Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sara Frasca, COO, and Owner of Point NorthEast, Sara Frasca Speaking, and Trasca & Co Eatery, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, USA.

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

I have three businesses that I own:

  1. Trasca & Co Eatery is a restaurant that carries on my family's legacy. I am the third generation to serve our specialty sandwich - the Panino! I am honored to serve our community - mostly families.
  2. Sara Frasca Speaking is where I help to inspire teams and organizations to use innovation to drive growth. I deliver keynotes and workshops where I share stories of everyday innovation, help teams understand the critical nature of continuing to think differently, and give them actionable tools to use to solve their problems.
  3. Point NorthEast is a consulting firm - we help business owners and leaders to drive sustainable growth by building an accountable and aligned team, leveraging data and marketing, and building processes to enable scale.

Tell us about yourself

  1. Trasca: I wanted to carry on my family's legacy, and I knew I could do it in a way that would show the world how special the Panino is! I wanted to serve my community and teach my children the value of hard work and serving others.
  2. Speaking: I truly enjoy being able to speak to audiences - inspiring them with stories of everyday innovators - and helping them to realize that they, too, can be a positive disruptor!
  3. Consulting: I met my business partner, and we knew that we could create magic together. We've built a wonderful group of Advisors - and together, we serve a tremendous group of clients. We get tremendous personal satisfaction from helping our clients solve their problems.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

It is incredibly rewarding to be when an employee or a client is able to articulate how their world has been impacted by our working together. If I can make a positive contribution to their process, their balance, their management style, and their success - I know that I've done what I was meant to do.

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

Owning a restaurant during COVID has been one of the hardest times in my career thus far. The mental anguish and fear of not knowing how we would survive - and having to change our business model on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to survive - was taxing physically, mentally, and financially. Luckily, we are one of the fortune restaurants to not only survive - but to come out of COVID better than we went in - and now we thrive!

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

  1. Understand that failure is a part of the process. Be ready to see what doesn't work and pivot.
  2. Surround yourself with good, trusted mentors. It's lonely at the top - and you cannot make your employees your advisors. Find someone else that is at the top - and share the journey with them.
  3. Build a process to keep everything sorted. Our Point NorthEast model is an operating system that aligns your team, helps you drive accountability, and allows you to grow and scale as you desire.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I absolutely love being an entrepreneur - but I also appreciate the benefits of working in a large organization. After working in Corporate America and the world of start-ups, I know the advantages and pitfalls of both - and I love teaching big companies to act nimbly like a start-up...and teaching small companies the process of growing like a big corporation!

My Bio: With the curiosity of Galileo and the tenacity of a street fighter, Sara Frasca is an innovation and business growth expert. Honing her skills in senior leadership roles in both Corporate America and the world of start-ups, Sara now serves as Chief Operating Officer for Point Northeast, a global business coaching firm. She helps leading organizations cultivate human imagination, build a culture of accountability, and solve complex problems to drive business growth. Sara is the go-to resource for leaders seeking a competitive advantage and sustainable success by harnessing alignment, marketing, and data.

Prior to Point Northeast, Sara spent 13 years at General Mills in multiple leadership roles. She was also an account director at the interactive agency ePrize, leading the forefront of digital transformation for Fortune 500 brands. Sara is the founder and proud owner of Trasca & Co. Eatery and was named the 2017 Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Jacksonville, Florida.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website:
https://pointnortheast.com/
https://www.sarafrasca.com/
https://www.trascaandco.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaraBFrasca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarabfrasca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarabfrasca
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarafrasca/

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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