Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 5, 1 Mei 1994 — Loan fund profile [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Loan fund profile

Malasadas vendor finds parking profitable

by Patrick Johnston The Waipahu Times supermarket parking lot doesn't seem like mueh of a plaee to mn a business. But judging from the steady stream of customers lining up at Kimo Mundon's malasadas van, it is more than enough. Kimo's Malasadas is a one-man doughfrying show, a product of years spent working in a bakery, lessons learned from a past business failure, and, not the least of all, his Portuguese grandmother. Mundon began his business two years ago with money from his own savings and a bank loan. A year later, he applied for financing from OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan fund and received funding to buy more equipment and pay off some taxes. Every week, ffom Sunday to Thursday, he rolls his Stepvan into the Times parking lot, takes out his dough - prepared daily at a nearby bakery - and fires up a vat of oil. By the end of eaeh day he has served, on average, close to 200 customers.

Mundon started his private business career in 1986 when he opened his own bakery, an enterprise that quickly went bankxupt due to enormous overhead costs. "I lost everything," he says, "but I learned a lot." He wanted to start again, on a smaller scale, but a poor credit rating made it difficult for him to get the financing he needed. In 1991 a loan finally eame through and he started up his malasadas kitchen, buying a van and most of the cooking supplies he would need. The move from a shop to a van has kept his operation in the black. "Running my business out of a van keeps my overhead down," Mundon explains. Despite the fact that he is constantly frying up new batches of malasadas, Mundon runs a tidy ship. The inside of the van is spotless, a sign both of his eoneem for hygiene and the pride he takes in his job. Although he doesn't advertise it, his product is also a relatively healthy one. He cooks with soy-bean oil, makes efforts to lower his malasadas' fat content, and adds no sugar to his

dough. Cutting down on fats and sugars has not meant cutting down on taste. His hot and tasty balls of fried bread dough would make his grandmother proud. Mundon's experience as a businessman has taught him a lot

of things but he believes the most important has been the value of on-the-job experience. He acknowledges that some accounting education would have helped him in his original business fiasco, but he says the things he learned in his years working for himself and for others has been invaluable. "You ean never get better experience than ffom work," he says. Mundon begins selling in the aftemoon on

weekdays and in the mornings on weekends. On Friday and Saturday he moves his operation to the Waimalu Times parking lot. One malasada sells for 50 cents ($5.00/dozen), with his custard special, the puffasada, going for 60 cents ($6.00/dozen). To order by phone eall his pager at 5773366. For information about OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund eall 5941888.

Kimo Mundon prepares malasadas in his van at Waipahu parking lot.