How a Pivot of a Lifetime Grew a Startup Over 3,000% with Anthony and Ronald Alcazar: An EOFire Classic from 2022

0:01John Lee Dumas:Light that spark fire nation, JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire brought to you by HighLevel, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. And on today's classic episode, we'll be breaking down how a pivot of a lifetime grew a startup over 3000%. And to drop these value bombs, I brought Anthony and Ronald Alcazar and EO Fire Studios. as recent UCLA graduates Anthony and Ronald founded Mr. Tortilla, a business built on the idea that everyone deserves healthy, guilt-free tortillas. And today we talk about how you need to commit early to giving back. As your business grows, so can your impact.

0:36John Lee Dumas:Silent voices go unheard. Let the world know you're there and success takes time. Be willing to start at the bottom and owe so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Anthony, Ronald, and our sponsors. Fire Nation, meet Hotworks, the number one boutique fitness franchise with 850 plus locations. They pioneered virtual workouts inside infrared saunas with recurring membership revenue, a low labor high tech model in a proven franchise system. Entrepreneurs gain a scalable business built for growth. Visit hotworks.net slash franchising to learn more. Stop duct taping your business together.

1:11John Lee Dumas:High Level runs your website, your funnels, email, automation, scheduling, payments, and memberships all in one place. And when you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you get a 30-day free trial, plus my exclusive bonus stack that includes weekly office hours with me and much more. Visit highlevelfire.com, highlevelfire.com. Anthony, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Hey, Fire Nation, this is Anthony. Thank you for having us here with my brother Ron. And one thing, I'm not so sure if people don't agree with it or not, but I do feel that in order to be successful, you have to give, right?

1:55Give first and then, you know, God gives back. And I think that's a key factor for us that helped us with our growth.

2:05John Lee Dumas:And this is an exciting conversation, Fire Nation, because Anthony and Ron pivoted and they had the pivot of a lifetime, we're going to call it, to grow their startups over 3 ,000%. And this startup is Mr. Tortilla. So Anthony, I want to stay with you for right now. Talk to me about the aha moment. Talk to me about the idea that led to Mr. Tortilla. Absolutely, John. So it was a pivot of a lifetime, right? But before we got there, one night, my brother and I would say to get some tacos. and in LA there's a pop-up shop every corner. We went and after eating a bunch, we had the taco guilt. You feel bloated, you just cheated on your diet.

2:46An idea came to mind. Whatever can make tacos healthier for everyone. I mean, diabetics can enjoy it, people on a healthy diet can enjoy it and it just would be better because if you think about the tacos, it's not the protein or the veggies that's the problem. It's a tortilla because they're high in carbs and calories. So if we can make a delicious tortilla that was low in carbs and low in calories, we would have a game changer. And that's when the idea of Mr. Tortilla was born. And that was over 10 years ago.

3:13John Lee Dumas:And so, Ron, I want to move to you next because once that idea was born, I mean, everybody has ideas. Like what actually was the reason you guys put that into action? We know it's possible. We know that it can be done. it just took years and years of trial and error and lots and lots of just making tortillas at home, like trying it out slightly different until we finally got the perfect tortilla that, you know, is delicious, that's flexible and that, you know, it tastes just like a tortilla. So I want to stay with you here, Ron, because you face a lot of challenges. I mean, you were just talking about them.

3:47John Lee Dumas:I mean, years and years and years, trial and error, trial and error, fail, fail, fail, not getting to where you want to be. Talk to us about the number one challenge that you faced in this process. And I want specifics. I want the story. And Anthony, you're going to share one too. So get ready, brother. Yeah, I think when we first started out, like many small businesses, we were a bit naive. You know, we thought, okay, we've got this amazing product. You know, people are going to love it. And they're just going to fly off the shelves, right? We'll find our customers that way. But we didn't realize, and particularly in our industry, that it's dominated by just a few major players.

4:24And really a lot of what it comes down to is like they'll stop at nothing to just stop any new, you know, any new brands or any new businesses from coming in. So it'd be like we knocked on thousands of doors and had, you know, hundreds of meetings with retailers, with everybody. And everyone's excited for our product, but for whatever reason, somewhere along the line, it was always nixed. and we really, really couldn't penetrate the retail market until we found our own solution, you know, selling it online.

4:55John Lee Dumas:Anthony, why don't you jump in and add to Ron's point there? Let's kind of continue going forward with this challenge that you faced and what you did about it. Thank you, John. Yeah, so look, John, when we started, and this is why I love sharing our story because there are so many businesses that are going through the same thing right now and I would love to, you know, get to them and to share my story to inspire them and to see that it can be done. But really, we were bullied for over eight years in this industry, right? And the difficult part for me was that I was bullied out of elementary, John.

5:30When I left, I met myself a promise. Like, hey, I will never be bullied again no matter what. I've kept my promise, and these past eight years are difficult because all we want to do is sell our product, right? And we didn't realize that we can't get on the shelves. I mean, if we want to go into retail and sell our product, how can we compete if we're at the bottom? It takes years to get in, and when you get in, you're at the bottom, right? And a small little space is just not a fair competition, and we can't really sell our product. So for us, it was just not giving up and having that desire to wanting to sell our product and get to the consumer's hands that kept us going because, I mean, it was a long journey.

6:08You're talking about 10 years, right? And during those years, you wanted to give up because, look, you're small. You don't have the capital. People love your product, but you can't get it to people because the shelves are owned by the big guys. So it was very difficult. We had to pivot. We pivoted many times. We had to pivot to major accounts like a military account, right? So when we pivoted to the military account, John, we're doing good. We got it through a distributor. and right when we started to get going, right, the big guy shows up again and the big guy's like, you know what, they pay the distributor a million dollars of rebates and they don't like it when competitors start to grow.

6:48So from one day to the next, that account was gone. Then we had to pivot to food service and then when we're in food service getting going again, the pandemic happens, right, we have to pivot again. So all these pivots, you know, just not giving up and how difficult it was to get our product in the consumer's hands was, you know, a 10 year journey.

7:11John Lee Dumas:Anthony, I want to stick with you here because it is so impressive with what you've done with Mr. Tortilla. I mean, all those pivots that you were talking about, you know, going from this pivot to that pivot, you know, dodging this, you know, striking out here, hitting a single there. And you've continued to stay at it with your brother, Ron. And now Mr. Tortilla is number one on Amazon in the US and Canada and UK. how the heck did you guys leverage e-commerce to compete with those big brands we were talking about right after the pandemic right or during the pandemic when uh restaurants were out of business we had to and this is the pivot of the lifetime right my um restaurants are going out of business so we're on the bridge of going out of business you know we're thinking well we can't get into you can't sell to restaurants anymore because they're all going out of business business well maybe now that the there's empty shelves and retailers they're gonna accept their product and even during the pandemic when there were empty shelves we cannot put our tortillas on those shelves they wouldn't allow us to so we're like okay we have to do something and Ron comes up with the idea hey you know what we should sell our product on Amazon because you know on Amazon the consumer chooses was number one yeah I told Ron at At the moment I was like, Ron, come on, think of a real solution.

8:34Selling on the internet, that's not, tortillas on the internet, we'd have to invent a new business model, right? We'd have to learn digital marketing and social media on the fly and pray. And that's exactly what we did, John. I mean, God blessed us and helped us with this pivot. and right when we went online, using social media and using, you know, you have to also remember, we don't have, you know, it's just my brother and I, we don't have, you know, capital. So we had to pivot and grow without capital, which is so difficult, right? We grew 3000 % in 2021. And people, you know, people say, how'd you do it?

9:17You know, I prayed, God helped me.

9:19John Lee Dumas:Now, Fire Nation, you might be hearing some beeping in the background, but listen, these two brothers are hard at work. I mean, they are at their facility right now. They are making things happen. So deal with it. Deal with the background noise because guess what? That's part of running a business. That's part of running a startup. That's part of being an entrepreneur. And we're going to have more content around this when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Okay, Fire Nation, let's talk about something every business owner should care about, making your cash work harder. High-yield savings accounts exist for a reason.

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12:14John Lee Dumas:And when you go through my link at highlevelfire.com, you unlock my full bonus stack. A 30-day free trial of High Level with full access, a private 50-minute coaching call with me, weekly live office hours with me, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50-days-to-something execution roadmap, and more. Stop piecing tools together. Start building momentum. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. So, Juan, I want to start with you on this one. How the heck did you implement social media to grow Mr. Tortilla? Not 1 ,000, not 2 ,000, but 3 ,000%.

12:55So, we were really always engaging with our audience, hearing what they had to say, their feedback and just seeing that you know that hunger for a low-carb tortilla that wasn't you know that didn't taste like cardboard that you know that could keep their macros and that they could really replace like a flour corn tortilla with and so we really just like built hype like you know exactly you guys asked for this little coming out with we made videos we really really just engaged our audience so that when the launch came just everybody came on word of mouth and it really spread like wildfire and it really is about just listening to your audience and engaging with them that's kind of what's led our company since so now we're coming out with new products we have our tortilla chips we have a keto baking mixes we have our own salsa set we're coming out with the crunchy vegan bacon soon and it's all things that we just we picked up from our audience like what are they looking for what do they want and just deliver on that

13:56John Lee Dumas:Now, Ron, I'm going to kind of put you on the spot here because I'm just curious. Was there something that your audience was like, we want this, that you and Anthony looked to each other and were like, really? That's kind of weird. Was there anything like that? It was the chips because, you know, the beautiful thing about a tortilla is that they fry really well and they make really good chips and they like to just have like a bag of chips they can open, you know, and just start eating. There aren't really many good alternatives right now on the market. They don't taste great. So, you know, that was on us like a big huge challenge because we had to figure out how the heck to come out with this new product, but we got it done.

14:32Yeah, and John, one thing that Ronald's not mentioning is these are not just any ordinary chips. These are Mr. Tortillas Crunchy Chips, three net carbs per serving that actually taste like tortilla chips they can use for nachos, chilaquiles, dipping, guacamole, salsas. I mean, they satisfy you and it's in the names. They're crunchy, right? And the thing is that right now when you do keto, there's not a lot of alternatives of a chip that tastes like a regular tortilla chip.

15:04John Lee Dumas:Well, thanks for jumping in there. I really appreciate that. And let's stick with you, Anthony, for a second. Anything you want to add about how you utilize and implemented social media to grow Mr. Tortilla over 3 ,000 %? We created a brand. When people say, what do you guys do so different? Or besides the fact that we have an amazing product, right, and we've got a lot of love into making it, our marketing is different. The way we brand ourselves, right? We have 100 % money-back guarantee on our product. If someone doesn't like our product, we'll give them their money back because we want to make sure everyone loves the brand.

15:37You know, thank God, you know, I'll say over 99 % of people love our brand, right, love the product. But those that don't like the product, you know, we still want them to love the brand. And we make sure that we go above and beyond showing our brand, what's special about our TS, and always putting content out there that our community enjoys.

15:59John Lee Dumas:Anthony, I want to stick with you here because you and Ron have accomplished so much thus far. What does your future hold? What do you have plans for the upcoming days, weeks, months, and even years? Well, John, you heard the beeping. And the reason why you hear the beeping is because we are growing exponentially. We just launched in Germany. Distributors want our product. Wholesalers want our products. We've had press over here interviewing us, everyone from, you know, KTLA to Spanish Press, Univision, Telemundo. We had CNN here about a week ago. And they're just, you know, telling a story, the story about two brothers that are disrupting a billion-dollar industry, right, the tortilla industry, using, you know, e-commerce and social media.

16:44And now that story is growing and more people know about our product and we're just booming, thank God. Right. So we're looking to keep this growth and get the correct, you know, partners, right. The right investors that can really help this growth, because honestly, this type of growth is unsustainable without large capital.

17:05John Lee Dumas:Ron, anything you want to add to that? I mean, we're just excited for what the future holds. And really, we're looking to make our, you know, our tortillas and our products more available to everyone and kind of closer to home. And that's what our next step is going to be, is really working to get into those local markets and just meet people where they live. So, Ron, we're going to stick with you. And then, Anthony, get ready because you're getting the same question. Take a step back, Ron. What do you want to make sure our listeners get from your story today? What do you want our listeners to walk away with from everything that we shared?

17:41So we give 10 % of net profits to charity, 10 % to employee profit sharing, and we hire adults with special needs. And it was a very important decision we made early on to make those commitments. And really, we want to show just how successful you could be while also putting a focus on doing the social good and really just seeing how those efforts that you put in early on, as you grow, they also scale up. And so, too, do your blessings and the good that you do.

18:15John Lee Dumas:Well, I commend you for that. That is fantastic work. And Anthony, anything you want to add? Yes, yes, absolutely. For everyone listening out there, someone told me this saying, it's a Chinese saying, and that kind of changed my life a little bit, right? It was silent mouths don't get fed. right and so for everyone out there going through something experiencing the business bullying saying hey this is going these things are happening to me what i discovered is you have to be loud you have to let the world know hey guys you know these guys are not letting me compete freely we're in america here we want to compete freely we're you know in the land of you know of the free and you have to voice that because no matter how long it takes because one day someone will listen like it It took us 10 years.

19:02Can you imagine, John, not being able to sell your product, not getting into any retailer stores, having to change your business model just because this exists? I mean, I feel that this exists more in our industry, of course, but I'm sure it exists in other places. And you just have to be loud and voice your opinion and say, hey, you know what? I'm here and I don't like this and I need help. And that's what we did. And thank God we were able to really grow. And thank God we were able to use e-commerce to grow. So for everyone experiencing that, e-commerce is amazing because you can reach your consumer, right, without having to go to the retailer, the large retailer, and having to deal with self-space and battling all of that.

19:44And now, before it was difficult. Now, thanks to e-commerce and thanks to becoming the number one tortilla brand on Amazon, the retailers want us. They're asking for our product. We have exponential growth now, right? but it's all thanks to first and foremost god and and uh for him sending e-commerce in our way that really helped us uh to grow and amazon's been amazing for everyone out there trying to get started amazon out of all the retailers we've worked with with a few retailers we work with but amazon has been by far the most exceptional the best i mean they've gone above and beyond to give us the tools to be able to really grow i mean thank god now we're in canada in the UK, and as of a couple of days ago in Germany, right?

20:27All things to Amazon and the tools they provide.

20:29John Lee Dumas:Anthony, if Fire Nation wanted to learn more about Mr. Tortilla, about what you're building, and of course, maybe to sample some of those amazing chips and all the other things that you have there, what is your call to action? They can visit us on the number one, carb.com. That's our e-commerce store. And they try our product, check out their story. and if you don't like our product, like I said here, it's 100 % money back guaranteed. But I'm hoping that you'll see what we're about by going to our website. And what was that URL again? It's the number one. So onecarb.com. Ron, anything you want to add to that call to action?

21:08Yeah, you can also follow us at Mr. Tortilla on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and just engage with our community. We've got recipes and lots of new ideas coming out every day. We also make content for our community, and we love engaging.

21:24John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with AARA and JLD today, so keep up that heat. Head over to eofire.com and type Anthony or Ron in the search bar, and the show notes page will pop up with everything that we've talked about. Anthony, Ron, thank you both for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you, John. Thank you, Fire Nation, for having us. And it was a pleasure to share your story. And it's sometimes surreal being here with you, sharing your story, John, with Fire Nation, because, man, it was dark.

22:02It was very difficult for all those years, right? But the one thing I'll say is just never give up because my brother and I, we carried each other to the finish line, right? And we kept going and going and going, even though it looks so dark, but we never gave up. And that's the reason why we're able to be here and share our story with all of you. And remember, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

22:24John Lee Dumas:I love it. Keep that fire burden, Fire Nation. Until next time, catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to Anthony and Ronald for dropping value bombs and sponsoring today's episode. Fire Nation, over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 3 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, and I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams.