Oyna Natural Foods
“As a small business with limited resources, I cannot afford to hire someone when first started, SBDC’s services are of great help. It is amazing that the service is free.” – Mehdi Parnia, Owner and Co-founder of Oyna Natural Foods
Oyna’ means ‘to dance’ in the Azeri language, spoken in Iran’s Azerbaijan Province, where both the founders Aisan and Mehdi’s parents are from. Kuku Sabzi is a staple meal in Iran and was a regular dish on the family tables of Aisan and Mehdi when they grew up. With a shared love of cuisine from all cultures, they decided to start a food business, bringing traditional Persian recipes to America when they immigrated from Iran to the USA in 2013.
They took their idea to La Cocina and successfully graduated from its food business incubator program in 2016. As the business grew, Mehdi felt the need for more guidance in business operation management, an area he was not familiar with. He first took an SBDC class in bookkeeping, which led him to sign up for one-on-one advising with the San Francisco SBDC in 2021.
Mehdi worked with an SBDC finance advisor to come up with a solid business plan with financial projections to create an effective strategy for growth and determine future financial needs. Simultaneously, Mehdi worked with an SBDC marketing advisor to expand his sales and distribution opportunities.
With SBDC’s assistance, Mehdi was approved for a 0% CA Rebuilding Loan from Pacific Venture Capital, with which he plans to develop a new package solution to extend the shelf life of his products. After deploying and pivoting his marketing strategy, his annual sales doubled in 2021. His business now has a clear path forward with new products coming out soon.
“As a small business with limited resources, I cannot afford to hire someone when first started. SBDC’s services are of great help. It is amazing that the service is free.”
Mehdi Parnia
Owner and co-founder of Oyna Natural Foods
