Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Chris Brook, CEO of The Crabapple Cafe Inc., located in Squamish, BC, Canada.

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

We are a local rustic brunch restaurant located in the mountain town Brackendale, an area of Squamish. Our customers are a mixture of local residents, city travelers, and international tourists often on route or returning from Whistler Blackcomb. We are an all-day licensed breakfast/brunch restaurant offering a wide variety of locally inspired amazing food and drink.

Tell us about yourself

I am a native Englishman with a Canadian mother who was born in N.Vancouver. I started my adult life as a Soldier in the UK's Royal Airforce Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group. After a successful seven-year career in the Armed Forces, I became an armed Security Consultant protecting merchant vessels from the threat of Somalian Piracy off the Horn of Africa. During this time, I decided I no longer wanted to work on someone else's business and moved to Whistler, where I started my first business, a junk removal and Property Services business. While operating this business along with my business partner, we purchased another two businesses, a gym and seasonal accommodation business. Eventually, I sold the Junk removal business, and in 2020 I came across the opportunity to own The Crabapple Cafe Inc. I am motivated by the desire to make tomorrow a better day than today.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Buying two businesses when I had no money in the bank and had them both paid off early. I once read that you can purchase assets without money, so I made it a goal and nailed it.

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

During the last 12 months, the government has been under constant pressure with ridiculous rules that do not correlate with any legitimate science.

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

  1. Business is like war. You can read about, train, practice, and pretend to be in a war all you want, but you'll never truly understand it until you are in the field against the enemy. Only then can your senses tune in to what war really is and how you personally react under pressure. No experience can beat the real thing, so if you want to be an entrepreneur, start now,
    get on the battlefield and start to understand it. You're going to get bashed, and you're going to feel exhausted, but with every dull moment, there comes a huge opportunity to learn. In my eyes, that's the way you build character as an entrepreneur.
  2. Stand on the shoulders of giants and don't try to re-invent the wheel
    If you're considering a type of business, it's highly likely that someone else has done it or something similar to it at a successful degree already. Copy them. They're the giants who have already built the knowledge and strength. Find out what they did and use that knowledge to give you a head start. Just like you learned the language, you speak from people who could already tell it, learn the language of business from people who can say it too. Use this step up to find a way to offer more value than any of your competitors. People exchange money for value, and if you provide the best deal, you'll always have people wanting to give you their money.
  3. Business is a team effort, not a family effort. I made the mistake of confusing this and looking at my team like they were an extension of my family. How many people do you know who would fire their family members? Firing people is difficult at the best of times and 10x harder if you've become too attached to them. And, it's inevitable. When you keep an emphasis on it being a team, you can hold people accountable for the overall success of the group. If a team member is not pulling their weight, you can replace them for someone more suitable without feeling too guilty.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Read lots of non-fiction books, preferably about business, if that's where you're headed. Don't get comfortable; you'll just end up depressed. Train your mind to be strong by testing the limits of your body. Don't compromise your integrity because others order you to. Get resourceful and find a way around it. Do not discriminate. We're all threads of the same cloth. What other people think of you is non of your business; there will always be people who can create a problem in an empty room. Being happy with nothing and everything else is a bonus.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://crabapplecafe.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecrabapplecafe/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecrabapplecafe.squamish/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-brook-7830b639/

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.