it's being rolled out.
It's in testing, but Avital said it could go a long way to inspiring others to take that chance.
