Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Stacey Toews, owner and co-founder of Level Ground, located in Victoria, BC, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We Elevate Coffee for everyone from Coffee Growers to Coffee Lovers!
Our approach is highly relational through the whole line of supply. This year we purchased Coffee from 11 small-scale farmer coops in 7 countries. We import shipping containers (each holding 20 tonnes of green Coffee) through the Port of Vancouver and bring them to Vancouver Island. In our state-of-the-art facility near Victoria, we have a team of 3 dozen who expertly stage and support the Coffee. We small-batch roast using fluid bed roasters and then package and ship fresh across Canada and into the USA.
Our customers are values-driven. They appreciate high-quality coffee AND want to know that their purchase impact is positive. Because our coffees are high quality, organic, and fair trade certified, customers are warranted to have those high expectations!
We run our facility 'landfill free' (nothing goes to the dump) by recycling or composting all waste. Our staff are incentivized to get to work via bike, carpool, or transit. Our roasting technology captures and re-uses the heat with patented technology. This has reduced our natural gas by 43%.
Tell us about yourself
My early years as an adult offered living and traveling in other countries. The inequity in the world struck me. I've made it my goal to live in a way that inspires others to join me in seeing our world become more peaceful and fair. I believe that everyone can accomplish more than they realize IF they are willing to be vulnerable and partner with others.
An example: when I turned 50, I promoted a fundraiser for a coffee farming cooperative in Ethiopia to drill wells and access clean water. It was a smashing success. Thousands of people have sustained access to clean water in their communities.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Two things stand out to me as a business owner in our 25th year of business:
- The quality of our teams' contribution every day. They put their best into what they do, and because of the diverse training and passions - the combined improvement is always mind-blowing!
- The harvests of more than 5,000 small-scale farming families make it through our facility annually. That accomplishment always inspires me.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of my big struggles in business is that I'm impatient and don't attend well to details.
I generally want things to change/improve/move forward faster than they do. So, there's much room for me to improve in this area of acknowledging what others are doing and how thoughtful steps forward build a better business over time.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Articulate your target.
- Determine what repeated actions will take you to your target.
- Communicate what you want.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://levelground.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceytoews/
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.