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Idahoan starts business to ensure Latino-owned business stay afloat

Posted at 6:04 PM, Oct 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-27 20:04:25-04

MAGIC VALLEY — Orlando Chavez started his first business in 2014. He planned to sell t-shirts with inspirational quotes. But he says because of a lack of resources and guidance his business quickly failed.

“At the time it was important for me to find someone that I could connect with specifically more on a personal level. I felt like connecting with other Latinos would have helped me," Chavez said.

Orlando says one problem is that he did not know of any other Latino business owners who could have been a mentor to him, so he started his own business with no guidance.

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“The biggest issue was because I did not have a business plan I did not know what a business plan was, and again I could not find a mentor that I could have connected with and guided me through the process," Chavez said.

According to the Bureau of Labor, approximately 20% of small businesses fail within the first year.

A study done by Stanford University found out of the 33 million businesses in the U.S. 14% are Hispanic-owned. Of that 14%, only 16% survive past six months.

“And they found the main issue is cash flow and education," Chavez said.

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After his first business failed, Orlando says he researched videos, took classes and learned as much as possible to keep him from making the same mistake again.

He then started his second business Biznesito to educate others on entrepreneurship, money management, and investment.

“So a lot of the success that went into my second business was educating myself. Reading as many books as I can and watch as many videos as I can. Looking at what others have done that worked and implement the same strategies," Chavez said.

To provide the Latino community with the resources they need to avoid the same mistake he made, Orlando started a 12-week online course called the Latinx Entrepreneurship Academy.

“In this online course, the main portion of the course is creating a business plan. A business plan is a must for every business because it is essentially the DNA of the business. It tells you how you are going to start your business, how you are going to grow your business in the short and long term," Chavez said.

Orlando's goal is to work with other organizations to educate as many people as possible about available resources.

“I do want to reach out to the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and get involved and see how I as a small business owner and with my online course how I could help other Latinos who do want to start a business or grow their business. I want to change the lives of others," Chavez said.

To learn more about Orlando's Latinx Entrepreneurship Academy, you can visit his website.