Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Elaina Repucci, founder of Simple Sips Fresh Cocktail Mix, located in North Andover, MA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Simple Sips is a small business based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Founder, Elaina, crafts every batch of a cocktail mix by hand alongside her family. Gently chopping each fresh herb, scraping out every little vanilla bean pod by pod, sprinkling spices into her blends with love, Elaina puts her heart and soul into every bottle.
The brand sells 16oz and 1L bottles of fresh cocktail mix using surprisingly complementary ingredients like sweet pear, tart lemon, and fragrant vanilla beans. Customers can purchase at markets, events, liquor stores, and online of the Simple Sips website. The wholesale side of Simple Sips’ business serves bars and restaurants throughout New England allowing them the opportunity to serve fresh cocktails with ease. Simple Sips is the only fresh cocktail mix in New England!
Tell us about yourself
Simple Sips was just a mere twinkle in my eye back in the summer of 2017. I was trying to recreate a fabulous craft cocktail I enjoyed when I was out to dinner, yet the ingredients were not easily attainable. Fresh passion fruit was out of season and nowhere to be found, so I settled for a lackluster juice I discovered in the Goya aisle, womp womp. After cooking the fresh syrup for this recipe trial, bottling it, and cleaning sticky syrup from every nook in the kitchen, it dawned on me; this is why no one makes fresh craft cocktails at home.
Fresh ingredients are not readily available to the average supermarket customer and cooking fresh herbal syrup is such a hassle! Fresh craft cocktails are far superior to all the other mixes on the shelf yet, they are nowhere to be found. I became determined to change how we drink at home. Just like that, I gave birth to Simple Sips. I began my journey to bring fresh, innovative cocktail creations to market that would be simple for customers to enjoy at home.
As my journey progressed I became privy to the fact that restaurants were also struggling to provide fresh, unique, and consistent cocktails to customers. In August 2021 we launched our 1L size bottle for the foodservice industry and today it is our fasting growing business segment yet.
I am motivated to create a wonderful workplace. I ‘grew up’ in the fashion industry as a designer in my 20’s which proved to be a very toxic work environment, especially for women (shocking since it’s run by all women!). I promised myself I would do everything in my power to create a work environment that everyone looked forward to visiting each day, including myself. I truly just want to spread joy, to my customers, to my employees, to everyone I come into contact with and Simple Sips is the perfect outlet for that.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
This is a very difficult question to answer. It is truly the culmination of working hard day after day that adds up over the years. I would say my biggest accomplishment is that I was able to grow my business into a profitable company within two years of launching while still making time for family and friends. There is no point making it big if you are sitting in your mansion alone. It is extremely important to me to be a good sister, daughter, friend, girlfriend, and active member of society all while growing my company and pushing myself to the limits of what I’m capable of.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things, especially in the beginning, is the feeling of isolation. I came from corporate America where there were endless people to bounce ideas off of and help you get the job done. I felt very alone starting this company despite the fact that I was surrounded by so many entrepreneurs. What really helped me was meeting others with similar, non-competitive, products. It took me a while to find them, but it made all the difference once I did. Honestly, this may sound silly but, something I was not prepared for was the physical strain of starting a business! From hand labeling (6,000 bottles just this holiday season!) to lifting heavy bucks of raw ingredients, you really need to be in tip-top shape to start to a product business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
1. Do not go into business thinking you will be profitable that year. It takes up to 5 years in many cases to become a profitable business. You are going to experience setbacks and it’s going to cost you a lot more than you think, don’t quit your day job until you have to and put yourself in a very financially stable position before you make the jump, i.e. move home or make sure your rent is minimal, etc.
2. Run your business as if you were doing the quantities you plan to do years from now. For example- price your products like they should be priced according to the market and their value. I lost money for every bottle I made until mid-2021. I knew this and it hurt at the time but, I also knew that if I could get my quantities up then I could drop my costs low enough to make a great profit. You will never get to the quantities you need if no one is buying your product because the price is too high. If you put yourself in a financially stable position, you can stomach a very low margin until your quantities are up thus allowing you to drive your cost of goods down.
3. There is no one way to “make it”. I choose to live a balanced life knowing it may take me longer to get where I want to go. Some people give everything up, work 24 hours a day and “make it big” quickly. Everyone’s path is different and no one path is superior to another. In the end, we’re all just trying to live a happy life, however, we get there and however long it takes doesn’t matter. The journey is the best part, try to enjoy it and celebrate along the way.
4. Sorry one more! Treat every single person you meet, speak to, work with, etc. with respect and appreciation. Whether it’s your intern, the security person walking you to your car, or a customer who you can clearly tell isn’t planning to buy your product- love them. You never know who is who and your reputation follows you throughout life. Nothing bad will come from carrying yourself in this manner, only blessings.
Anything else you'd like to share?
The best advice I can give is “get in the car and go”. If you want to start something just do it, dedicate a few hours a week to working on it, make some calls, ask questions, just do what you can, when you can. Any small step forward is still a step, don’t standstill.
Where can people find you and your business?
https://www.instagram.com/simplesips/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainarepucci/
https://twitter.com/drinksimplesips/
https://www.facebook.com/DrinkSimpleSips/
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.
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