Peruvian-Born Entrepreneur Finds American Dream With a Filta Franchise

When David Boza, the Peruvian-born immigrant to the U.S. via Spain, landed a technician job with a Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions (Filta) franchisee, he knew he was on the path to building something his family could call its own.

“Within weeks of being hired, he came home and said, ‘I'm gonna own that business one day.’ So this has been in the works for 10 years,” said Laurie Boza, his wife and business partner.

Filta technicians clean and recycle cooking oil for restaurants and commercial kitchens, and David found the work rewarding. Now as a franchise partner with Filta, which extends the life of cooking oil before transforming it into eco-friendly biodiesel, he’s his own boss running a business that kitchen managers  love.

"I really enjoy working and doing it right, as best as I can, very quickly,” David said. “But I don’t like the pressure of a boss telling me what to do.”

The advantage of running an in-demand business like Filta didn’t hurt in their decision-making process either.

“As soon as people understand what we offer, it's pretty much a guaranteed sale,” Laurie said. “Nobody likes to clean their own fryer — it’s a dirty job that guarantees you keep your job.”

The couple plans to expand their business, aiming to add at least one more van in the next two years as they triple their customer base. A fourth van isn’t out of the question.

It’s all in service of supporting a growing family with an entrepreneurial father Laurie says is a great role model.

“It’s impressive to me that David grew from childhood poverty to owning his own company,” she said. “He never let his circumstances dictate his standards. We have six children of our own — and four foster kids — ranging from 10 months to 17 years old, and he sets a great example.”

And when it comes to providing advice for others considering launching their own business, David says it’s a no-brainer.

“Restaurants are so happy with us,” he said. “If someone’s thinking about doing it, I’d say just do it. Clean the fryer, clean the oil, make it easy for the restaurant, and they will love it.”

FEATURE QUESTIONS

1851: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

David: I was working in a restaurant, baking bread — it was my first job in America after moving from Spain 11 years ago. Some people contacted me about working in a restaurant cleaning oil and fryers, and I thought it could be a good opportunity. I spent half a day observing a guy with a Filta van handling the oil, and I liked it because it seemed straightforward and I enjoy being on the move.

Laurie: He liked that he wouldn’t have a boss.

David: I really enjoy working and doing it right, as best as I can, very quickly. But I don’t like the pressure of a boss telling me what to do. With Filta, I was able to move from being a technician to owning my own business doing work I knew I loved.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

David: I didn’t know much about franchises before, but I really like Filta because it's a supportive group. They provide whatever you need, making it easy to work. It's a great franchise—they're trying to help you.

Laurie: It’s not hard to sell our service. As soon as people understand what we offer, it's pretty much a guaranteed sale. Every restaurant with a fryer needs us. Nobody likes to clean their own fryer — it’s a dirty job that guarantees you keep your job.

David: Nobody likes to clean the fryer. Restaurants are so happy with us. If someone’s thinking about doing it, I’d say just do it. Clean the fryer, clean the oil, make it easy for the restaurant, and they will love it.

Laurie: If you’re a hard worker, Filta's a good franchise for you. If you don’t want to be hands-on, it’s not the right job.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Laurie: He was recommended by the brother-in-law of a franchise owner. We'd never heard of Filta until he started working with the previous owner’s son, who mentioned he was going to sell. Within weeks of being an employee, he said he’d own this business someday.

David: I did a search for Filta and found it was one of the fastest-growing franchises in the US. We help other businesses, like restaurants, with jobs they don’t want to do. I don’t like doing the hard sell; they want our business.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth?

Laurie: From a business and numbers perspective, we want to focus on growing. We have a large area, most of it undeveloped, so our goal is to establish a strong clientele in the area, get the most out of this area, then start to branch out, ideally to grow as much as we can as a franchise.

David: Right now we have two vans that act as mobile stations. In two more years, I want at least one more van. I really like working with Filta.

It’s a colorful van. Everybody recognizes it or asks, “Hey, what are you doing?” And that's a great opportunity to say, “I can help you — I can take your oil because it hurts the environment if you don’t have a safe place to dump it.” 

I explain that we clean the fryer, we reuse oil because the way we filter it means they can use it longer and it's clean. When they see that colorful van, with its green colors, they say It looks healthy. People love it.

Laurie: We currently have two employees—one for each van.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Laurie: David was originally born in Peru and grew up in poverty. His family migrated to Spain, where they began to have a better life through owning and operating a business, and he started to develop his own entrepreneurship. We were married in Spain and then moved here, and he kept that ambition. 

It’s impressive to me that David grew from childhood poverty to owning his own company. He never let his circumstances dictate his standards. We have six children of our own — and four foster kids — ranging from 10 months to 17 years old, and he sets a great example.”

He's always made time for work, family and helping others, and he's always the one people call whenever they need anything. But the kids know that he'll stop whatever he's doing and he'll run and help them, so he's found a way to kind of balance and make everything work and set his priorities of helping other people.

??You don't have to let where you were born and whatever circumstances that you were born into dictate all you can accomplish in life. If you’re willing to get your hands dirty and become a leader, you're able to change your life situation and even your family's life situation. David’s always had that desire to grow and move forward. So for me, that's the example that he sets for our whole family: If you put in the work you can accomplish everything. 

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

David: Work hard, like what you’re doing, and aim to be the best. Just work — it's a path to success. Be honest and do it quickly. If you do those things, you will be successful. As soon as I started to research Filta, it felt like the right move. It fits with my personality. Why would I invest money in something unless I want to learn?

Laurie: For me, I would never have looked into another franchise. It made sense because he already knew the ins and outs; he was kind of the face of this area while his boss could just trust that he would service the area well. We knew it would be easy to pick up and run with, although it was tough on a technician’s salary to save money.