Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jonathan Schultz, CEO of Backyard Bev Co., located in Denver, CO, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We make all-natural cocktail mixers that allow people to make gourmet drinks simple. Our flavors come from the actual ingredients (such as fresh-pressed ginger or whole culinary lavender flower and 100% fresh citrus juices). Our customers are people that love great fun cocktails and want to make them at home and have them taste like they do in the restaurant. In addition, our customers are restaurants and bars that want a great product to work with that allows them to have consistency for their menu. We sell wholesale to distributors, retailers, and on-premise locations in addition to customers directly from our website.

Tell us about yourself

My wife, Leah, and I love fun, interesting cocktails. We felt there was a great opportunity to bring some life to the mixer market, which has been pretty boring for the last 50 years with just tonic water, club soda, ginger ale, and ginger beer. And no one really wants to spend time infusing flavors into simple syrup when they want a cocktail. They want to be able to make that drink without waiting an hour. Having a cocktail at home should be just as good as the one you pay $15 for at the restaurant...and often, that starts with a great base syrup and spirit.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We doubled our business last year, and we should double it again this year. We have seen growth go from a few thousand dollars a month to 10x that over the last year or so. We have created partnerships with large distributors, national chains and see our products featured in national magazines such as Forbes and Backpacker. We have done this all with basically a few employees that work really hard, and we owe much of our growth to their dedication to making a great product.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Keeping the end goal in mind and filtering out the highs and lows of the day-to-day. The highs can be great, but the next day, the low can be devastating, but as long as the growth continues, then you are headed in the right direction. The hardest part of those highs and lows is how dramatic of an impact they can have, which can often be hard to plan for as a small growing company. The other hardest thing to do is leave work at home. As a small business owner, it is hard not to think about the business 24/7, which can be very detrimental. You can't always leave everything at the office door, but the more you can, the more you can really balance your life.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Keep the end goal in mind, and don't let the day-to-day highs and lows impact your overall outlook.
  2. Try to leave the business at the office as much as you can. Enjoy the time you aren't working on the business because it will certainly keep you ready to go in the next day.
  3. It's easy to say yes to lots of things that you think will be good for the business. Most of them aren't. Really take time to evaluate and filter all the things people are trying to sell you to help you grow your business.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

When you love a product from a small growing business, tell people. People love to learn about new products but have a hard time finding great products from growing businesses because we don't have the marketing budget typically to get in front of tons of people. Word of mouth is amazing awareness for us.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.backyardsodas.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackyardSodaCompany/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backyardsodaco
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmschultz74/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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