The title of San Diego County’s first official microenterprise home kitchen operation (MEHKO) went to Diana Tapiz, owner of Tres Fuegos Cocina and client of the Small Business Development Center hosted at Southwestern College.
Southwestern is home to the San Diego & Imperial Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network lead center as well as the network’s South San Diego SBDC, where Tapiz works with her business advisor Marisa Castaneda. Tapiz’ permitted and certified MEHKO is part of her work with the SBDC to launch, sustain, and grow her small business.
“Thank you so much for being there with us on such a monumental day for our business,” Tapiz shared when SBDC’s Castaneda attended and filmed Tapiz gaining her business’ MEHKO status. “The SBDC has played a huge role in our success.”
How Diana Tapiz achieved her goal
Watch Tapiz and team celebrate her health permit in this YouTube video. Tapiz described how she achieved the restaurant she dreamed of, in her home and with the bigger picture in mind. She added how she’s grateful for the county’s MEHKO program, helping her recipes which were taking off and surprising her, to be shared using resources available to her. And she noted the MEHKO process is good for small business owners and good for San Diego.
A “humbled business owner”
Tapiz calls herself the “humbled business owner” of Tres Fuegos Cocina, and she happily shares with her warmth and energy how the SBDC helped her grow her business in many ways: “It established goals for me to follow.”
“Going into the food business, I had no idea where to begin,” she said. “I had no idea where to start … It was an amazing choice that I called.”
A friend had told her about the SBDC, and Tapiz added how she was lucky and grateful to meet advisor Castaneda, who Tapiz said has guided her very well and she’s continually so thankful for that as well as how Castaneda has given her a map.
Where did Tres Fuegos start?
Tres Fuegos started as a home-based business but eventually expanded to work out of a commissary kitchen for a while, all the while considering how best to handle the restaurant business and current environment.
“We wanted to see what people thought of our food, and it just boomed,” Tapiz said.
Follow @tresfuegoscocina on Instagram and @tresfuegoscocina on Facebook.
The entrepreneur has worked with her advisor, attended SBDC workshops and training series, gone through educational curriculums, as well as managed the roller coaster of the pandemic — from business plans to relief funding.
“Don’t hesitate. Call them,” she said of the SBDC. “They will help you. They will guide you. And they will give you a map for you to follow … I would have taken a longer time figuring that map out if I would not have come to you. And you’ve given me this beautiful map.”
Check out the video success story with Tapiz and her advisor on the regional SBDC YouTube channel, plus take a look at her written success story to learn more.
Visit SDVISBDC.org to sign up for the San Diego & Imperial SBDC’s no-cost small business services including one-on-one advising, training workshops, and resources. Plus learn about the college’s Center for Business Advancement including the Women’s Business Center and small business government contracting support.
