Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sendy Phanthavong, account manager of Social Coffee Roasters, located in Richmond Hill, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We believe that coffee should be a social experience, from top to bottom. It should be delivered via socially conscious supply chains and brewed by passionate people. We are dedicated to bringing the highest quality of freshly-roasted coffee grown anywhere to you. We roast and develop our own specialty blends using the finest beans available.
Our coffees are freshly roasted and shipped every week. Nothing is sent out that has passed our four-day roast period. We also work with many different wholesale accounts from independent cafes, restaurants, boutique grocery stores, offices, and churches. If you have a passion for coffee, please come and check us out.
Tell us about yourself
It is actually quite a funny story. Back in 2009, my husband bought an ice cream maker to make homemade ice cream. One of the flavours that we wanted was a coffee/java ice cream. We played around with some different beans but never got the taste we liked. So, he came up with the idea about roasting his own beans so that he could bring out the flavours he wanted and the importance of having freshly roasted coffee. From there, my husband started learning about the art of roasting coffee beans. He actually experimented in our basement at first.
From there, we began to learn more about the industry and what would be required, as this was all new to us. We also spent a lot of time on looking for the right location as well as determining what concept or model would be the right fit for us. ie. Café/Roastery, or just Roastery. Eventually, we decided on the roastery model. I think what continues to motivate us is what a great coffee community we have. There is so much to still learn from sourcing, roasting, and brewing a great cup of coffee.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Building a brand that people continue to love. As well as working with a variety of different people, from farmers at origin (sourcing the green coffee beans and developing the direct trade relationship). To other independent business owners who are looking to start their own cafe or restaurant.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I think I would say the investment of time. Initially, when you start a business, you must realize that a lot of time needs to be invested. You will often need to work more hours than your regular day job. You must be willing to wear many different hats - i.e., the salesman, the bookkeeper, the accountant, the collector, the customer service rep, and many more. You must be willing to make temporary sacrifices, but I find that there should always be a good balance of work and family life, cause time is always precious.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Have Passion - Make sure you are passionate about what you are doing; it takes time to start, run and grow a business, so you should be sure that you will be motivated to do what you are doing for the next few years.
- Create A Business Plan - This should include your executive summary, market analysis, organization and management, service or product line, marketing and sale, funding requests, and financial projections. This will provide you with a guideline for the business and keep you on track once you begin it.
- Be Flexible/Realistic - Things are constantly changing, so you need to be dynamic but also realistic. This past year with the pandemic has forced us to adapt to things quickly if you have a good support team that helps too.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Be Thankful! It has not always been easy, but we are thankful for all that we have today, from the support of our family and children, loyal customers, friends, vendors, and suppliers. We are so fortunate to have met all the different people along this journey.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.socialcoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SocialCoffeeCompany/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialcoffee/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/socialcoffeeco
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.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.