INITIAL SITUATION

Born in Cartagena, Colombia, Margarita Perez always had the entrepreneur and chef genes in her blood. While growing up, her grandma would always prepare the most delicious Colombian cuisines for her family. When she moved to America, she never knew that these skills would follow her on her journey. While working in the retail industry, the pandemic closed all non-essential retail businesses, which opened an opportunity.

Stuck inside during the lockdown, Margarita started cooking more and more to practice her Colombian recipes. These recipes contain different spices that combine to create a unique flavor only found in her home city of Cartagena. Since she was new to America, she treated her cuisine as an opportunity to showcase a different side of Colombia than most people would see on the news. She found an opportunity to showcase this love in each one of her handcrafted recipes. With each phone call back home to her Grandma, Margarita continued to perfect her family recipes. An opportunity arose for her to work in an underserved chef program called Kampar Kitchen, and she didn’t look back. After the program ended, she continued with her passion by selling these specialties at pop-up shops and catering events for family and friends.

HOW THE SBDC HELPED

Quote:
“I’m very grateful because without Liliana, I wouldn’t be Margie’s Cuisine right now.” - Margarita Perez | Owner & Founder

After finding the Widener SBDC, she quickly made a great connection with our Bilingual Consultant, Liliana Quintero, who shares her birth country of Colombia. During her time with the SBDC she was able to achieve the successes of opening her restaurant, completing her business plan and financials for guidance, registering as an LLC, and much more! She shared the utmost gratitude for Liliana holding her hand throughout the whole entire process.

SUCCESS

“I’m getting up every day knowing that I am putting a smile on people’s faces when they eat my food” – Margarita Perez

Margarita tackles each problem with a positive attitude and holds that entrepreneurial mindset of taking risks to capitalize on any opportunity. When talking to her, it is easy to get a sense of her entrepreneurial spirit. Margarita is a proud graduate of the second cohort of our Camino Al Exito (Path to Success) Masterclass, where we were fortunate enough to have her cater our graduation ceremony. She was able to open a physical location to sell her authentic cuisine in Chadds Ford, PA! While with our center she also developed a business plan and a financial plan for the future of her restaurant.

One of her favorite parts of being an entrepreneur so far is the warm reception of love that she has received from her community. Margie’s Cuisine has become a gathering place for locals of all ages, who provide her with support and ideas for perfecting her craft – but she always tell them that they must be honest about their experience!