Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dan Connolly, owner of The Local Chemist LTD, located in Kelowna, BC, Canada.

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

I run a local café and roastery here in Kelowna, BC, Canada. My roaster is dedicated to being 100% electric and operates on zero emissions. I also “can” my coffee in aluminum cans called crowlers. Its purpose is to give people the option to refill the cans with more beans, other beverages, reuse them or recycle them. Something that my industry doesn’t do well in the packaging department, if I’m being honest.

I also run a local marketplace called the homegrown markets. It is a platform where we host nomadic markets that offer local vendors and small businesses opportunities to share their product and their passion with customers. In our day, and specifically city, small businesses need to be supported, or else there will be none left.

Tell us about yourself

I started my business as a mobile coffee cart. It was a bar on wheels that was outfitted completely with equipment to make everything from espressos to lattes. I was the only one doing it in Vancouver, BC, because I could not find the funding to open my own place and pay that kind of rent. This was all pre-pandemic, and so the cost was still high. So I hit the road and did coffee at every event I could. Every market I could. Every wedding I could. And six years later, I'm still here.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Hiring my first staff member and putting food on the table for my family.

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

In this current state of the market, not being able to predict any cash flow sales.

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

I honestly just have one. Just start. It doesn’t necessarily mean to quit your job, but just start and get your business idea out there. Do what you can to generate income, but just start. You won’t know anything until you do.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

At the end of the day, people who like your stuff will follow you and pursue you. If they don’t, they will Unfollow you. If they have something going on in their own life that is tragic and toxic, they will spit that toxic out mainly cause of what’s going on inside them. It’s not about you. Breathe.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.thelocalchemist.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/localchemist/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/local_chemist/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-connolly-29610023/

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.