No Rest Owning a Business

All her life, Marina Tapia, has always worked hard to support herself and her family. When she first came to the US, she was a full-time student, employee and mother. She eventually became a leasing agent for an apartment community and dealt with the myriad of contractors working on the apartments. In her dealings with contractors, she began forming the idea of establishing her own contracting business and made that a reality in 2005.

 

She started by knocking on doors, informing apartment owners of her business, which could help with remodeling and painting their apartments. She did this on the side, still working as a leasing agent during the day, and establishing her business during her free time at night. The business kept growing and in October 2008, she devoted herself to her company Azteka General Contractors Corporation.

 

Azteka now has six full-time employees and performs residential and commercial painting and remodeling. She couldn’t have grown without the help of ACCION Chicago. She was referred to ACCION after her bank denied her initial request for start-up capital. She connected with Priscilla Cordero, loan officer at ACCION, who guided her in the process. ACCION made an impression on Marina. “They (ACCION) wanted to help me. They see what you are going through. They helped me find a way and they trusted me.” The initial loan of $10,000 helped to secure supplies and pay her staff. “The loan helped me to secure three new accounts,” remembers Marina.

 

Since then, Marina has gotten a second loan from ACCION to help her business even further. She advises new entrepreneurs to be persistent and accept hearing a lot of “no”s “You never stop. When I am sleeping, I keep thinking of something that I have to do. There is still a lot to accomplish,” says Marina and with the new ACCION loan, she is on her way there.

 

You can visit Azteka General Contractors Corporation by calling Marina directly at 630 361 5113 or contacting her through her email at azteka@comcast.net.

 

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