Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Suhyoon Wood, Co-Founder of Beejou Craft Kombucha, located in Alexandria, VA, USA.

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

Beejou is a craft kombucha brand that provides customers with a boutique experience for all their kombucha needs. Our customers come from all walks. We find that our variety of flavors welcomes new drinkers and seasoned drinkers alike. We even have what we call our "conversion flavor," which has not yet failed at making folks rethink how they imagine kombucha.

Tell us about yourself

I started home brewing kombucha in 2019 -- at the time, I was working on going back to graduate school and told myself I'd give it a year to see how things went. Quickly after making my first batch and letting friends try it, I realized that they wanted to buy it. Then, their friends wanted to buy them. As my homebrew customer base grew, I decided I needed to do everything above board. While we're in Alexandria, Virginia now, Beejou was started in Columbus, GA.

In Georgia, a manufacturer cannot sell homebrewed kombucha, so I did what any sane person would do and opened Columbus' first & only full-service kombucha manufacturing business and kombucha taproom. Our doors opened in March 2020, a week before our states' COVID lockdown.

Creating a kombucha experience, helping people realize that kombucha can taste good, and building a kombucha-loving community is what brought me back every day. Owning a business was the most stressful thing I'd ever done, but the reward was well worth the stress.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Since I've relocated from Columbus, GA, but many of my former wholesale clients have now started to carry kombucha -- something they hadn't done before. I'd like to think that putting kombucha on the map in Columbus, GA was a little bit of Beejou's legacy.

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

Time management and perspective. I think a lot of business owners are a little masochistic. I know that one of my biggest struggles was reminding myself when to be in work mode -- I often blurred the lines and would be answering emails at all hours, allowing my work life to bleed into my personal time and not giving myself boundaries.

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

First, find a community of like-minded entrepreneurs -- a large part of Beejou's success had folks in adjacent industries who were willing to give the product a shot.

Secondly, always ask for help. Always exhaust the resources given to you. No one will ever be perfect and have all the answers, and that's why asking questions when you don't know is the best thing a new business owner can do. If you're not asking, you're not learning.

Finally, be genuine with your customers. You don't have a business if you don't have customers. In my experience, being a business owner is a part of the business experience. Your customers will not only be there for your product but you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.beejoukombucha.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beejoukombucha
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beejoukombucha/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suhyooncho/

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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