Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sabrina John, founder of Beauty and the Treats, located in Ottawa, Canada.

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

Beauty and the Treats is a home-based bakery located in the Ottawa region. We offer gourmet and custom treats for every occasion and every craving. We strive to really bring the baking difference and create delicious memories that you can share with your loved ones, just like home. We absolutely love to keep your cookie jar filled!

We offer anything from cake jars to cheesecakes to cookies to brownies. Whatever is your craving, that is what we are making.

We love to support local businesses and give back to the many people who inspire us every day. During the various months, we give back to the communities not because we have to but because they helped and molded us to be the business that we are today, and we are forever grateful for that.

Tell us about yourself

Hi, my name is Sabrina. I am a self-taught baker who loves sweet treats. I am the owner of Beauty and the Treats Bakery. I have always had a slight obsession with baked goods and would usually bake cupcakes and cookies for my friends and families. I started taking my hobby more seriously after I had my knee injury. I wasn't able to physically walk for about a year and a half, and all I could do was watch TV or read books. And that is when I got bit by the baking bug pretty bad. I started binge-watching all the baking shows on Netflix and cable TV and watching many Youtube videos of technics of how to make certain items. Once I was able to walk with the assistance of my crutches, I dove right into and started experimenting with flavours and textures using the knowledge that I had soaked up from bakers.

I absolutely love to create delicious treats, and it absolutely warms my heart when I present them to my customers, and their face lights up with joy and excitement. Hearing my customer's thoughts on the baked goods as well, whether good or bad, help me to better my craft, and I appreciate it so much.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Honestly, there are many BIG accomplishments that I cannot just name one. The fact that I have learned everything on my own and to have my treats light up peoples faces and have customers coming back telling me how amazing my creations taste is the biggest and best accomplishment I have ever done.

But If I were to single one out, it would definitely be surviving my first few markets during the holidays with the Ottawa Artisans. I have never done physical markets before, and having that experience and seeing what it takes to be prepared to give the customers what they are looking for was everything to me.

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

The hardest thing about being a business owner would be finding the resources you need to push forward. Now hear me out. There are tons of resources around us every day that is accessible. However, if you have an idea of starting a business and do not know the steps or how to accomplish them, then that is where things start to get hard, and discouragement comes into play. In the food industry, it is hard to find a mentor who would help you throughout the beginning stages of your business only because most people see you as competition and don't want to see you do better than them. I am not saying that everyone has that mindset. It's just something that I have encountered on my journey to building my business.

Learning to take criticism to better your craft and not take everything to heart. That has been one of the hardest things for me as being a business owner. We are our biggest critics, and we are constantly hard on ourselves. It's very hard when we put our all into something, and it doesn't work out as we imagined it. But don't give up. Keep trying, and you will be marveled at the things you can accomplish.

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

READ. READ READ READ READ READ. Once you have an idea, write it down and start researching. Just as if it was a project for school, read about the industry how the people before you have done it and see what you can take from them, make it your own, and flourish with it.

Save your receipts. In anything you do for your business, it is very important to get in the habit of saving your receipts and knowing the cost of each component to make your final product.

Which brings me to my last point, product breakdown. It is very important that you take the single components needed to make your final product and break them down to the very amount used to make the final product. Once you find out the final price, then PRICE YOUR ITEMS ACCORDINGLY do not. I repeat, DO NOT sell yourself short on your craft. You took your time and energy to make it. The right people who see the value of your product will pay the price, no questions asked.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Life as an entrepreneur is not easy. You will have your ups and downs. Sometimes you may even go sideways and not know how you've got to this place. But one thing I know for sure, if you are passionate and driven to make your dreams come true, then NOTHING will ever stand in your way of bringing the vision to life.

I repeat a mantra to myself daily when things in my business and life are not going well. "What will be for you will be for you. If it's meant to be, everything will flow and fall into place naturally."

Whatever you do in life, give your all and do it to the best of your abilities. Keep your head up and heart open. You got this!

Where can people find you and your business?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautynthetreats
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_beautyandthetreats_/

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.