Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Matthew Peterson, Founder, and CEO of Farmalogical, located in Manalapan, NJ, USA.

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

Farmalogical creates better food & beverage using ingredients from regenerative agriculture. Our mission is to align the foods we eat with sustainable agriculture and heal the planet.

We are launching our first product, Smootch; a natural sports drink powered by regenerative oats. Our customers are people looking to hydrate and replenish on-the-go. Smootch is a healthy, delicious, and sustainable fuel for active lifestyles.

Tell us about yourself

While working my first job out of college, my entrepreneurship professor reached out to see how I was doing. I told him I didn't really like my role, and he suggested I look at returning to Villanova for their Sustainable Engineering program. Pursuing this, I got the opportunity to work as a graduate assistant and develop an entrepreneurship course for the program. This was also my opportunity get to work on something of my own.

I took everything I was learning about sustainability, especially systems-thinking, and applied it to food and beverage. I wrote my thesis on the food system and developed the concept for the business and our current product.

Learning about sustainability and the path we are on has motivated me to devote my time to sustainable development. Healthy food should be accessible to everyone and absolutely sustainable for all future generations. Entrepreneurship is a way for me to create things (hopefully) that make the world better.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as an entrepreneur so far has been taking a somewhat crazy idea for a new product and bringing it to life. We've actually done it twice- having to go through a rebrand and two different contract manufacturers. I absolutely could not have done it without the support of my team and the people around me.

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

One of the hardest things that come with being an entrepreneur is overcoming the mental barriers to keep pushing forward. Nothing ever goes smoothly, and you'll get hit with tough blows, but you have to keep moving forward. It doesn't leave a lot of time for much else, and it can get lonely. It helps to have a good team and support system, and it's important to take time to build and maintain those relationships. It's also important to have a mission you believe in.

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

  1. Get started, and don't stop. If you have a good idea, then pursue it. Start small; just having conversations about an idea can help to refine it and build momentum.
  2. Don't be afraid of failure. Expect to fail, learn, pivot, and refine everything you do. Nothing will be perfect out of the gate.
  3. Surround yourself with the right people. Building a strong team is one of the most important things you can do, don't settle for people that are less than stellar. For me, building a beverage business with little knowledge of the space, I couldn't have done it without my team. On this, it's important everyone is aligned with the same mission and expectations.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

One thing that was super helpful (essential) for me starting out was gusher.co - a platform I used to assemble my team with nothing but equity agreements and passion. About half of my team found me through this website, and the other half I found through networking was still onboarded through Gusher's process and equity share agreement.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://drinksmootch.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinksmootch/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drinksmootch
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-peterson-02663487/

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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