Keep the vision, evolve the rest: La Victoria

This is the story of a second generation business in transition and maybe we could all learn from them. Jaime Maldonado is the owner of La Victoria Bakery, a 60-year-old panaderia on 24th Street that is reinventing itself.  Authentic mexican bread is their core vision but their resilient nature has made them change to serve the new type of residents in their neighborhood. 

"We can't stop being an authentic panaderia and a kitchen, we've been doing this since the 1960's. It's just going to morph into what people want. The families that used to be here would come in and buy 50 dollars a week on tamales and basic bread. Those families are not here anymore, the people who live here spend five dollars each sporadic visit. so we need to have a paradigm shift to serve what is going to be the new type of neighborhood." 

I love it! Reminding ourselves why we are here in the first place is so basic and important. Remember the legacy that anchors you to your business and then feel free to move everything and anything that you need in order to keep that legacy alive and well. 

I wonder what made Jaime Maldonado want to pursue the change. I wonder what he was observing that made a click. I wonder how we can replicate that observation power to let other business owners figure out when it's time to change.