The World's Healthiest Kombucha

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jean-Pierre Parent, CEO of SOMA Kombucha, located in Portland, OR, USA.

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

SOMA Kombucha produces healthy organic fermented beverages and sells them in stores across the West Coast (look for the bottle with the handle!) We also own four taprooms in the Portland area, contract manufacture and co-pack for other beverage brands, and do R&D and product formulation consultation.

Tell us about yourself

I was teaching yoga and was found Portland folks to be craving community after classes but a bit shy, so I started bringing my mother's recipe kombucha after classes to give people a reason to have some social time, and take the benefits of kombucha with them in their bellies. The company grew unexpectedly and very organically from there. Now, 12 years later, I'm inspired by the opportunity to be creative - products, taprooms, business opportunities, ways to have a beneficial impact in the community - as well as the opportunity to master skills that I'm lacking.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I had a few stories I like to tell about things that have happened - how when we were building our current facility, neither the contractor nor the architect could get this one thing pushed through the city - the plans for a sewer vault, where city people could inspect what we were dumping - and after a couple of months of stagnation (I was paying rent at two places at the time and needed to move ASAP), I went to the city planning office, learned what needed to happen, re-wrote the blueprint by hand and stapled it over the old plan, then when the permitting office said "we hope to get to this within a month" I got them to look at it that day and got the approval the next morning. Things like that. But really it's the people that tell us how much our products mean to them that really keeps me going.

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

That would be personal to the individual - some folks are challenged by managing money, some by managing people, some at seeing a few years ahead and planning for what's to come. Others lack resilience, tenacity. Business is a great opportunity to grow because you're pushed so hard in every way possible, and you especially notice the things that test your inadequacy. Definitely, for me being the boss has been a challenge, it's really easy when I get to lead a great staff full of competent and self-aware people (which is what I have now), but these people are each like one in 10,000, so when I didn't have them, it was extremely, extremely challenging. I would always question my sense of what is acceptable and fair. I got to a point - which may be what led to my current awesome staff - of deciding that right or wrong. To preserve my sanity, I'm just not going to put up with any BS. So I don't, and I don't fear people getting their feelings hurt and quitting when I hold them to the required standard because I know that I'm coming from a good place. I'm just not willing to deal with all the drama, lack of care, etc., anymore.

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

Run the numbers and make sure your business is viable before you start, and know where you need to get to make it work for you and have a plan for how you're going to get there.
Keep your business as simple and focused as possible. Say no a lot.
Get a partner if you can and be very clear about job duties and expectations.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: http://somakombucha.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomaKombucha/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somakombucha/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/somakombucha

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.