Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Matthew Kellso, Founder of Sagebrush Coffee, located in Chandler, AZ, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are functionally four businesses with four distinct customer bases. We operate 3 online businesses that cater to specialty drink markets. One is a very high-end online coffee roastery, providing some of the best coffees in the United States, with a goal of putting on display the hard work of the coffee producers in our coffees. We also run an online coffee site for home roasting enthusiasts. We've taken what we know about marketing coffee online to the loose-leaf tea world with our company, Hackberry Tea. And finally, we opened a traditional coffee shop in 2021 primarily to connect our online roastery to the local community.
Tell us about yourself
Before we started the business, I was a home coffee roasting enthusiast. As my wife put it, you can only hear, this is the best coffee I've ever had so many times before you start to think, "I should be selling this." So I started out of my garage selling coffee to friends and family. The business has grown beyond what we ever expected, and now I just get paid to do what I loved to do as a hobby.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Starting in our garage, the goal was to fund my coffee habit and maybe pay for a vacation or two. However, in 2022 we have a busy and growing coffee shop, spent a bunch of time at the coffee origins learning and educating the coffee community, and are on our way to creating a series of coffee training masterclasses. So I think my biggest accomplishment is carving out a space in a very saturated market where we can thrive as a business.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Sleep. Oh wait, I don't think the question is, what is one of the hardest things to get as a business owner? But honestly, the most difficult part is knowing when to quit or slow down. I told my son once that as a successful business owner, you're always motivated to overwork. When things are slow, you're doing everything in your power to grow the business. When things are good, you're doing everything in your power to maintain the growth and save for those rainy days. Knowing when to go to bed and letting tomorrow's worries be there tomorrow is nearly impossible.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Grow at your pace; early on, everyone wanted to advise me on how to grow my business; ultimately, we needed to grow slowly to be successful.
- Don't pay yourself too soon or, better stated, pay yourself for the job you're doing when you're doing it, not what you need. I had a day job that paid well; we were at a stage of life that needed a larger income. So I kept the day job until the business had grown to a level that it could afford and needed a CEO that makes what I wanted to get paid. I think I was employee number 12 of the business, maybe higher.
- Debt kills. Think about this; most businesses make 5-10% net profit. Most interest rates are 15-25% these days; you're lucky to get 10%. So if you take on debt, you won't be successful. This leads back to my answer number 1. We didn't want to take on debt to grow, so we were happier to grow slowly and keep a positive cash flow. That has served us very well.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://sagebrushcoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SagebrushCoffee/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sagebrushcoffee/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sagebrush-coffee/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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