Jose Antonio realized that Dallas was ready for its own dulce store, a sweet Mexican candy, and started Azteca Mexican Candy, a family business dedicated to traditional Mexican candies in 2007.
Edinson was working when his father started Azteca, but he helped his father grow the company into a popular place among Dallas locals. The growing customer demand surpassed their local distributor’s supply, and importing was too expensive, so they decided to expand the company by making the dulce in house.
The father-and-son team took multiple trips to Mexico to learn how to make and perfect the traditional candies, but learned they needed professional equipment to meet customer demand. After the company purchased the wrong machine, the two visited several local banks for funding, but they were unable to secure the working capital they needed to succeed.
In 2010, Edinson found LiftFund, where he was approved for a $45,000 loan. Four years later, Edison received additional capital to purchase more equipment and expand the business. “LiftFund helped us when nobody else would, [they] gave us the opportunity to succeed, and allowed us to get equipment that we still use today,” he said.
In 2017, Azteca sold over 1 million candy units, and the company is projected to pass that milestone in 2018. Today, Edinson serves as Azteca’s president and has expanded the staff to include six other employees, all members of the Arenas family.
Thanks to his successful lending history with LiftFund, Edinson was approved for a business loan with a local bank, which he hopes will allow for bigger growth for the company.
“Thanks to those [LiftFund] loans” our company is able to bring “people together and take care of them [as employees],” he said. “We are always [moving] toward a better future. At the end of the day, there will always [be difficulties as a small business owner], but we are still here.”
