Empower Hour Taylors Tacos

Business Summary

Taylor and Maya Mason built Taylor’s Tacos by combining street-style tacos with their own “soul flavor,” a focus on service, and community-building. Taylor developed the food and brand, while Maya brought service-industry experience and helped shape operations. They emphasized that their offering is more than tacos: it also includes personal customer relationships, events, and partnerships.

Growth and Business Model

• 2014: Taylor made the first taco for her father’s birthday and continued refining the recipe.
• 2016: Taylor and Maya met, and Maya began contributing her service-industry expertise.
• 2018: They decided to pursue the business full-time, obtained a license, and moved into The Hatchery, a food-business incubator.
• They later operated catering and an event space, then opened a Taylor Street restaurant at 1512 W. Taylor Street.
• The pandemic forced them to replace their primarily on-site taco-stand catering model with delivery-friendly formats. Taco trays, pre-made tacos, and taco bars now account for 75% of their business.
• They also rent an event space near 24th Street and Oakley for private and business events. Customers who order Taylor’s Tacos catering can receive a rental discount.

Frameworks and Operating Playbook

• Grow deliberately: “Slow and steady wins the race.” Avoid taking on more orders, locations, or commitments than the team can execute well. Build reliable procedures, standards, and staffing before expanding.
• Fail fast and adapt: If something is not working, identify why and try another approach rather than forcing the same plan. Learn from mistakes, but avoid repeating them.
• Use a pandemic-style pivot process: Identify what customers need, understand the constraints, research alternatives, test new formats, and keep operating within changing rules. The shift to trays, pre-made tacos, and taco bars became a lasting part of the business.
• Maintain a living business plan: Taylor and Maya update their plans as the business changes—roughly every six months to a year. Their planning work includes growth, finances, mission, and target customers.
• Reassess the target market: Their pop-up audience was mainly 25–45-year-old urban professionals; the brick-and-mortar business has brought more focus on corporate clients.
• Build knowledge before seeking capital or scaling: Learn financial statements, licenses, insurance, taxes, and operating requirements. Outsource areas where expertise is missing when resources allow.
• Treat culture as an operating tool: Use pooled tips, incentives, and a workplace where employees feel valued and can speak positively about the business. The owners said good culture supports retention and customer experience.

Marketing, Sales, and Customer Experience

Their main marketing engine has been word of mouth, supported by pop-ups, events, quality food, and reliable service. They prioritize attentive, face-to-face service and personal relationships, including knowing regular customers by name.

Community events, collaborations, and LGBTQ+ events help build visibility and strengthen their local presence. Weekly specials—including a rotating “Taco of the Week” and non-taco specials—create recurring reasons to visit. Tuesday is their busiest day, and the weekly taco special launches then.

Sales channels include the restaurant, catering, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and direct online ordering for pickup. At the time of the webinar, the restaurant was open Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

Capital, Resources, and Operations

• The business began with about $200; a later $2,000 loan helped fund its next step.
• When bank financing was difficult to obtain, they raised more than $50,000 through Honeycomb Credit. The community investment campaign offered investors repayment plus 12.75%.
• The Hatchery provided kitchen space, education, supplier connections, and business resources. The owners also credited business programs and networks—including Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and LGBTQ+ business programs—with expanding their knowledge and access to larger catering clients.
• They advised food entrepreneurs to formalize the business, obtain required licenses and insurance, and use approved commercial kitchen facilities. The Hatchery’s shared kitchen was especially useful when a drunk driver damaged one of their other spaces and they temporarily needed a place to keep operating.
• Once properly registered, they recommended approaching food distributors and wholesalers. Suppliers they named included Sysco, US Foods, Reinhart, Gordon Food Service, Tiësto, Banner, and Restaurant Depot.

Metrics, Timelines, and Examples

• 75%: Share of the business represented by taco trays, pre-made tacos, and taco bars after the pandemic-driven shift.
• $50,000+: Raised through Honeycomb Credit; investors were to be repaid with 12.75%.
• $200 in starting funds and a later $2,000 loan were cited in describing the early financing journey.
• Event-space pricing: A two-hour buyout was quoted at $350. The owners also described discounts tied to booking hours and ordering their catering.
• A food truck was considered, but the owners estimated a fully equipped truck could cost $80,000–$100,000, with additional concerns about theft, repairs, seasonality, and staffing. They used a truck for private-event rentals rather than regular street service.
• A drunk driver crashed into one of their spaces shortly after they moved in, forcing a temporary return to shared-kitchen operations. The episode highlighted the importance of contingency plans and maintaining access to operating resources.

Presenters and Organizations

Presenters: Stella (surname not stated), Chicago BACP Commissioner Ken Meyer, Taylor Mason, and Maya Mason.

Organizations and resources discussed: Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP), The Hatchery, Honeycomb Credit, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, and local business and LGBTQ+ chamber programs.