Take-Aways from The Margarita King

We’ve all heard the expression “Big things come in small packages”. For Giovanni – aka The Margarita King – this is exceptionally true. Chapter 22 in Starting From Scratch describes this 4”11 Italian man’s journey from busboy to owner of multiple successful restaurants, and then onto a whole new venture in the margarita bottling business.

Before finishing the first page of his story, a huge key to his success was obvious – the people that knew him loved him. People skills are an asset in any business setting – especially in the restaurant industry – and they took Giovanni to the top in no time!

He also illustrated another key to entrepreneurial success: persistence. Throughout his story, Giovanni faced adversity, but he never let it get in the way of his success; as Moss would say he “underestimated his obstacles”. For example, when he finally got his margarita recipe perfected and bottled, he ordered 1000 cases, despite everyone’s advice to start out with 200. Although he may have gotten in over his head with such a large order, he was relentless – he would not stop selling his margaritas until they were sold! And in doing so, he ended up creating a huge demand for more!!

I guess the biggest take-away from Giovanni’s story is to have confidence in your decisions. It seems like a lot of entrepreneurs have big dreams, but then realize they’re in way over their heads, so they just conk out and shut down! This little man on the other hand, dreams big, but takes the necessary actions to accomplish them no matter what!

As I read Giovanni’s story, I couldn’t help but think back to my interview with Mrs. Peterkin when she explained “we just have ideas and we do them!” What an effortless way to phrase such seemingly important decision-making. This was the same attitude Giovanni had – one day he said, “My margaritas are awesome; I want to start bottling them to sell.” And so it began… This seemed to be the underlying theme with the owners of Cornucopia too – they said, “I want to open a cheese shop” so they did. No doubt they’ve put in a trillion hours of hard work, but in doing so, they have been able to accomplish amazing things in spite of the obstacles.

To me, that’s what entrepreneurship is all about – proving to yourself that you can accomplish something that you genuinely care about. Sure it’s going to take immeasurable amounts of hard work, but if you’re willing to do anything for your dream, nothing will stop you!

Interview #3 - New Venturing Marketing Subject Matter Expert

Ever since my Intro to Marketing class, I’ve come to view marketing as a deceitful way of manipulating the public to over-consume and convince people to buy things that they don’t actually need…so when I was asked to interview someone who deals with marketing for new ventures, I was less than enthusiastic. After a bit of research however, I found that there are some super creative marketers out there who promote businesses that aren’t just “in it for the money”. Fortunately, I was able find an interviewee who takes a unique approach in promoting meaningful new ventures that she truly cares about and believes in!

As if the website wasn’t enough evidence, a mere glance into Jenny Greer’s office revealed the artistic unconventionality of SoundMind Creative. I took a seat on a comfy couch nestled right under a wall decorated with business cards, flyers, CD cases, you name it – adding the stylish ambiance of vibrant art on the walls. As it turns out, each of these artful masterpieces was created by Jenny through Soundmind Creative.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that Jenny wears many hats; not only did she start Soundmind Creative, but she serves as a brand consultant, graphic designer, creative director, and illustrator. Obviously these roles have some overlap, but at the same time, they allow her to approach her work in very different ways depending on the project.

“I think the common thread for us has been a lot of entrepreneurs because either it’s a new project or a new company,” Jenny explained “My favorite thing to do is work with new companies.” Although she went to school for graphic design with the intentions of being a designer, she’d played a lot of music and started a band, “We started off mostly wanting to serve the music industry, so a lot of my referrals have come from very creative people. It’s kind of expanded, we also do stuff for the city, stuff for universities, [etc.]”

So even though she had planned to pursue graphic design, her interest in music played a really big role in getting her to where she is now. “I came to Asheville and there weren’t really any design companies here so I had to start my own,” Jenny said as she explained to me her move from Atlanta (where she’d worked with a lot of large brands like Coke, M&M Mars, etc.). “I always made sure I did what I wanted to do.”

Inspired by her entrepreneurial words of wisdom, I then recalled my original viewpoint of marketing and realized that marketing doesn’t necessarily have to be this unscrupulous, irritating way for companies to manipulate consumers, but that it can actually be quite honorable, artistic work. This raised my question of how she was able to promote SoundMind Creative in a way that attracted such a down-to-earth clientele. 

She responded, “All my business comes from referrals, I don’t know if I’m just repelling people who are doing bad things. I’m always willing to bend over backwards for someone I believe in. Like for example there’s a cider company opening and they’re using all local apples; how cool is that?! That’s awesome to me. I don’t really care about the money that much; I care about good honest work”

Woah. This last part got me – truly words I’d never expected to hear coming from a marketer’s mouth! This was it; that gentle expose of Jenny’s entrepreneurial spirit: being motivated by the work that you do because you care about it, not necessarily by the money you earn doing it. Clearly, Jenny finds passion in helping new ventures succeed – these are the kinds of people that help create communities (like Asheville) who embrace and support entrepreneurs!

If there’s one thing I took away from this interview, it’s to make your choices based on what you care about. If you find what you’re passionate about it and run with it, you’ll end up finding a way to do what you love.

Interview #2 - New Venture Financing Subject Matter Expert

When I was assigned to interview someone who deals with financing, I immediately thought: bankers, Wall Street stock brokers, and those intimidating (frightening) “angels” on Shark Tank. I never thought dealing with investments was a particularly interesting job, but my two interviews – one with Carol Peppe Hewitt, founder of Slow Money NC and writer of Financing our Foodshed; the other with Brian Griffin, Chief Credit Officer at Mountain Bizworks and former WCU grad – have changed my mind. Rather than dealing with corporate investments among “The 1%”, these folks believe in investing money back into the local economy. Both Slow Money and Mountain BizWorks are very community focused organizations, so they specialize in helping fund small business ventures. Being able to chat with both of these generous and informative interviewees has allowed me to compare the different ways in which each organization accomplishes a similar mission.

Mountain BizWorks is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and has a fairly systematic application procedure for its borrowers; just like other financial institutions that provide loans (i.e. banks, credit unions, etc.). Although most investments are typically made using money from a CDFI fund, the Small Business Administration, or the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), they have individual investors as well.

Investors in Slow Money on the other hand, make up its only source of funding for small business investments. So while Mountain BizWorks creates a “loan pool” of these monies, then makes investments, Slow Money functions more as a network between entrepreneurs seeking funds and lenders who wish to put their money back into the community. This prevents Slow Money from having to assume any liability; rather, they connect potential investors with budding entrepreneurs and they enter into peer-to-peer agreements under their own terms.

Such agreements seem to create strong ties within the community between investors and entrepreneurs in a variety of ways. Slow Money focuses specifically on investments for local food entrepreneurs. Mrs. Hewitt described that they do this by “finding interested locavores and helping them make connections with people in their foodshed” in attempts to create a more localized and sustainable food system. So not only are investors helping to promote the success of these entrepreneurs, they are also helping to bring about a more just and sustainable food system, starting in their own communities!

Mountain Bizworks works on a slightly different scale. Of course they support food entrepreneurs – having helped finance almost all of the restaurants and microbreweries in Asheville – however they make loans for all types of business (“besides strip clubs and that sort of thing”), lending mostly to retailers.

So while making a Slow Money investment would perhaps require more work, it allows the investor to choose the venture in which they’d like to invest; thus they can see exactly where their money is going. Borrowers and lenders are screened to ensure their mission matches up with the Slow Money mission; however initiating contact is left up to the lender. An investment through Mountain BizWorks is also sure to help local businesses too, however there’s a team of professionals choosing the borrowers’ with the strongest applications and most tangible business plans. So someone looking to invest locally may choose whichever approach they prefer based on how much they value their own judgment.  

But let’s look at something they have in common. One major thing I noticed is that support from the community is absolutely crucial. Both interviewees mentioned that the businesses that they’ve helped and seen really thrive are in communities that support local business – in other words, their success relies largely on how receptive the city/county is to small business. Likewise, both focus on making loans affordable and cater mostly to middle or moderate income borrowers.

Learning about these two methods of investing made me realize not only how much opportunity there is for a budding entrepreneur (like me!) to seek investments, but also that there are several different ways to go about doing it. Recognizing the joy that each of these interviewees has found in seeing communities thrive as a result of their hard work to help small businesses succeed has given me a new perspective on the idea of investing as a whole. Though it was once a seemingly complicated and nebulous concept to me, I now have a much clearer understanding of how borrowing and lending/investing works and how exciting and empowering it can be – especially when you can see the money going back into your community!! 

Interview #1 - Entrepreneur

Sallie Peterkin – co-owner of Cornucopia Restaurant in Cashiers, North Carolina – welcomed me into her quaint, but empty cheese shop as various construction projects took place outside on the “porch” and in the kitchen. On the wall in the Cheese Shop hangs old blackboard on which the history of the building is displayed. Although the property has been occupied by Cornucopia for the past 35 years, the board explains that the building has been around for much longer and was once a stop for travelers with thirsty livestock, a post office (,several other things which I can’t really remember), and – most recently – a deli called The Purple Onion.

She began by filling me in on the history of Cornucopia: “My husband [Brian] and his brother [Scott] started it 35 years ago. He was actually attending WCU at the time and was probably 19 years old; his brother was about 3 years older. Basically the owner of The Purple Onion [the deli that used to be there] decided he didn’t want to lease the building anymore. So he called Brian and Scott and said, “Why don’t y’all start a restaurant here? So we did.” Cornucopia started out quite small, only serving lunch– the porch was tiny and uncovered, (which made rain an absolute disaster since seating was primarily outdoors) and there was only one waitress. As time went by, they added on to the kitchen, expanded and added a roof to the porch, and began doing dinners. At this point, the owners realized that the business wasn’t bringing in quite enough to really support 2 households, so Mr. Peterkin moved onto another full time job while Scott ran the restaurant. In 2004, Scott passed away, leaving the business to Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin’s children – who were not old enough to run the restaurant themselves.  Mr. Peterkin was still working full time, so Mrs. Peterkin started working full time at the restaurant.

Cornucopia now includes a wine shop and gourmet cheese shop, and normally seats around 400 people for lunch each day. And in light of new laws which permit the sale of alcohol by the drink, a bar is being added to their large outdoor dining area/porch. They are open for approximately 9 months out of the year (since seating is outdoor) for breakfast/brunch, lunch, and dinner.  

I then asked Mrs. Peterkin if she’d had prior experience in or any intentions to enter the restaurant industry. “Well, I was a waitress here when I was going to Western. But I actually was into horses and had a horseback-riding school before Scott died. “

She continued explaining that a similar theme of fortuitousness has shown itself in a variety of ways when I asked about the strategic plan for future growth. “Our biggest downfall is that we think of things and just do them! We were just like, ‘let’s open a wine shop’…and then we did it! We have ideas and we just go for them!” Over the course of our interview, Mrs. Peterkin made it very clear that they are not just “idea people”, but that they are doers. Rather than daydreaming about wild things to do with their business,, they put their ideas into action (what a concept!). Perhaps these aren’t downfalls so much as they are contributors to Cornucopia’s success.

I found this kind of entrepreneurial spontaneity quite refreshing! Although my entrepreneurship training here at Western has put a large emphasis on creating a highly strategic business plan, the Peterkins serve as an example of a business that has been extremely successful without the plan. Rather, they allow their past mistakes to serve as lessons for the future and make it a point not only to come up with exciting new ideas, but also to actually implement them (in a tangible way). This isn’t to say that an entrepreneur doesn’t need a solid, thought-out business plan – in fact, a business plan is essential for pretty much any business (obviously there are exceptions), but I think  the fact that they don’t have one – yet they’re doing so well – indicates that they’re clearly doing something right!

Not just something, but many things! One factor that I noticed seems to play a significant role in their success is the well-established reputation they’ve maintained within the community. After only chatting briefly with the owners, it became obvious to me that these are super friendly people, and their warm mentality radiates throughout their business.  Not only do locals love and support Cornucopia, but the owners are very aware of this fact; they know who their repeat customers are and how their customers perceive their business. For example, they have a “legacy menu” which includes items that have been on the menu since the beginning.

Above all, this interview reminded me that entrepreneurs inevitably face many unexpected challenges, and that hard work, open-mindedness, and personality are the keys to turning obstacles into opportunities and adapting to change. 

Comparing & Contrasting 3 Entrepreneurs

As an assignment for my entrepreneurship class, New Venture Leadership, this blog entry is my comparison of three renowned entrepreneurs: Elon Musk, Sir Richard Branson, and Jim Garland....Here goes!

In ways each of the three entrepreneurs are the same, and in ways, they are worlds apart. Each is creative, ambitious, and – above all – confident enough with their intelligence to take some really bold risks.  This is particularly true for both Musk and Branson, who were unafraid to challenge the predetermined notions of society. Though they went about it in different ways, they both defied the widely-accepted norms in their chosen industries.

I also found interesting the way each of these entrepreneurs approached obstacles and barriers-to-entry. It’s as if they saw the challenge in criticism and made it into an opportunity. For example, Musk’s first major success, Zip2, essentially virtualized the idea of city listings; had no one told him that there was no way to replace the Yellow Pages, he probably wouldn’t have done so. Despite criticism for their seemingly outlandish ideas, they were each confident enough in their abilities to disprove the scrutiny of others. 

As an entrepreneurship student, I couldn’t help but compare my own ideals and philosophies to those of these three visionaries. There were certain qualities in each of them that inspired me. I was fascinated by Elon Musk’s ability to reshape society by redefining the idea of what’s possible in specific industries. At the same time though, I was slightly disheartened by his incredible genius – I mean, he scored one of the highest scores for computer programming abilities IBM had ever seen…at age 12! How could someone like me – a member of the non-photographic-memory population – possibly make a difference of that magnitude? This is one reason why I found Richard Branson to be a real inspiration. He was dyslexic, quirky, and he’s the kind of guy who gets way more of a kick out of trying/creating new things than in making heaps of money (yet he’s still one of the richest people in the world…go figure). All of his enterprises put a focus on making the customer experience fun and awesome; he truly cares about the welfare of people in that way and empowers them to also be adventurous and not take life too seriously. Jim Garland is also extraordinarily people-focused. Though his business may not seem as groundbreaking as any of Musk’s or Branson’s, he seems to believe in the power of goodness and inspiration. Perhaps he’s not a serial entrepreneur, but his business approach focuses on caring for, investing in, and empowering his employees so that they don’t see their work as a job, but rather as something they want to wake up and do every day. Rather than micromanaging, he has faith in his employees’ capabilities and even helped an employee launch her own business. A boss that truly sees their employees as assets makes for an incredible person to work for.

Each of these three men possesses unique qualities that make them excellent innovators: Musk’s intellect, Branson’s nerve, and Garland’s empathy. But the one characteristic that they all share is passion – a driving force that finds itself in people of all ages, races, education levels, and socioeconomic classes, but that is nothing short of essential for a real leader. By combining their own individual talents with their undying passion, these entrepreneurs have been able to turn their own ideas into a reality for the whole world to share.