Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Preju Kanuparthy, Co-Founder and CEO of Genesis Rum, located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Genesis Rum is a pineapple and lime rum that was made by four high school best friends. We were sent home during our freshmen year of college in 2020 due to the pandemic. At this point, we were stuck back in our hometown with nothing to do. We quickly got together and started reminiscing on our short-lived college experience. The conversation quickly changed to the social scene and what people drank at school—soon realizing that no one mentioned rum, we wanted to understand why. We saw that there was no high-proof, flavored, and extremely smooth rum, and we set up to create just that. Our customers are college-aged students and young adults making their way into the professional world - just as we four are.
Tell us about yourself
We first got to work on the business because we were a group of friends who worked really well together and have worked on other businesses together (in high school). Our work during the pandemic consisted of hanging out and brainstorming what type of product we wanted to make. We began to meet with distilleries, manufacturers, and many other potential partners. What motivates me each day is knowing that people haven't tried the most mixable rum yet, Genesis Rum. It's literally a game-changing rum. We like to call it the most mixable rum, and we want people to realize the same. That is what motivates us, we know that we have a great product, and we want others to start drinking more Genesis!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Our biggest accomplishment is starting this business at the age of 19 and launching it just as we all turned 21.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The hardships for us were the permits and laws since we were doing this under the age of 21. It was extremely hard and time-consuming to find loopholes and wait to apply for some of these permits so we could do this. Another hardship is money. The spirits business is extremely competitive, and it has been hard competing with a small budget.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Don't try to be a perfectionist. If you have an idea, start it, and it gets better over time. If you wait till it's perfect, you may be too late.
- Ignore the haters.
- Keep grinding. Giving up is losing.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.genesisspirits.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkgenesisrum/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/genesis-spirits/
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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