Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jon Kamin, CEO of Frshminds, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are building a best-in-class digital marketplace for psychedelic retreats and their practitioners. Our customers are the retreats, and our core user demographic is female, North American or Western European, 35-55, living an unfulfilling domestic existence, seeking growth and the alleviation of anxiety, depression, and stagnation.
Tell us about yourself
My partners and I came from Canada's legal cannabis industry, where we built a leading digital and data business serving consumers and emerging cannabis CPGs. COVID drove the business to an untimely end, and given how well we all worked together and how close we agreed we were to a big success story, we bore down and decided to build from scratch in psychedelics, a new, emerging adjacent market. Building from zero is incredibly difficult, but truly there is nothing I've ever experienced that's as rewarding as watching your endless dedication to the business start to bear fruit.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I successfully exited a data business in 2018 - I recognized the considerable value in user data that we had been collecting (and not leveraging), built a product around it, began delivering it as a DaaS product, and then sold it.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Wondering if you're the only one on earth who believes your thesis on a nearly daily basis! I find I need to constantly reinforce my conviction and not take any well-intended constructive criticism as a death sentence for the business!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- If you are not proficient at building a detailed financial model, find someone who can.
- Never stop having your target customer squarely in your mind at every step. Meet them, talk to them, and talk to as many of your potential customers in person as you possibly can.
- Never rush a hire. If you aren't 100% satisfied with the candidates in front of you, go find some new ones.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://frshminds.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frshminds/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frshminds
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/frshminds/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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