Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Aaron Shinn, Co-Founder and CEO of August Uncommon Tea, located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
August is the tea brand that breaks all the rules. We make tea for people who won't settle for ordinary. We make totally original tea blends from the best ingredients on earth with a fanatical focus on flavor. August is the best-tasting tea on earth, and that's why people drink August.
Tell us about yourself
I started out as a graphic designer and DJ. I designed rave flyers in high school, and that led me to go to design school and broaden my horizons. I ended up working in art publishing and working in fashion in my early 20s in New York. Meanwhile, my partner Gina was getting her Ph.D. at Berkeley, which led me to move to the bay area, where I joined the design consultancy IDEO.
There I really got to travel the world and learn about the holistic design process for brands and products. I found myself coming back over and over again to food and beverage projects, which became something I was known for. When traveling, I would always bring home tea from overseas.
Gina and I are inveterate foodies, and much of our travel itineraries are filled with food and drink. We always talked about how we'd love to own a restaurant together. When we moved to Los Angeles and stopped traveling so much, we ran out of all our smuggled tea from Europe and Asia. That led us to try buying tea online. We bought from all the big brands, and we were deeply disappointed by what we received.
That's when the inspiration struck. We decided that we were going to create the tea company we wished for. We launched in August 2014 from our loft in downtown Los Angeles. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of learning how to grow and run a successful business.
The most motivating things are the stories we get from our customers. To hear about how our tea can bring people comfort, inspiration, and happiness is incredibly satisfying.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Making people happy every day.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
For me, it's knowing when to get help. I've always been a person who tries to take everything on, but that creates all kinds of problems. You can't do your best work when you're overwhelmed. And nobody is good at everything. It's so important to find expert collaborators.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Create your business to fill an unmet customer need. Customer demand isn't something that appears out of thin air. The biggest and most successful businesses are obsessed with solving their customers' problems.
- Fail early and often. Many businesses fail because they don't test their ideas before investing heavily. Always look for low-cost ways to test your assumptions, learn, and test again. Avoid betting everything on a single product launch.
- Model your financials rigorously. I'm from a creative background, so it was a tough lesson for me to learn. If you don't understand your unit economics down to the smallest detail, it will be almost impossible to survive.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://august.la/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aaronshinn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashinn/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/new_ways
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashinn/
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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