"Don't worry, be crappy."
That's what Mother Kombucha founder Tonya Donati heard one entrepreneur say a long time ago. She shared that advice with the crowd at Hideaway Cafe Tuesday night in St. Petersburg.
Business owners, those looking to join the food and drink industry, and other community members gathered inside the Grand Central District listening room for the #MeetStPete series kickoff, where Donati and three of her go-getting peers told their St. Pete success stories alongside tricks of their trades.
"And sometimes that's what you have to do," continued Donati, who didn't have a background in manufacturing or the beverage business before launching her small-batch kombucha company in 2014. "There's things you don't sacrifice. You're not gonna send something out to sell that's not good and it's not safe or not right. But everything isn't perfect all the time, and sometimes you have to let go and move forward."
The inaugural Keep Saint Petersburg Local event's other panelists — Maggie Loflin (Maggie on the Move owner and Gulf to Bay Food Truck Association founder), Tony Casoria (The Mandarin Hide and Rock Brothers Brewing owner-partner) and Stephen Schrutt (the Avenue eat/drink, Kings Street Food Counter and soon-to-open Proper Kitchen & Cocktails owner) — also shared insightful nuggets regarding the question: What's one thing you wish you'd known then, when you started, that you'd tell someone who's just getting into it?
Like Donati, Schrutt of Hunger + Thirst Restaurant Group also talked about moving forward after running into speed bumps. The serial restaurateur says that all he's ever wanted was for people to walk into his restaurants (his flagship, the Avenue, opened nearly five years ago) and feel welcome. But he also realizes mistakes are inevitable.
"You run into a wall a few times, you're gonna figure out how to get around it or over it or under it. I think that's really the main thing," Schrutt said, "trying to keep moving forward and step on the gas and try to get the results you want."
According to Loflin, who established Maggie on the Move in 2011 and loves serving good food to people, she knew she wasn't going to fail. She says she "didn't plan diddly squat" when she started her mobile kitchen, but learned early on that the local food truck community is a supportive one. The relationships and connections she made along the way, and continues to make, helped her figure the business out.
The main thing a future entrepreneur needs to know? You're not alone.
"You have to connect with your community. You have to connect with people who're like-minded, people who're doing the same business as you are. And you have to work as a team," Loflin said.
Casoria, who's also the co-founder of Whigfest and refers to himself as a doer with a high risk tolerance, gave several pieces of advice that he says he's trying to incorporate into his own world. A few of them: 1) In the planning stages, think every aspect of your bar, or whatever venture, through before putting money into it. 2) Talk to those people who've done it to see if you're missing anything. 3) Know who you're working or partnering with. 4) Recognize opportunity.
Don't forget about that necessary balance, though.
"Do your leg work and your background work, but at the same time, the successes I've had [are] because I am always trying to do things and take those risks and not have too much concern about the end game. Even the ones I break even or loose money [on] are still a success," Casoria said. "Be OK failing, and do — do, do, do."
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2016.