Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jake Tannenbaum, founder of Craftmix, located in Marina del Rey, CA, USA.

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

Craftmix makes delicious cocktail mixers that come in pocket-sized packets! Our better-for-you mixers are low calorie, low sugar, non-GMO, etc.!

Flat Coca-Cola + warm vodka (from a plastic bottle, that is) is a fairly common occurrence when you're in college. Being the entrepreneur (and bartender at the time), I wanted to create a solution for college students to step their game up and start enjoying higher-quality mixers! The truth of the matter is I couldn't have been more off. Since launching in December 2020, we've realized that the biggest demographic of our customers are not actually college students but women 26-55. Ironic enough, as the founder, I am not within that age range, but I still enjoy our products the same. Maybe that says something about me or something about the category in general. Drinking is something that has gone on for thousands of years and isn't going anywhere soon, so we're hoping to inspire people to up their cocktail game in a convenient way while also saving yourself the guilt of high-calorie, high-sugar drinks.

Tell us about yourself

I've been a lifelong entrepreneur! I started my first LLC when I was an 8th grader, creating an online forum and marketplace for people to buy, sell, and trade streetwear. Since then, I've known I'd always be an entrepreneur and haven't looked back since. There are quite a few stories about why we started Craftmix. I was on a plane, and there weren't many options for cocktails; I had a party where I ran out of cocktail ingredients (at the start of the party). Also, I used to be a bartender and was tired of making my friends drinks out of their undrinkable ingredients. Making cocktails can be a big hassle and a huge ordeal. Everyone's had the experience where you've spent hours cooking a new dish. It turns out inedible, and you end up ordering the unanimous crowdpleaser of pizza instead. The same thing happens with cocktails all of the time, so I really wanted to enable people to be their own bartenders.

As for motivation, more than anything, I want to create products for people to enjoy and create memories with, and whether we admit it or not, that's exactly what cocktails do! I love making products that solve people's problems or simply make their lives better. Another motivation is to prove wrong all of the people that have rejected or undermined me over the years--teachers, bosses, professors, investors, retailers. And I'm already outdoing their predetermined expectation of me, so they'll come around and feel silly that they ever doubted anyone as relentless as myself.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Raising capital 100%. The truth of being an entrepreneur is that it takes money to make money. One of my previous advisors said that "raising capital is the hardest thing you can do outside of raising children," and it's extremely true. After getting the green light from an investment firm for our preseed round, I quit my job the very next day, put all of my money into the business, and waited for that capital to come through. They ended up flaking on the investment eight weeks later. I was broke, the company was out of money, and I had no job. I had to go back to bartending and worked 12 hours a day on Craftmix and 6 hours a day as a bartender. Finally, after five months of talking to 8 investors per day, we were able to raise our preseed round, which is what changed my life and enabled us to launch Craftmix.

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

Patience. Everyone wants their business to be a success overnight. There are days where we've made six figures in 1 day, and there are days where we've made a few hundred dollars. It's an absolute rollercoaster of emotions, and you have to stay relentless, ambitious, and driven no matter what. The founder is the engine of the business. It all comes down to people, and the most important person is you.

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

  1. It takes time (unless you have millions of dollars to start) - starting a business and scaling it just takes time. It takes time to develop a decent product. It takes time for people to start recognizing your brand. It takes time for things to catch on and doors to open. We started this idea in 2018 and didn't officially launch it until December 2020. It takes time.
  2. Surround yourself with good people. Your network and the people who help you as a young entrepreneur or first-time founder will be everything to you. Surround yourself with people who actually care about your success.
  3. Team is everything, so don't rush into business with friends. It's very easy to pick cofounders from your friends, but typically that doesn't work out. It's going to be very hard to find anyone as relentless as the entrepreneur with the idea, and people will constantly let you down. 90% of the people I've hired, I've fired. It's very hard to find good talent.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I love talking and working with other entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs to get started. I wouldn't be where I am today without the people who supported me, so I always say "reach out" if there's ever anything I can help with (but please don't try and sell me shit, I won't fall for your tricks). You have my email from this article, so don't hesitate to! It's funny every class I speak to; I always say this and give my direct email. I'd say one student out of every three classes actually reaches out. It makes me realize that not everyone is as motivated and relentless as I was. I contacted every single speaker who came to any of my classes, and one of them is now an incredible friend of mine and a small investor in Craftmix.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.craftmix.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craftmix
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftmix/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craftmix
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-tannenbaum-a21876128/

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.