Everybody at all times has a seat on the Segura household’s dinner desk. Miguel and Lisa Segura, homeowners of Miguel’s Artisan Recipes in Clovis, California, have been making do-it-yourself Mexican recipes for his or her pals and neighbors for many years.
However when the pandemic hit and each had been furloughed from their jobs, they turned their ardour right into a enterprise. Lisa created a label, and utilizing Miguel’s mom’s recipes, they started delivering recent meals to family and friends by automobile.
When phrase unfold, the Seguras had been invited to serve their homestyle delicacies at pop-up occasions with Fresno Street Eats, a meals truck and pageant venue. The corporate’s proprietor helped them get arrange with a licensed kitchen and pop-up tent. The following 12 months, the tent changed into a meals truck, which lastly gave method to a storefront. Within the nook of a neighborhood comfort retailer, the homeowners cook dinner meals for catered occasions and promote their well-known dishes and jarred salsas.
Recent recipes and a tight-knit buyer group earned the restaurant the #1 spot on Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the Central Valley – North checklist in 2023. That is how Nathen M., senior group director at Yelp and Elite reviewer, found—and got here to adore—the Seguras’ enterprise.
“Their meals and jarred salsas are simply unbelievable and constantly scrumptious,” his evaluate reads. “Their tacos are to die for, however not too long ago I attempted their tamales, and it is the proper ratio of masa to tender pork. My Mexican mother-in-law, who could be very, very choosy along with her tamales, gave these a double thumbs up.”
The restaurant’s authenticity is a big cause why Lisa and Miguel have seen exploding success. Making the most of the agricultural group within the Central Valley, they supply recent components each week to honor their household’s unique recipes, which resonate with nostalgic prospects.
“Some folks truly [say], ‘You simply took me again 20 years.’ That is the largest praise on the planet to me since you’re having my mom’s meals,” Miguel mentioned.
Although lots of Lisa and Miguel’s recipes have been within the household for generations, a key part of their success is their flexibility within the kitchen. Beginning out with a brief menu of staples, the homeowners have thoughtfully constructed out their choices over the previous few years as they’ve acquired buyer suggestions. With a background in gross sales, Miguel understands the significance of actually listening to his prospects.
“I’ve cooks and cooks which are already in my kitchen now,” he mentioned. “All we’ve got to do is locate out what meals you want.”
“We now have excessive expectations for ourselves, and we wish different folks to have good experiences after they’re consuming the meals,” Lisa added. “So how can I be higher? Repeatedly enhancing is a part of our tradition.”
Not solely are Miguel and Lisa receptive to suggestions however they’re proactive about making customer connections, desirous to share their meals with as many individuals as they’ll. Out and in of their retailer, the Seguras at all times ask regulars how they’re doing and invite new prospects in to pattern their salsas.
One of many greatest methods they attain prospects is thru appearances on native TV channel Fox 26, the place they visit the Great Day Kitchen and placed on cooking demonstrations of their signature dishes. Past the display screen, Miguel and Lisa are concerned with a number of group initiatives, talking at conferences and with nonprofits about their path to entrepreneurial success.
“It isn’t nearly us making meals, it is about making a distinction, giving to different folks,” Lisa mentioned. “We’re all rising collectively. I really feel so blessed to be giving a part of myself, our cooking, and our household legacy to the group. I feel that Miguel’s mother would have mentioned it finest: ‘Carry everyone to the home. Allow them to eat.'”
Miguel and Lisa’s pleasant customer service and group integration is what struck Nathen most about their enterprise.
“It is plenty of work to be out and about on a regular basis and working a enterprise, they usually do it with grace,” Nathen mentioned. “Each time I’ve met them in individual, there’s by no means a glance of ‘How can we do that?’ It is simply, ‘How are you doing? We’re excited to see you. Would you like some meals?'”
Having labored with each Yelp shoppers and small enterprise homeowners for 9 years, Nathen believes these small interactions are the important thing to group success.
“One factor [that] has by no means modified in the case of pitching Yelp events is [that] your meals will grow to be secondary. If folks can see you and establish with you and be taught a bit bit about you, they’ll fall in love with you, and they’ll need to help you. And the way do they try this? By coming again to your restaurant and consuming your scrumptious meals.”
Nathen urges enterprise homeowners to attach on a human stage with prospects, even on days after they’re not feeling 100% or are coping with a troublesome individual.
“Do not have a look at an individual who’s going to doubtlessly evaluate you as your nemesis,” he mentioned. “You do not know what they’re strolling in from. Possibly the very best a part of their day is having fun with your sandwich or your taco or your health club class.”
Nathen brings this identical stage of empathy to his interactions as a reviewer. When he has a damaging expertise, he waits 24 hours earlier than writing a evaluate, pausing to consider the individual on the opposite aspect of the counter, who could also be pressured from attempting to make ends meet. When he does present critical feedback, he makes certain it is constructive and never damaging.
“Attempt to put your finest foot ahead on a regular basis,” he mentioned. “If the patron and the proprietor took a beat earlier than instantly assuming one thing, there’d be a little less anger on the market.”
Along with group constructing, Miguel’s Artisan Recipes believes in:
- Listening to suggestions. Begin with a small checklist of choices and provides your self room to develop your menu based on what customers want to see.
- Partaking with prospects every time attainable. Construct long-term relationships along with your prospects by attending to know them on a private stage, each inside and outdoors of your retailer.
- Utilizing recent components and genuine recipes. Put money into the standard of your merchandise, and buyer demand will observe.
Hearken to the episode under to listen to instantly from Miguel, Lisa, and Nathen, and subscribe to Behind the Evaluation for extra from new enterprise homeowners and reviewers each Thursday.
Editorial contributions by Callie Morgan and Kristi Lindahl
Supply: Entrepreneur