Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sagar Shah, CEO of Nature's Guru, located in Los Angeles, CA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Nature's Guru is a global tea brand with a passion for creating healthy, innovative, award-winning gourmet food and beverages products. We use superfood ingredients in sustainable packaging that delivers a flavorful, robust taste with convenience on the go.
Our wide array of retailers throughout North America includes natural/organic/specialty food stores like Whole Foods Market, online behemoths such as Amazon.com, to home furnishing stores such as HomeGoods.
Tell us about yourself
Being brought up in a family of entrepreneurs, I've always had the inclination to start my own business. It was my love for Chai which I consumed daily that inspired me to create a tea company. I often found that brewing my favorite beverage was a tedious and time-consuming process and soon came to the realization that I wasn't alone in this predicament. I traveled back to India to immerse myself in the tea industry to find a solution which later became "instant chai" and was one of the key pioneers to market this innovative idea in the US and Canada.
As a daily routine, I wake up quite early each morning so that I can read through as many emails regarding customer feedback. To date, Nature's Guru has received well over thousands of ravishing positive reviews. Reading these amazing reviews directly from consumers of my product is what motivates me to keep hustling, grinding, and continue working hard. I take great pride in knowing that somewhere in the middle of America someone's morning became a bit brighter and blissful after consuming Nature's Guru.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The easy short answer would be that I made the Forbes Next 1000 List for 2021. However, when looking back at the past decade as a business owner, I would say my evolution as a leader has been my biggest accomplishment. The ability for me to disrupt the age-old tea industry in terms of demanding the supply chain to focus more on work culture and environment. For instance, empowering women, providing sustainable, fair wages to poverty-stricken farmers, reformulating product lines to include gluten-free, zero added sugars, organic, and/or vegan.
This leadership growth isn't just limited to being a Founder/CEO. More importantly, I feel that being able to share my journey of challenges, risks, and failures in the hopes that it will motivate and encourage future entrepreneurs to take the leap of faith is truly how I benchmark my accomplishment.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Every business owners' dream is to be as operationally efficient as suppose, Amazon.com; or in essence, provide the best customer service experience (i.e. 1-day shipping). During the pandemic, the global supply chain was and still is, in chaos. The hardest thing for me is dealing with poor in-stock or order fill rates. The lack of access to supply and inventory while demand is skyrocketing was hard to fathom and digest - the possibility of having angry and upset customers who may switch to another brand.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- A quote from Sir Richard Branson “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to”. It starts first and foremost with the company culture.
- Have a growth mindset. Constantly be thinking about ways to improve both personally and professionally.
- Believe in yourself and be dedicated to working hard. Understand that there are no shortcuts and be comfortable with taking calculated risks and possible failures. Everyone's journey is different, but "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take". - Wayne Gretzky
Where can people find you and your business?
https://www.instagram.com/naturesguru/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagarvshah/
https://twitter.com/naturesguru
https://facebook.com/naturesguru
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.
