Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kathryn Chayka, Operating Partner of JKC Capital, located in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
While we're really in the business of selling delicious hamburgers and French fries, Wendy's really has the ability to connect generations, being around for 50 years. It's a place our grandparents grew up going to, and it's also a place we can take our children. It really can take us back because it's the same delicious food we grew up enjoying. The brand has also done an incredible job evolving with its customers.
Tell us about yourself
Having the ability to employ nearly 1500 people and impact their lives is extremely motivating. I want to continue to grow and continue to employ more people, promote more people, and collaborate with more people. Ultimately, the customer experience will never exceed the employee experience, and our employees motivate me every single day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is two-fold. From a business perspective being able to build and scale as quickly as we have been an extremely rewarding experience. From a personal perspective, as a business owner, being able to do this while raising two strong little girls has really tested my limits but shown me that I am always capable.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things is that every day is always different. You won't always know the answer, but it's less about always having a solution and more about the process of finding solutions. To be frank, if it wasn't hard and challenging, it also wouldn't be rewarding. I now enjoy the uncertainty and rising to a new challenge. It's fun collaborating with your team, getting everyone's unique perspective, and working hard together to solve problems.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start: You can choose to be uncomfortable and make decisions that will help you with long-term success, or you will eventually deal with unintended discomfort.
- Run: It's okay to make other people's lives less convenient by positively asserting your own boundaries. If you don't do this, you allow others to set those boundaries for you, and it's usually not where you want them to be.
- Grow: The goal of turnover is never zero. Turnover disrupts groupthink and brings in additional fresh perspectives.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://jkcrestaurants.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JKCRestaurants
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jkcrestaurants/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-chayka-b974b45b/
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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