Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kathy Lockie, co-owner of The Coffee Pot Bakery Cafe, located in Bozeman, MT, USA.

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

Our business is a second-generation, family-owned bakery/cafe and gift shop of Montana-made items. We also own a handmade pottery studio, which is the main feature in our gift shop area and has been in business since 1980. Our two companies were started by Dave & Jennie Lockie (Dave was the original potter, Jennie, the original baker). Over the years, blossomed into two thriving businesses that are centered around high-quality handmade goods and great care for people (customers and staff). The businesses are now owned and run by Josh & Kathy Lockie (Josh is Dave & Jennie's, son). We love the process of carrying on this beloved home-grown business!

Tell us about yourself

In the late 70's Dave & Jennie lost their successful excavating business after interest rates skyrocketed to near 20%. Dave, a true entrepreneur at heart, jumped right into starting a new business and worked night and day to build it and pay off debt associated with the lost excavating company. He is a man of great character and grit, and Jennie is right there with him! Over the years, they built a very successful handmade pottery business, selling to gift shops and National Parks all over the US. In the early 2000's they opened a retail store, and Jennie quickly began adding her locally famous baked goods into the mix. From there, the Coffee Pot grew in leaps and bounds as a lovely (and tasty) complement to the handmade pottery. Josh and I purchased both businesses in 2017, and it's been a wild ride through COVID, labor shortages, and much re-imagining and re-building of both companies in order to survive. However, the heart for people and the care for quality are still as important and ingrained as ever, and it's what sets our businesses apart. People walk in the door, and they are noticed, cared for, and welcomed. They are not just another nameless face in a crowd. If I had to boil down our motivation, it comes down to those two things: care for people and old-school made from scratch craftsmanship and food.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Surviving COVID. The past few years have been full of constant pivoting, problem solving, re-building, and extremely long hours. We've gone through the extremes of having to squeak by with very little business coming in, to have more business than we have staff to accommodate, and every variation in-between. The playing field has constantly been changing for two years now. It just continues with supply chain issues and labor shortages. We've had to get very creative and are constantly thinking outside the box for normal restaurant functions. Nothing is the same, and we've just had to embrace it in order to stay viable!

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

As a business owner, the buck stops with you. If you are short-staffed in any way, you are the person filling the gap, whether that's the bookkeeper or the dishwasher, or a baker, or all of them at once. The responsibility of keeping a business running in adverse times, knowing that your team is relying on your decisions for their livelihood, is not a small burden. It gets difficult to maintain everything when you're doing your regular job, re-building and constantly problem solving for changing circumstances, and filling the gap for any other jobs that are not covered all at once for an indefinite period of time. As a business owner in times like these, however, the option is: do the extra job or go out of business!

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

  1. To truly love running a business, you need to have a plan for covering the huge amount of logistical tasks. If that is something YOU really enjoy, you're going to thrive. If it's not, be honest with yourself and make sure you hire for that right away. If you don't have that person in place, your business will flounder.
  2. Make peace with the fact that starting and running a business means constantly learning. Whether you are a sole proprietor or a company with 30 employees, as a small-business owner, you will not reach a place where things just run themselves (at least for long)...if you do find that place, share your secrets with the rest of us! My advice is to embrace that and learn to ride the wave and enjoy the learning and problem solving as much as you can. It is never boring :).
  3. Your to-do list will never end. Learn the skill of setting it aside and taking time to rest. It is extremely difficult to do, but it is so essential. I'm still working on that - for example...I'm on vacation right now and catching up on hundreds of emails (including filling out this interview) because that's when I have the time to do it :). So obviously, I need to take my own advice.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

If you want to start and run your own business, know that it will take grit, bravery, and long hours. There are high highs and low lows. It is not for the faint of heart, but it is greatly rewarding in so many ways!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: http://www.thecoffeepotbakery.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCoffeePotBakery/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecoffeepotbakery/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCoffeePot

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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