Buena Papa, a North Carolina-based food company, was founded by James and Johanna Windon. They founded the company two years ago with only $18 in their bank account. Today, the food industry generates millions of dollars in annual revenue from three booming restaurant sites in North Carolina, USA.
In July 2021, they opened their first restaurant in Raleigh, offering Colombian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and American flavors stacked on top of French fries. According to CNBC Make It, the eatery opened after their cleaning business closed because to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The pair entered the restaurant business with no prior expertise. Nonetheless, they spent their $40,000 life savings, leaving only $18. Four weeks later, their fries became viral on TikTok, attracting a large number of consumers.
“Our first year, we did $1.1 million. We took all the profits from that and invested it in [our second] store … Combined, this year, we’re going to finish at about $2 million,” said James. He further added that he and his partner are planning to expand to a Miami location later this year.
The couple recently went on “Shark Tank” to discuss their incredible journey from having only $18 in their bank account two years ago to bringing in millions of dollars in annual sales.
According to CNBC Make It, the pair requested $400,000 from Shark Tank investors in exchange for a 7% equity stake in their company. They explained in their proposal that they would utilize the money to open one store per year for the next five years, but not with profits because bootstrapping was “sucking up all the cash flow.”
Furthermore, they told Shark Tank investors that they had already sold the franchising rights to four other new locations that had not yet opened.
Mark Cuban stepped down after mentioning the difficulties of running a restaurant and overseeing many franchisees at the same time.
“Running a restaurant is a hard business. Once you franchise, you’re in a second business … the babysitting business,” Cuban said. “If you guys were just in this, I was interested, but you’re in two different businesses. I think that’s going to crush you. I’m out.”
Investor Robert Herjavec, on the other hand, offered the Windons $400,000 for a 20% stake in Buena Papa. The pair initially replied with 15%, but later settled on 19%.
“We’re going to take Buena Papa from Raleigh, North Carolina, and it’s going to travel all over these United States until it’s in every metropolitan city. The sky is the limit,” James said in his parting remarks.