35 Years Toronto Institution - The Belgian Chocolate Shop

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Patricia Cohrs, founders of The Belgian Chocolate Shop, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

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

We are a family-operated Belgian Chocolaterie, established in 1989 in the heart of The Beaches, a strong, vibrant, and supportive community. We are the treat at the end of The Boardwalk!

Tell us about yourself

Born in Belgium, I am passionate about being a messenger of joy and delight and a sense of quality tradition, caring for the community through many celebrations and crises (We have been told many times how we have saved marriages!). After 37 years of making and providing handmade chocolates, I still LOVE what I do and cannot imagine a day without eating chocolate.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Staying alive and healthy through many extreme situations (there have been lots, like seasonal demands, but also losing my partner and husband at age 52, leaving me to run the place solo while raising two kids). Still love my profession, still growing a deep relationship with our community, which I consider as my "Chocolate Family" as an immigrant.

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

The demands of being everywhere, thinking of everything in every aspect of production and retail, always seeing everything, doing everything no one else sees or can/wants to do, and constantly planning ahead to stay on top of supplies and finances. Staying calm, open. Some loneliness at the top!

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

1. Be mindful of your overhead. Minimize as much as possible to stay in control. (Try to have 4-6 months worth of rent ahead of you for the first couple of years)
2. Be prepared to engage in long hours days of work and short nights of sleep, learn to delegate if you can afford it, and are not too much of a control freak.
3. Connect with your clients to understand their needs and expectations and be attentive and flexible.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: http://belgianchocolate.info/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebelgianchocolateshop/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belgianchocolateshop/

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.