Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Erika Welsh, co-founder of Wild Friends Foods, located in Portland, OR, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We make delicious, healthy, palm oil-free nut butters. Nut butter is our happy food, so anyone that feels the same is our customer. :-) We make a variety of flavors, from the classics to chocolate to blends with chia & flax. We believe eating should be a joyful experience and for us, adding nut butter to our meals and snacks sparks a lot of nostalgic joy! From spreading them on a sandwich or a piece of toast, drizzling them on oatmeal and fruit, or eating them by the spoonful, there are so many ways to enjoy our products!
Tell us about yourself
My co-founder Keeley and I have the classic accidental entrepreneurial story. Peanut butter was our favorite food, and one day we ran out and decided to make our own! Once we had that food processor on, we came up with all sorts of unique flavor combinations we loved eating with peanuts, like cinnamon and raisins. We jarred them up, created a label, and gave them away to friends. We thought it'd be a fun one-day project but little did we know we'd drop out of college and commit to our business full-time. That was over ten years ago! What keeps me motivated every day is thinking about our customers enjoying our products. I want to keep showing up and working on improving all areas of the business, so more families across the country have Wild Friends in their pantry and smile every time they see our squirrel logo!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The simple fact that we have made it through 10+ years of running a business that we started at ages 18 + 19! I have grown up with this business, and it completely changed the course of my life.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The feeling that you are never doing enough. Working for yourself is a blessing and a curse. It's so empowering to be able to make decisions on your own and carve your own path, but with that comes endless opportunities to do more, work harder, be better! It's hard to shut off and be at peace with the fact that you'll never be able to do everything you want to with limited resources.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Make sure you love the topic/product you want to make a business out of. You will be thinking about it and working on it constantly. If it doesn't light you up, find something that does and that you'll be willing to sacrifice for again and again.
- Start small. Don't wait to have the perfect business plan or until you have all of the answers. You never will, and you'll waste crucial time! Get the essentials in order and accept that the first version of whatever you put out into the world will probably need a lot of improvements, and that's okay! Put it out in the world in a manageable way, test a small audience, get feedback, and pivot from there.
- Never underestimate the power of social media. Embrace that the platforms are always changing, and if you don't feel comfortable managing them yourself, find someone that loves social media and can help you. It's such a powerful, inexpensive tool to get your brand/product/idea out there.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://wildfriendsfoods.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildFriendsFoods
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wild_friends/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-welsh-62407469/
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.