After securing sole ownership and a loan from his local SBDC, this restaurateur is cooking up profits.

By Sara Wilson

The path to entrepreneurship can be a bumpy road. Some face the battles of startup alone. Others, like Leopoldo Becerra, owner and executive chef of Post Oak Grill in Houston, Texas, reach out for a helping hand. In 2004, Becerra received assistance from
the University of Houston Small Business Development Center Network, and it has made all the difference.

Becerra started as a cook at Post Oak Grill in 1989. Today, under his ownership, it is a fine dining restaurant at the forefront of haute cuisine, with 2006 projected sales of $5.5 million for the two original locations. The restaurant's reputation has spread far
and wide and attracts an impressive caliber of clientele, including former President George H.W. Bush and Hall of Fame basketball star Elvin Hayes.

But it wasn't always this way. Before Becerra and a partner purchased the restaurant in 2002, checks were bouncing, the rent was late and vendors weren't being paid. Becerra took care of the employees and managed the money more effectively, making the restaurant profitable in less than two years. But Becerra knew the only way he could turn the business around completely was to buy out his partner's share of the restaurant. He says, "I started looking to buy his part because he invested his money, but he's not a restaurant person."

So Becerra went in search of another loan. Because he already owned nearly half the business, even the largest companies and CPAs saw it as an impossible mission. It wasn't until a friend from the University of Houston SBDC Network requested help on Becerra's behalf that the road became significantly smoother.

"It's very difficult to buy half of a business," says Orlando Saldaña, a consultant at the University of Houston Metropolitan SBDC. "I figured out a way to buy the whole business even from [Becerra]. All we did was purchase the business from a new entity."

In a little more than two months, with the SBDC's guidance and the SBA serving as the guarantor, Becerra was approved for a loan of approximately $700,000. "You need to have the spirit and passion to be a business owner," says Becerra, 43. "It's not easy, but [the SBDC and the SBA] help you. They give you the tools you need to make it work." Becerra achieved his dream when he became sole owner of the restaurant in 2004 after 15 years of working his way up. Under his ownership, the number of employees has increased, and he opened his third and fourth restaurants earlier this year, adding 75 more employees. 

He's also determined to pass on his knowledge to his employees and has even made some of them minor partners. "I dreamed of opening restaurants and hiring more employees and teaching them how to be business owners because I have employees who have worked here for 15 years," says Becerra. "They need to be business owners." It's no wonder that Becerra was honored as both the Houston District Small Business Person of the Year and the Texas Small Business Person of the Year in 2005.

Through it all-including the expansion-the University of Houston Metropolitan SBDC stood by Becerra, offering assistance and advice whenever he needed it. As Saldaña says, their services are longitudinal, and they are proud to be a part of Becerra's success.

"He represents a true entrepreneur," says Roberta Skebo, director of the University of Houston Metropolitan SBDC. "He aspired to owning his own business, and he worked toward that goal and was able to achieve it. And he has been very successful."

Sara Wilson is a writer for Entrepreneur magazine.