SAN DIEGO.- To strengthen ties among the more than 32,000 Hispanic merchants and businesses in San Diego County and increase their market presence, the Hispanic Business Showcase, organized by the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce and the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, was held on Thursday, April 19 at the Pacific Coast Business Park in Oceanside.
Ninety exhibitors and over 1,500 people attended the Expo as suppliers, distributors or potential customers, all part of the growing Hispanic market in San Diego.
"In the Hispanic Business Showcase, we offer a space for companies to make themselves known, and those that are starting, to take ideas," said Tayde Aburto, co-founder of the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce, who estimates that more than 10,000 Hispanic businesses in San Diego are located in North County alone.
Carlsbad resident Maria Davies, co-founder and owner of Pollos María, shared her success story with hundreds of people throughout the day.
"They told me I was crazy, that very few businesses survive, but I was very stubborn", she related to visitors at her booth who were eager to taste the traditional family recipes that had allowed her and her cousin to start a rotisserie-chicken home business in 1985 with very limited funds.
"I asked for loans when I needed to, and now I have my own business," she added.
What started as a dream in a small kitchen 26 years ago, Pollos Maria now employs more than 30 people in its Carlsbad and Oceanside branches.
According to Davies, events like the Hispanic Business Showcase allow her to network with other merchants in the community, as well as market her business to a greater number of people. Small business owners, she believes, not only need to offer a good product and friendly customer service, but also need networking events like the Expo to make their business known.
Aside from organizing networking and marketing events like the Hispanic Business Showcase, the Chamber of E-Commerce offers an online network and Internet assistance for Hispanic entrepreneurs and businesses seeking to use the web as a marketing tool.
According to Aburto, the Chamber's website serves as a directory and online network for Hispanic-owned companies. "Some people are afraid. They think it is very difficult to use the Internet when in fact it is very simple and gives them more exposure to their business," he said.
Additionally, Aburto said that in the future, the Chamber of E-Commerce will seek to strengthen relations south of the border, mainly to create a link between entrepreneurs doing business on both sides of the border or that are looking for a binational market.
alexandra.mendoza@sandiegored.com
