Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Karen Marcotte, owner, and operator of Good Eats Cafe, located in Ottawa, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Good Eats Cafe is now a full-service restaurant, but it started out as just a small breakfast and lunch restaurant and has now grown into a restaurant that serves all three meals, but evening drinks and snacks. We are a scratch kitchen where we develop our own recipes make our own bread, baked goods, and sauces. We cater to people with various food intolerances and preferences, like gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian. We weren't happy with the quality and cost of the available gluten-free breads available, so we developed our own recipes for gluten-free bread, buns, and wraps. We are a 'yestaurant' making changes to our meals to accommodate our customers' needs.
Tell us about yourself
I am a former mechanical engineer and IT project manager whose lifelong dream was to run a café finally bring my creativity and ingenuity to the restaurant business. Although I have been practicing my recipes tp my family and friends for years with great success, I never had the courage to throw caution to the wind to open up a café. However, when I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in late 2016, I decided that life was too short. I dodged one bullet and thought I should just bite the bullet and make my dreams come true.
During my recovery, I spent my time on the couch planning, gathering recipes, doing market research, and learning about the restaurant business. I fell in love with Good Eats and its business philosophy, so I bought it in January 2018. I have impressed Ottawa locals with my delicious recipe ideas and positive spirit. My team and I love serving your meals, drinks, and baked goods and want to keep making Good Eats, the café where you can enjoy a sweet break from the grind ☕️
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest challenge and thus accomplishment was having to move twice in just over two years of owning the company and not only surviving that but surviving the COVID. The original little house where Good Eats was founded was sold and demolished. We moved a block down the street into a building with many floors of government workers. Within a few months, the landlord put the building up for sale, the government moved out and the building sold. We were asked to leave by the new owners to renovate the building. We had just outfitted the space to be a commercial kitchen. We spent a significant amount of money on new equipment and leasehold improvements. When COVID hit, and it was obvious that people weren't going to be downtown for quite a while, we decided to move into the LIV apartment building, where there was a focused clientele. In retrospect, it was definitely a good decision. COVID hasn't been easy with the various closures and restrictions, not to mention the risk of working with the public. It seems, though, that we made it through.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The most difficult thing about owning a business is managing the staff and making tough decisions during tough times. Staffing has been a challenge in the last couple of years, but we have an amazing core staff that has been with me from the beginning and is very dedicated to the business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Don't underestimate the start-up costs. Everything costs so much more when it is commercial, i.e., plumbing, electrical, etc.
- Go with your gut, but be open to advise and suggestions from others in the field
- Have enough extra funding to float you during difficult or slow times. Cash flow is critical.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://goodeats.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodeats.ottawa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodeats_ottawa/
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.
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