Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Gavin Jocius, co-founder, and COO of Mosi Tea, located in Durham, NC, USA.

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

Mosi Tea has developed and patented the world's first multi brew infuser that allows you to brew anything on-the-go. With our mess-free attachments, you can brew matcha, coffee, loose leaf, cold brew, and more in seconds. We spent over three years developing our infuser based on the frustrations people face when trying to brew the perfect cup of tea. We have also searched the globe for the world's best teas that we will be offering on www.mositea.com. Our customers are tea enthusiasts who love new ways to brew tea, people in a hurry who don't want to sacrifice their morning cuppa with an instant coffee or a teabag, and those interested in learning more about tea and its health benefits.

Tell us about yourself

Paul grew up in Southern Africa and Zimbabwe, drinking tea almost every day. As the son of Missionaries helping fight the Aids epidemic in Africa, he got to meet with countless different people in different villages across Southern Africa, and tea was always part of the daily ritual. Paul's motivation from the start has been to help bring amazing teas to North America and make it easier for people to enjoy and discover new flavors from around the world. The company started with our patented infuser because, well... you can't enjoy loose leaf tea without a great and easy way to make it. Our mission is to make it easy for anyone to drink a high-quality brew anytime and anywhere.

As an investor and entrepreneur fascinated with Paul's vision and story, I joined Mosi as an investor. However, I soon took on a full-time role as co-Founder and COO after seeing the company's disruptive potential in a massive global market. With a background in action sports, I am motivated to help athletes discover tea as a performance enhancer and better alternative to sugary energy drinks that are a staple of athlete sponsorships.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

So far, it has been raising over $500k on Kickstarter, making Mosi one of the most successful campaigns ever launched on the platform (top 0.5%). While we had a number of setbacks due to COVID  and engineering issues, we are very happy that Mosi has been able to deliver high-quality products to backers across 85 different countries. All during a global pandemic with countless unforeseen logistical and supply chain issues. Mosi remains steadfast in its goal of helping people enjoy tea anywhere.

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

Things never seem to happen as quickly as you would like. You can have a strong vision as a business owner and a plan to execute on it, but time seems to always get in the way.

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

  1. Start by prioritizing work, family, and health and determine which order they fall in. Doing so helps you figure out whether you are ready to be a business owner.
  2. Develop strong SOP (Standard Operating Procedures), document them, and quickly delegate all repetitive tasks. Your job as a business owner is to drive the company towards a goal and not get bogged down in time-suck tasks.
  3. If you don’t have an idea for starting a business, investigate ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition). Building a business from scratch is extremely hard. There are plenty of well-established companies out there for sale. Your personality type and management skills may be more conducive to acquiring a business than starting one.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Make sure that you have a healthy outlet for stress. Starting and growing a business can be brutal. You will have setbacks. Whether it is running, golf or yoga, find an activity that helps you positively deal with stress and ensure that you prioritize that activity. It is not worth having a business at the cost of your mental or physical health. Work/life balance is important too. If you put all your hours into the industry, the business may thrive, but you surely won't. Family and friends bring life to you, making you better during business hours.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://mositea.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mositea/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mosi_tea/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mosi-tea/about/

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.