Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Leena Castelar, co-founder of Firebat Coffee Roasters, located in Oakville, ON, Canada.

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

We are a family-owned and operated specialty coffee roaster based in Oakville, Ontario. Established in 2017 with the goal to share some of El Salvador's best tasting and sustainable coffee lots with the Canadian coffee community. We have partnered with producers that we personally know and trust and who are known in the coffee landscape for their quality. We also want to do our part in changing the way coffee is commercialized by supporting small-scale coffee producers and closing the gap between the coffee in your cup and the people who dedicate their lives to producing it. All our coffee sourcing is based on Direct Trade. Everything we do is always rooted in the values of placing farmers and the environment first. We also have our own small coffee farm in El Salvador, which is our farm-lab project for agroforestry initiatives and for growing exotic coffee varieties.

Here in Canada, we wholesale our coffee to coffee shops, restaurants, and specialty food stores. We sell our coffee selection on our online store and directly from our roastery to our local clientele.

Tell us about yourself

Firebat is run by my husband, Gustavo, and me. We are originally from El Salvador and Finland, respectively, along with Firebat co-founder Rodrigo who is based in El Salvador. Firebat’s roots developed gradually through years of intense curiosity about coffee. Gustavo and Rodrigo met in 2013, and at the time, Rodrigo was already neck-deep involved in the Salvadoran coffee landscape. Gustavo was enthusiastically getting deeper into it. They were just two friends going to the coffee farms, learning, sharing, and having fun. Gustavo and I, with our family, decided to move to Canada and pursue an even higher calling with our shift from corporate careers into the coffee industry upon moving to the Greater Toronto Area in 2016. We began operating Firebat in Oakville, Ontario early 2017.

What keeps us motivated is knowing that everything we do here has a positive ripple effect at the origin of partnering with coffee producers committed to preserving the existing coffee forest and strengthening the local economy in the rural areas. We add our efforts to a movement of roasters making the coffee industry more sustainable and equitable for all.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Having created a business from scratch, we have continued going strong for 5+ years now. Looking back at where we started mid-2016 as new immigrants in Canada and becoming entrepreneurs in a new country is a feat. It has been and continues to be an amazing personal growth experience.

As our business has grown, also the impact we can make at the origin coffee growing communities has deepened. We are inspired to continue contributing positively to a better, fairer way of doing business.

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

One of the hardest things as a small business owner is that it can be a lonely path. Everything that happens or doesn’t happen in your business ultimately comes down to you and your effort. It can also be challenging to set boundaries between work and personal life, especially when working together with your spouse! Finding ways to disconnect and recharge have been important for us to find balance. Networking with other small business owners has been a great way to build a community around us.

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

  1. Know your Why? Why are you doing what you do? That will get you through the days when motivation runs low (and it will!).
  2. Educate yourself about the business idea you have and how to run a business. Make sure to have a business plan in place and to have given thought to all different aspects of running your business. Whatever topic you might not be familiar with, there’re many great resources online where to learn more.
  3. Keep going! Starting your own business is like running a marathon. You are in it for the long haul, and you got to pace yourself. Avoid falling into the comparison game. Every business has its own story and grows at its own pace and capacity. Focus on your business, keep moving forward, and always improve and learn.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

For anyone considering making the leap to entrepreneurship, don’t let fear hold you back from trying! There’s no such thing as failure. We can always learn from any experience, even the seemingly bad ones.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://firebatcoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Firebatcoffee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firebatcoffee/

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.