Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Alice Cheng, Founder and CEO of Culinary Agents, located in New York, NY, USA.

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

Culinary Agents is a website and app to find jobs and career-related information about the hospitality industry. Our platform makes it easy for talent to discover and apply to job opportunities and also provides hiring tools for businesses (e.g., job marketing, recruiting, and employer branding solutions).

We proudly support a growing online community of over a 1.1million users (entry-level to seasoned professionals) and over 35,000 hospitality businesses across the US, including restaurants, hotels, food services, schools, and organizations of all sizes.

Tell us about yourself

I worked in food service for years before joining IBM and loved it. As the hospitality industry and profession evolved and the rise of consumer interest in cooking and dining experiences skyrocketed, I found my former peers still looking for unprofessional tools to seek employment and career opportunities. After years of witnessing wildly talented, hard-working, caring, and ambitious people sift through Craigslist at 3 AM post-shift to find their next job (or a better one), I felt compelled to create an effective tool to connect talent and businesses in the hospitality industry.

Once the wheels were in motion, it became clear that the challenges and lack of tools were also present amongst business owners and hiring managers. My team and I have dedicated the past ten years to building our website and app to support both talent and businesses in the hospitality industry. Our approach is simple: design and builds from the perspective of users in the hospitality industry while incorporating best practices and experiences from other industries.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

It will be ten years this Fall since Culinary Agents kicked into full gear. In the beginning, my biggest accomplishment was turning an idea into a reality by risking everything and pushing past obstacles and naysayers. Looking back, getting started was the easy part. Convincing my co-founders to join the mission and then building a high-performing team of like-minded individuals with them has been my biggest accomplishment thus far.

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

One of the hardest things that come with being a business owner is bringing the right people into the fold to drive the company forward with you at the right time. As you grow, the workload becomes overwhelming, and you need to constantly prioritize. Learning to let go and empowering your team to grow with you is both needed and highly rewarding.

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

  1. Listen to your clients; anticipate their needs, and add value first.
  2. Surround yourself with people who you admire and trust, learn from them and grow with them.
  3. Celebrate the small, medium, and large wins. Don’t forget to take a minute to reflect and appreciate what your hard work and perseverance have accomplished. Then, get right back at it!

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Ideas are easy to dream up. Turning them into reality takes hard work and drive. There is never a “good time” to start a business; just do it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://culinaryagents.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/culinaryagents

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/culinaryagents/
https://www.instagram.com/alicecheng411/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/culinaryagents
https://twitter.com/aliceycheng

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/culinaryagents/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aycheng/

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.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.