"“I am thankful for the continuous support provided by SBDC. Thanks to them I was able to start my business and I was motivated to start my career as an entrepreneur to make a long-time dream come true and open my business. I am happy to share my product with my community now.”-Laura Elena Salgado P., Owner
More Info: WebsiteKHOFIPOUROVER LLC DBA: KAFENS
Laura is the owner of Kafens and a coffee lover. Kafens “Cafe de Olla” comes in different brewing methods, traditional coffee maker, pour over, and soon in K-cup. Kafens is a traditional Mexican coffee with sourced ingredients that are 100% organic, prepared in an easy way, with Cinnamon and Piloncillo. The coffee comes in unique flavors such as Mexican, Brazilian, Light Roast, Decaf and Colombian; all roasts are compostable and ecofriendly. The products sell via e-commerce, local delivery, and local pop-up stores.
Every time that Laura hosts a party, people enjoy the traditional Mexican coffee that she has prepared, so she decided to open this business to offer a tasty Latin American coffee, prepared with a traditional recipe to others. In addition, Laura was passionate to share her Mexican traditions with other cultures.
Laura was looking for help accessing funding and guidance on how to start a business. She became aware of the California Dream Fund Training Program (CDF) and participated in the first few classes of the Central CA SBDC Network program. However, she opted to switch to another local CDF provider as their classes were presented in Spanish. Laura eventually completed the CDF training, applied for, and received the grant. She also received additional one-on-one consulting services from Cal Coastal SBDC.
After receiving the CDF grant, Laura still did not feel ready to manage and grow her new business, so she was paired with a Cal Coastal SBDC consultant to learn more about expanding and improving her business. Cal Coastal SBDC is also assisting Laura with her application for a Marketing/Social Media grant from the City of Salinas.
Laura opened her business on November 15, 2022, with 1 full time staff member and invested $4000 of her own money plus the $5,000 CDF grant to start her business. After getting a grant from the CDF program, Laura was motivated to continue seeking funding resources for her business. Laura was able to participate in a program through the Mexican Consulate in San Jose and won an additional $10,000.
What did the owner feel was the most important part of the assistance received?
The consultant provided her with valuable information for my business and she appreciates the continued updates on additional resources, such as the marketing grant from the City of Salinas for which she is currently applying.
