Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Megan Vaughan, owner of Vaughan Cheese Counter & Bar, located in North Beach, MD, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Vaughan Cheese Counter & Bar is a full-service restaurant and cheese counter specializing in American artisan cheeses. We offer a full menu showcasing cheese & charcuterie boards, sandwiches, salads, grain bowls, and shareable dishes, along with a robust selection of wines by the glass and bottle, beers, specialty cocktails, and nonalcoholic drinks. Our customers are awesome people who love delicious food and drinks and love to support small family farmers.
Tell us about yourself
I was working with some of New York City's best restaurants. While I was surrounded by incredible products, I fell in love with American artisan cheese. I knew I ultimately wanted to foster that in an area that didn't yet seem to have access to these small, American dairies. We relocated to coastal Maryland, and we love getting to work directly with the amazing, talented, passionate farmers and cheesemakers who are so passionate and work so hard to make incredible products. It's easy to get inspired by that.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We've worked hard to seek out an incredible team to work in the restaurant with us, and we are so proud of our Vaughan Cheese family. We find people who care. I can teach someone how to carry a tray or cook fish or talk about a cheese, but we can't teach someone how to care. So we hire people who care, and we happily teach them everything else.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest thing about being a business owner is keeping your mind open to reimagining what your business looks like in order to keep it viable and current. In March 2020, Vaughan Cheese exclusively offered in-person events and sold wholesale to restaurants. It was projected to be our business's biggest month yet. In a single day, every one of our accounts closed and every event canceled. We found ourselves with tens of thousands of perishable goods and no revenue streams. In one week, we rebranded the business and embraced retail. The process of pivoting and reimagining was stressful, but it was incredibly important, and we're stronger for it. Finding ways to take ourselves virtual was incredibly, and we now find ourselves with a more diverse revenue stream.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Find your people and nurture them. The people who work alongside you become like family, so it's important to foster a culture of kindness, caring, and
- Don't get so attached to your business model that you're afraid to pivot. COVID-19 forced it, but we now find ourselves with a more diverse revenue stream.
- Support small, local businesses--especially today with massive global supply chain issues. You will find yourself with decreased costs and increased reliability if you shop small and local. Plus, you end up with great stories to tell about the people you buy things from.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://vaughancheese.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VaughanCheese/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vaughan_cheese/
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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