Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Louis Rubio, CEO of Hemp Generation, located in Cary, NC, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are the Hemp Generation that will cultivate this amazing plant and bring it to the forefront of alternative solutions for wellness. With our community's long-term wellness in mind, we aim to help individuals who seek alternative and natural solutions. We guide others through their journey in discovering the right hemp products, dosing schedules, and consumption methods that best suit them. By making the products, we can guarantee dosage, quality, and as many organic ingredients as we can possibly use. That means no artificial colorings, flavors, or worry of pesticides, heavy metals, or residual solvents.
Tell us about yourself
Before founding the company, I have been a long-time user of cannabis which has helped me regulate my mood after a traumatic childhood and occasional pain. I have never taken over-the-counter or prescription medication unless it was more of an emergency, and I have cannabis to thank for that.
Hemp Generation was founded in 2018 by Chloe and me. We met while studying Physics at NC State. After attending a grower's informational hemp conference in the spring, we were inspired to learn more and gain experience within the evolving hemp industry and ended up growing our own crop in a residential neighborhood in my dad's backyard. After witnessing how transformative hemp was for friends and family, we developed a driven passion for the plant and making quality products accessible to the community.
Ever since then, HG has been dedicated to shifting the conventional ways of healing through high-quality, accurately represented, and natural cannabis products, with a focus on education and long-term wellness.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is having made it this far! From bumming with my dad to Chloe's dad, and then her mom - living in a camper while farming mixed into those years, we finally got ourselves an apartment with income from our business and now, finally, home from the income it has brought us.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest thing that comes with being a business owner is dealing with the insecurity that we might not be here tomorrow. Dealing with packaging suppliers, COVID, landlords, changing laws, and even simply getting a bank account in our industry proved to be tough. Having to wear all the hats and assume every business role is tough for a team of just three people.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
The top three tips I would give would definitely be to find a good, trustworthy partner, make sure they start a business at the right timing with the market and leverage debt with a secure business plan to pay it back.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Starting and running a business is not easy. It takes time, a good team, and patience. Stick to it, believe in your dream, listen to your critics, and when you have a lot of resistance to your idea, you know you've got a great one.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://hempgeneration.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HempGenerationNC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hempgeneration/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hemp-generation/
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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