Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Scott Edwards, founder, and CEO of Elevated Gains, located in Denver, CO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Elevated Gains makes recovery protein bars infused with full-spectrum CBD. Our mission is to help athletes recover better through our products and educational content! I got started because I did not like most of the traditional protein bars on the market and figured I'd try to make one with healthy ingredients to fuel your body that actually tasted good – and for an added kicker, we put CBD in to improve the body's ability to recover.
Our customers are active people who are working out/doing activities multiple times a week and want food that is natural and designed to help their bodies. They have dedicated themselves to improving, and our job is to take a small step to help them in that process!
Tell us about yourself
I'm Scott! Founder of Elevated Gains. I went to school for chemical engineering at the University of Kansas before moving to Denver to work in the Oil & Gas Industry. That was relatively short-lived, and I moved on to software implementation consulting for three years. During that time, I was a software engineer by day and a business founder on nights/weekends, formulating the product and getting ready to launch the business. It took much longer than expected to get to a product that tasted great and delivered the nutrition I was looking for, but there's something about creating a product from scratch that's so exciting!
What keeps me motivated each day? Well, I definitely do not stay motivated every day, so my answer to that would be discipline. Some days are exciting and easy to crush all day, and some days you just don't feel like it. Showing up on those "off" days is all discipline - something I will continue to build and improve on for the rest of my life.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner. I would say there are 2 – Starting and not quitting. The hardest step to take a lot of times is just getting started, and you only fail when you quit. There have been lots of ups and downs already and will continue to be more, but I'll be along for the ride the whole way.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest parts of being a business owner is the mental struggle. You have to make every decision yourself and carry all of the emotional burdens of the business. It can be incredibly overwhelming but having close friends/family to talk to and connecting with other peers starting businesses to talk through things and have people truly understand what you're going through is a great way to combat this!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start. From my experience, the most learning comes from failures and mistakes, and those can't happen until you start.
- Find something you are interested in. I think finding 'the perfect' passion for building a business around can be cliché. You'll be able to tell pretty quickly when things get hard if it's right for you.
- Never stop learning, and don't be afraid to ask the 'dumb' questions.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.elevatedgains.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elevatedgainsllc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatedgains/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elevatedgains
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elevated-gains/
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.