My New Second Home 🤎

Hey babes, it has been a while since my last blog. I have had so much on my plate lately; the topic of this blog is one of the biggest reasons I have been so busy. Many of you know, I have my family business Latinamerica Distributors 1 Inc., a wholesale company that distributes products from Peru, Colombia, Argentina, etc. to restaurants and supermarkets in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. I have been working so hard for months on this; I am happy to announce we are moving. We have found our forever home, my second home. We decided to buy the commercial property of our dreams, something that has been long overdue, and I couldn’t be more thankful for this journey. This process has not been easy; it’s one of the most stressful but most satisfying accomplishments I have done in a while. This accomplishment means so much to me because my family business has come far; I am honored to be a part of this experience. The purpose of this blog is to tell you about my experience throughout the process of buying a commercial property to inspire and motivate any small business.

Latinamerica Distributors 1 Inc. was founded by my dad back in 2002 where he started with only one brand Inca Kola. He took a small loan from a local bank, and he bought a couple of pallets worth of Inca kola beverages and soon realized the demand for Peruvian products was high, so he started to contact other suppliers. My dad knew that this small business had so much potential, but he could not do it alone, so my mother quit her day job and did all the administration work. My parents worked so hard for years they dedicated so much time and effort to this business, and each year their hard work would pay off; throughout the years, Latinamerica Distributors 1 Inc. started growing. In 2016, my parents decided to go their separate ways which led to my mom leaving the business. I was a sophomore at Roger Williams University in business school, working at Stop & Shop. I saw my dad helpless, so I decided to quit my job and work at my family business. I remember I had no idea how to use QuickBooks; or renew yearly certificates; I was so scared to mess something up, but I took the risk and learned as I went. As time passed; everything became natural, and I enjoyed working. I finally understood that this was my family business, and I was the only person that took the risk to continue what my parents worked so hard for.

Throughout the years, I worked hard, whether it was getting a new loan for the business to gain more capital or finding new ways to promote my business. This business has had its up and downs, where I felt overwhelmed with so much pressure because it would get so stressful that I felt like I could not do it all. I also have had my good times celebrating hitting a new sale goal or getting a new supplier. A year ago, we found out that our landlord (where we have rented for over 15 years) sold the building; I was in complete shock; I never saw it coming nor was moving ever in our plans.

Our business consists of so much space, so we had to think fast we needed to find a warehouse before we were told to leave. We have been there for so many years that we did not have a lease anymore; we did not have a contract with them; at any time, they could have told us our time was up. Last year, the whole world was going through a Pandemic; many small businesses were going through hardship due to COVID. Fortunately, and thanks to God, my family business did not go through hardship, as much as other small businesses did. The sales were constant, and all our workers were full-time by the end of the year. Despite everything that was going on, we decided that it was time to take a leap and look into buying a commercial property.

Buying a commercial property is one of the hardest things I have ever done; if you think buying a house is stressful, you won’t even imagine how hard it is to buy a commercial property. March 2021, we saw our first potential commercial property, it had a built-in walk-in freezer right of the bat that caught our interest because we needed one; it had offices and a decent amount of warehouse space. My dad did not think twice and right away we put an offer and the buyer accepted. It was not my dream warehouse, but I settled. A few days after we got a call saying that the buyer was not going to accept our offer, he wanted more so we accepted that increase. Before we signed an agreement, we decided to inspect the building to make sure we knew what we were getting ourselves into. The inspection turned out to be so bad because the building needed so many repairs. It was going to add another $60,000 to the purchase price. We thought it through and realized it was not worth it. We were discouraged because we paid for an inspection for a building, we decided not to buy. Thankfully; we did not lose hope and we started to look for more properties.

On May 5th, 2021, I was looking at LoopNet as usual and came across this commercial property in Lincoln. I called the real estate agent and booked an appointment for the following day. The next day my dad and I went, and I instantly fell in love, the building was everything I wanted in a building. It was modern it had five offices, it was very spacious. My dad and I immediately put an offer. To our favor; the next day, the seller agreed. We again did an inspection but this time everything came out perfect and we couldn’t be happier. We contacted our bank and hoped everything would run smoothly but to our luck, it did not. Out of nowhere; the real estate agent told us an interested buyer offered cash and the seller accepted. I never felt so humiliated and in denial, I could not believe this was happening to me twice already. I was at the point of just giving up; I felt so hurt because I thought this was my dream warehouse. We paid for this inspection; we were fed up and knew we were doing something wrong. We contacted our lawyer and he helped us understand everything,

At this point we felt so discouraged, we were running out of time and had no luck at finding any commercial properties. My dad and I would go out driving to find any for sale signs, but we did not have any luck they were either too small or too far from our desired location. By this time, we were in June and time was passing. One day my dad sent me a picture of this commercial property with a for sale sign. The following day we scheduled an appointment to see the building. I did not have any high hopes or expectations because I did not want to get my hopes up again. But once I entered that building, my mindset changed, I was so amazed. I knew this was my dream commercial property; it had a kitchen, a bathroom, six office spaces, a conference room, and this huge 22,000 sq foot warehouse space. The building had a huge parking lot which is excellent when we get containers. It also had a second floor of about 10,000 sq feet. The building was perfect; it was more than I could ever dream of. We decided to play smart and do everything carefully we first got the contract; then we did an inspection which; thanks to God, everything turned out to be in excellent shape. It has been a huge and long process due to unseeable events but after a long-waited process, today this building is finally ours.

I couldn’t be more thankful and blessed. First and foremost, I would like to thank God for giving me the strength to keep going and never lose faith. I would like to thank my parents for starting this business; I appreciate all of the hard work and love they poured into this business for my sisters and me. I would also like to thank my co-workers because without them we would be nothing and they are the biggest reason why we are here today; you guys are family to me, and I appreciate all of you. Thank you to my clients and my suppliers; for allowing us to grow with you guys and working with us. I also would like to thank everyone involved for their patience and for guiding me through everything. Last but not least; I would like to thank myself for not giving up; for believing in my business always for giving my all. This has been such an emotional roller coaster for me; I have cried so many times throughout this process, now I can say it was worth it.

I want to take the time to thank every person that has gotten to this point. This is a dream come true; I am so blessed. I hope this blog inspires any of you that are going through a hard time or working on a project, and you are not getting the results you want; I promise you it will come; never give up and stay positive. It took me three tries to get my dream commercial property; this is confirmation that there is always something better out there. If something does not go your way or does not work out, trust the process, you will get everything you deserve and more. You can apply this to anything. Thank you once again for reading this blog; I am so excited for this new journey in my life; I pray to God that he keeps blessing me. I hope you enjoyed this blog; this is your reminder to go after your dreams and goals <3.

Love,

LC ✨