Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Steven Arena, Founder of Ancient Crunch Inc., located in Lebanon, NJ, USA.

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

Ancient Crunch is taking the junk out of snack foods. We sell snacks made with 100% real ingredients that taste even better than you remember to people who care about feeding their bodies with real, natural, traditional foods.

Tell us about yourself

I have been eating a healthy diet for years, but the biggest problem is the lack of snack foods that are made with real ingredients. After looking everywhere for chips made with real, good-for-you ingredients, I couldn't find any, so we decided to do it ourselves. And thus, our flagship brand, MASA - the first tortilla chips made with organic corn and grass-fed tallow - was born.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Surprising the market with a snack food that not only is healthier than the competition but tastes better too.

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

There are a lot of things going on at once. You need to be able to do everything and hire the right people to take on those responsibilities as you grow.

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

  1. Create something novel that hasn't been done before. You don't want to compete. This might mean having to make it yourself, but it's worth it.
  2. Make it easy to win. Business is hard enough, don't make it more difficult than it has to be.
  3. Pay attention to branding and marketing. Great products with bad branding will fail, whereas bad products with good branding will succeed.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.masachips.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reallytanman/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reallytanman

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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