Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Cassity Jones, COO of Frontier Kitchen, located in Chantilly, VA, USA.

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

Frontier Kitchen lowers the barrier of entry for beginning and early-stage food entrepreneurs by providing the kitchen space, the knowledge, and the know-how for people to turn their concept into a company. Our members come from all walks of life, but the most common denominator with all of them is they have a great idea for a product, but they don't know where to start. That is where we come in. We've worked with hundreds of food businesses over the years and shortened their learning curve, allowing them to get started and make money faster.

Tell us about yourself

I have over 20 years of experience in kitchens and Pastry Arts. Working in five-star, five-diamond hotels, and restaurants—including Le Cirque, Circo, Bourbon Steak, Bellagio, and Four Seasons—with world-renowned pastry chefs who have contributed to the industry evolution of culinary arts and science. In addition to understanding how kitchens work, I am a big believer in financial literacy and never wanted my job to be my only source of income. I began investing and, over the years, found a way to combine my experience in the kitchen with my passion for financial literacy, financial independence, and investing. That is what led me to my business partner Brenda and Frontier Kitchen. What I love about this business is I get to see other people walk the talk and actually give their business idea a go. It takes guts to actually take action. It is a great feeling to see people achieve their version of success with their business idea. It's nice to know that we played a small role in that. That keeps my partner Brenda, and me fired up every day.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

There are so many small milestones along the way you have to create to keep yourself fired up sometimes. Still, I will say one of the biggest was finally being able to pay ourselves. Nothing compares to that feeling. Another great moment was the first time we realized we could finally pay someone to fix something instead of having to fix it ourselves. We felt like we had arrived! Haha. An awesome benefit of our business is that our customers actually become successful as well. We have had around four dozen of our members either sell their companies, open a brick and mortar or go to a co-packer as a result of starting in our space. That is very awesome!

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

Everyone has their hand out to get paid before you. There are permit fees, rent, equipment loans, marketing, merchant fees, accounting fees, taxes, payroll, payroll expenses, and taxes. You name it, and you're paying it. That's why it's hard not to pull money out of business in the beginning. We have to pay our bills, but you have to keep pumping money back into the machine to grow to support itself and you. We've seen a lot of ideas die out because they were pulling too much cash out too early, and it starved the business. People don't realize how expensive it is and how hard it is to get a business off the ground and make it profitable. Keeping everyone paid and having some leftover for yourself. That's hard. You are the last person to be paid.

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

  1. Be crystal clear on your outcome but real flexible on how you get there. You definitely need to know where you are headed; otherwise, any road will get you there. Keep in mind that you'll have to try things, and no plan survives first contact, so understand that what brings you some success might not be what you originally envisioned, so stay flexible. You'll get there. It just might not be exactly how you thought. Don't be too rigid, or you may miss out on opportunities.
  2. Fail fast and fail forward. You'll learn by making mistakes and correcting them quickly and creatively (because you probably won't have a lot of excess capital to throw at the problem). This is THE BEST way to learn. The next time something comes up, it takes more to throw you off your game, so it toughens you up mentally. It's okay to make mistakes, but you can only make the same on ONCE! Also, be careful not to make such a catastrophic mistake that you can't recover from it. When you make money, try to keep that bootstrapping mentality about problem-solving. Money can stunt your creativity, so don't let money make you soft!
  3. Money can't be your only driving force. If more money is what you are after, then you need to reassess. Reason is if money is the only thing keeping you motivated when there isn't any, you have no reason to continue. There isn't really any money for a few years in some cases. You have to have a more powerful reason to continue with your business. Even when there is no money coming in, you still wake up every day ready to get after it. You have to want to do it even when you aren't getting paid. That is what will get you through the tough times.

BONUS TIP!

It might not be the first one. Your first business idea might not be the one that works. It took me 4 to 5 other failed attempts at business before I finally got the one that worked. It's partly because of tip number three, but I refused to give up and learned from each attempt and had very honest conversations with myself about my strengths and weaknesses. The previous ideas also built on each other until I came across the perfect business idea where it all came together. There's no one to blame but yourself, and if you can be honest about what you screwed up, you have a better chance of correcting it the next time around. If you aren't honest with yourself, then you are doomed to learn the lesson again. In business, you reap the rewards or pay the consequences of all your decisions.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Yes. You are going to lose a lot of friends along the way. It's okay; you'll make new ones. Believe it or not, some of your friends and family will actually want to see you fail. Some because they don't want to lose you and be left behind when you become successful. Others will want you to fail because if you succeed, it puts the mirror to their face on what they should have been doing with their time instead of watching TV and getting drunk, so if you fail, they can say, "See? It doesn't work, and I didn't waste any time or money trying." You'll meet people along the way that will understand what you are going through and can commiserate with you. The funny thing is, sometimes your new friends actually turn out to be your competitors! Anyway, hopefully, we will see you all at the top, there are fewer people, so the view is better...

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.frontier-kitchen.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontier_kitchen/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/frontier-kitchen/

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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