WACO, TX — An economic force in the United States are the mom and pop shops added throughout the country every day. Those shops make up a large portion of the U.S.' overall economy.
A Stanford study has found that Latino-owned businesses contribute more than $700 billion in sales to the economy annually.
"Helados La Azteca" recently opened it's second location, and the owner says it's his families hard work that motivated him to make this career move.
It's a growing trend within the Latino community.
The study shows that Latinos start 1 in 4 businesses in the U.S., a critical source of new jobs for the economy.
For one Waco family, their dream started as a small business.
"At first we would just produce the "paletas" (ice cream pops) and sell to stores in Dallas, or even the people who sell with "paelta" carts," said Eduardo Garcia, owner of "Helados La Azteca."
That grew into a little more.
"We switched to the public, like how it is here," said Garcia.
A colorful store enriched with Mexican culture, where they continues selling their main product "paletas," but added a little more like candy, spices and even the family game "The Loteria."
"My parents are both from Jalisco, so we bring a lot of those ideas from Mexico."
Garcia, the owner of the second location, says his parents opened the first location back in 1995.
He says it's his parent's drive and hard work that motivated him to be an entrepreneur like them.
"Personally I think it is in our blood, from a very young age we watch our parents be hard workers and we follow their footsteps, it's like second nature."
Based on the study, the Garcia family is just one of the billions of Latino families in the country who are proving to be the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs.
The study also shows that people who know entrepreneurs are more likely to be successful entrepreneurs themselves.
Latinos demonstrate a family history of entrepreneurship with 51% of entrepreneurs reporting a family history of entrepreneurship.
