Hispanic-owned businesses continue growing in Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. — Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters owner Roberto Torres is using his experience growing a business across the Tampa Bay area to mentor other Hispanic entrepreneurs working to turn their ideas into businesses.

Torres immigrated from Panama at age 18 and said starting over in a country where he did not know anyone was difficult.

“A lot of people don’t necessarily understand how hard it is to leave behind your loved ones, so what I did is delve into the work,” said Torres, president of Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters.

That work led him to open a men’s boutique in 2008. The business later evolved into Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters in 2014.

What began as one coffee shop has grown to nine locations across the Tampa Bay area.

Torres said Blind Tiger served nearly 1 million people last year. “We want to make sure that every customer is taken care of,” Torres said.

Torres said building a business as a Latino entrepreneur came with challenges, especially access to money.

“I think the first one is access to capital,” Torres said. “We open these businesses on credit cards, on borrowed money; we open it on nights and weekends.”

In Florida, there are more than 600,000 Hispanic-owned businesses, a number the Small Business Development Center says is continuing to grow in the Tampa Bay area.

Eileen Rodriguez, a business consultant with the Florida SBDC at USF Muma College of Business, said Hispanic-owned businesses span many industries. “They are in construction, they are in education, they’re in professional services, just about every business in general that you can find,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the center helped more than 900 businesses that identified as Hispanic last year, offering guidance on topics including how to start a business and how to find financial resources.

“What we find is a lot of Hispanic businesses were not formal, if you will, in their countries, and they come here and they find yes, there is a lot of red tape,” Rodriguez said.

She said language can be another barrier for some business owners.

The SBDC offers one-on-one assistance in Spanish to Hispanic entrepreneurs navigating the process of starting a business.

Its next virtual business course is scheduled for Oct. 27.

Torres said he now dedicates some of his time to mentoring other Hispanic entrepreneurs trying to build their own businesses.

“It’s the idea of doing business with each other and doing business for each other,” Torres said.

For Torres, the business is not only about serving coffee but also about creating a community. “We believe that what we want to do is for this to be a hub for creatives,” Torres said.