Wonder Waffel Comes to Melbourne With Assist by Florida SBDC at Eastern Florida State College

Wonder Waffel is popular European restaurant chain

BREVARD COUNTY • FLORIDA — Boasting its position as one of the first in the U.S., Wonder Waffel Melbourne features a different take on comfort food. All the dishes on the menu are built around a waffle made from a proprietary recipe and then loaded with amazing ingredients chosen by the customer. 

Starting a business is typically a steep climb for anyone. Still, the degree of difficulty is heightened significantly if you happen to be in a new country and introducing a foreign food concept to a different and unfamiliar customer base.

All of that and more was true for Swiss-born Seraina Hug, founder and owner of the popular European restaurant chain Wonder Waffel, when she set about bringing her concept to Melbourne, Florida.

Fortunately, Hug contacted the Florida Small Business Development Center at Eastern Florida State College, a sub-center of the FSBDC at the University of Central Florida. This assisted her on her way to a successful opening of her waffle shop.

“We serve waffles made from scratch,” explains Hug. “We have savory (think Mexican, Italian, or chicken BBQ-like sandwiches made with waffles). We have sweet ones piled with the customer’s choice of sauces, fruits, and toppings. We have shakes. We have sundaes. We have Italian coffee. We are a place for a sweet tooth!”

“What makes us unique? Hug continued. “You can customize your waffle with us. Just let me know what you want, and I make it possible. I am from Switzerland, and we don’t eat waffles for breakfast. We are at it all day, especially in the afternoon and after dinner,r for a sweet treat.”

“We immigrated here, and things are a bit different. The rules and laws are different; it’s hard, and you must learn a lot,” recalls Hug. Under new circumstances, she turned to Robin Braswell, sub-center director and consultant at the FSBDC at Eastern Florida State College, for help.

“From our first appointment with the SBDC, where we met Robin, she helped me a lot with many questions. She helped me with marketing research, with permits, or if we had any questions. We are so thankful that Robin is always here, and she is part of our amazing journey.”

“Frankly speaking, the SBDC helped us open our restaurant. Robin and her team have been so supportive,” Hug states today.

”It’s hard to be self-employed. My head is everywhere. It’s with the customer, it’s in the kitchen, it’s with my employees. I must do the marketing and social media and pay my bills on time. There’s just a lot, and the SBDC and Robin have helped me focus on being here and running my business.”

Wonder Waffel is open and thriving today, having already built a loyal clientele. “We did great,” exclaims Hug proudly. “We opened our restaurant, and I’m happy Robin is always on my side.”

For information about Wonder Waffel, CLICK HERE.

About the FSBDC at UCF

Hosted by the University of Central Florida and its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida is part of UCF’s Office of the President and the Florida SBDC Network.

The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more.

The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains nine service centers across Central Florida.

In 2023, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,800 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,100 jobs created, retained or saved; $743.5 million in sales growth; $59.2 million in capital formation; $122.5 million in government contract awards; and 164 new businesses started. For information, please visit sbdcorlando.com .

About the Florida SBDC Network

For more than 45 years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy.

In 2023, the Florida SBDC Network delivered 111,720 hours of consulting to 14,808 small business clients – resulting in business owners securing $346 million in capital, $576 million in government contracting, impacting 19,263 jobs, increasing sales by over $3.9 billion, and creating 1,058 businesses.

With over 40 statewide offices, the Florida SBDC is partly funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Department of Defense, the State of Florida, and other private and public partners.

The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, visit FloridaSBDC.org.

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