Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ryan Culver, CEO of Platterful, located in Indianapolis, IN.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Platterful is the FIRST and ONLY All-In-One Charcuterie Kit delivered straight to your door. We partner with artisan makers across the U.S. to provide the finest meats, cheeses, and other accompaniments to make a drool-worthy board! Platterful offers one-time charcuterie kits and subscriptions! For every Platterful box, we sell we donate 10 meals to No Kid Hungry!
Tell us about yourself
Platterful is made up of three Co-Founders: Ryan Culver, Lowell Bieber, and Caroline Elston. Lowell and Ryan were previously partners in creating, scaling, and selling a health & wellness subscription box. They loved the model and had been talking about starting something on the charcuterie side for some time. Through sheer coincidence and serendipitous timing, they met Caroline through a friend of a friend. Caroline had just recently gone viral locally for her small charcuterie business which focused on grazing tables and corporate events. The three of them met and just knew from the start this was going to be an incredible partnership!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We started the business with a crowdfunding campaign that funded over goal which was cool. We fulfilled those orders in November of last year and then launched our website on Dec. 1st. The direct demand from our website was frankly overwhelming. We figured out a lot of things on the fly to make our first couple of months successful and even profitable.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things about being a business owner is the feeling of always being connected, especially if a start-up and a small team. We are doing everything from procurement, to taste testing, to product ordering, to creating monthly educational material, and even fulfilling the orders ourselves. It is very valuable to do these things at first when starting out but we will look to outsource some functions in the next 12-18 months.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
1) Stop waiting. Just go for it. Your product doesn't have to be perfect out of the gate. You can and will continuously improve with new iterations of your product or service offering.
2) Find yourself an incredible partner or two and don't get hung up on the equity split.
3) Be on the front lines of your customer's communication points (email, chat, social). The feedback in the early days is wildly important in shaping improvements with your business.
Where can people find you and your business?
https://www.instagram.com/tryplatterful
https://www.linkedin.com/company/tryplatterful
https://www.facebook.com/TryPlatterful
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.