Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Angela McDonald, owner of Oregon Tea Traders, located in Eugene, OR, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Oregon Tea Traders provides high-quality loose leaf teas from 10 countries, including the USA. We strive to promote health and prosperity through drinking tea. Fueled by a passion for social and environmental justice, we seek to provide customers as well as tea producers with a better life. Our customers are primarily middle-class women between the ages of 30-35 and 45-60.
Tell us about yourself
We at Oregon Tea Traders are dedicated to tea as a way of life. "Promoting tea is my way of promoting a better world" My passion does not stop at simply drinking tea; I also explore and teach about the world of tea through science, cultural traditions, health, and history. My love of local agriculture has led to growing tea in my home of Oregon, as well as working to encourage the domestically grown tea industry through my work with the US League of Tea Growers. I proudly developed Oregon Tea Traders into a business that shares my love of community, health, and sustainability.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Honestly, I feel that growing and being profitable after 11 years of being in business is my biggest accomplishment. So many businesses close or find themselves buried in debt after only a few years that I feel very fortunate to be in the place that I am in.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
It is hard to separate personal life and work. As a mother of 2 children, this is a struggle that affects all of us.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do your research! Take classes, and talk to consultants.
- Be prepared for hard work and very little (if any) payoff for the first several years. We all want instant success for our businesses, but becoming profitable is much harder than it looks.
- Make sure it is something you love. You will be putting your heart and soul into this business, and if you aren't passionate about it, you will not get far.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://oregonteatraders.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OregonTeaTraders/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oregonteatraders/
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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