Restaurant Websites for Now and the Future

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Amina Gilani, co-founder of Sociavore, located in Kitchener, ON, Canada.

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

Sociavore is an all-in-one e-commerce platform for independent restaurants. With a single self-serve platform, a restaurant can power their entire digital guest experience from their website, online ordering with delivery, digital gift cards, and ticketing. We work with independent restaurants all across Canada and the US and help these restaurants deliver their own brand online. Our hundreds of customers include mom-and-pop restaurants, bakeries, cafes, breweries, and independent restaurant groups. This includes restaurants like Crafty Ramen, Felix LA, PAI, Mildred's, Beechwood Donuts, and so many more!

My co-founder (my husband, Thusenth) and I started Sociavore based on our personal experience as restaurant owners. We got tired of the status quo for restaurant software - tired of the awful guest experience, tired of losing margin, tired of not receiving guest data, and tired of training staff on unusable software. We started with one simple premise: Every restaurant deserves the software tools to profitably grow online.

Tell us about yourself

After spending a decade working in product management and sales roles in financial services, I co-founded Sociavore with my husband. Together, we have three awesome kids - ages 7, 5, and 3!

While I was working in my corporate career, I became really interested in local economic development. I joined the Downtown Kitchener Advisory Board and completed my Master's in Economic Development and Innovation at the University of Waterloo. My husband's family-owned restaurants, and I was interested in the intersection of hospitality and economic development and completed my Master's research in this area.

At the same time, my husband was working in software product management. We became very interested in creating software that empowered independent restaurants. So we decided to build Sociavore.
I am inspired by the hundreds of amazing restaurants we empower - our platform helps restaurants save time and make more profit. It's amazing seeing these restaurants thrive using our tools.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Starting Sociavore while being a parent! I never imagined being an entrepreneur, but it's been really cool growing our business while we are knee-deep in parenthood.

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

Rolling with the punches. I'm a first-time entrepreneur, so every stage is new to me. Some days are exhausting and challenging. Taking breaks and focusing on our mission and vision provides me with a lot of motivation. Things get more clear as you work through them.

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

Figure out what your genius is and focus on that! Outsource the rest.
Don't get caught up with all the noise that surrounds you. Focus on the tasks you need to get done and do them. Operations matter.
Do things that scale.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.sociavore.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sociavore/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sociavore/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sociavore
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sociavore/

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.