- Insight: Most startups fail. Always be flexible and ready to pivot.
- Insight: You don’t need to be an expert in an industry to found a business.
How She Started: Can you tell me about your entrepreneurial journey?
Natalie Susi: I was in grad school at SDSU, and I was an East Coast transplant. I had a friend who visited me; she wanted Italian ice. It’s like a sorbet, and it's a big deal on the East Coast. Unfortunately, no one on the West Coast really knew what it was, and there wasn't a place where we could buy it
I started making it in my kitchen and thought it would be a good idea to sell it. I sold at State Fairs and farmers' markets, but we would make $100 if we were lucky. We would give out a bunch of samples and everybody had to try it five times before they would actually buy it. It turned out to be a total failure.
On the bright side, my friends and I started mixing it with alcohol and basically making low-calorie cocktails that were healthier because they were natural. The low-calorie mixers hadn’t really caught on in the market, and I decided I would pivot to the food and beverage industry. I basically started in an industry with no money and no expertise and no awareness of how hard it was going to be.
HSS: How did you acquire your first customers?
NS: There was a Mexican restaurant. It was actually the first restaurant that I ate at when I moved to California. I went in there at 9:00 PM when no one was really there but the manager. I brought a friend, and I had the bottle of the mixer on the bar and I pretended that I was showing him this product he had never seen before. He did a great job acting like he was excited and he made a big fuss about it. This got people’s attention, and the managers were sold on the concept. That's how I made my first really big sale.
After that, I was just going to bars and restaurants that I knew were notable names. Groups that had 15 to 20 restaurants. If I got in with one food and beverage person, I could get in with all of them. When I was selling to larger places I would tell them this is how much it is per oz to use the crappy stuff you're using, and it's only like 3 more pennies to use what I'm using. But you can charge way more and you're going to have way happier customers that will buy more cocktails because they're going to taste better.
It was a lot of pitching, cold calling, showing up at bars and restaurants, and networking with the right bar managers. The most important thing was creating an authentic connection with that person and getting them to be excited about what you're excited about. (Also read: Chezie and Boomchickapop)
Food and beverage is not forgiving. It's very hard. It's very competitive. Getting a product on the store shelf feels like a miracle, and making people keep purchasing it is an even bigger miracle.
HSS: How did you handle the competition when you were trying to get your product into restaurants and stores?
NS: The way I dealt with the competition was twofold. Number 1, I knew intuitively that it's all about the founder story. When you're selling a product in a saturated market and there are fifteen other products that are coming out at the same exact time your differentiation in ingredients, packaging, taste etc. is not as compelling as your story.
My founder story is really good. I was a teacher and I got laid off. I was drinking a Margarita while trying to sell Italian Ice and so I decided to make a Margarita better. I launched the same day as Bethenny Frankel's brand (not intentionally), so it was a good story that people could either relate to or they empathized with. I was a teacher that became an entrepreneur because I got laid off and I took that story all the way to the bank.
HSS: Why did you sell and what other factors did you consider outside of money that came into the negotiation?
NS: For example, U.S. Foods, which is a billion-dollar company was a huge opportunity. I met a guy who could have gotten me into U.S. Foods. We were on a Southwest airplane and he was very interested in the product and wanted to purchase it for me. It would have been a humongous account. However, the initial purchase order was more than I could have ever afforded to pay with the payment terms.
That’s one of the main reasons why I sold. I was going through a massive breakup at 30, and I had spent eight years on this company. A lot of that breakup was because I was so engrossed in my business. In some ways, I felt like I had given up motherhood in order to build this business. I was exhausted and I was broke. I was working three jobs to keep my business and my life above water.
I set an intention, I started meditating and I said “I'm ready to sell.” I didn’t make a ton of money, but I wanted to sell to get back to what I'm supposed to do on the planet.
I’m not supposed to be a beverage person. I don't care about cocktail mixers. I cared about creating a product that was for females to connect with each other and enjoy something guilt-free. I loved being an entrepreneur that was creating something new and building something out of nothing. It wasn't about cocktail mixers and the food and beverage industry. (Also read: eWebinar)
I wanted to get back in the classroom and I wanted to teach, and I wanted to combine my entrepreneurial background with my education background and teach people how to live a life that they love in the most efficient and effective way. I also wanted to help people learn quicker through my mistakes.
HSS: What were your lessons learned?
NS: Choose your co-founder wisely and maintain open communication. I see many parallels between business and relationships. When you choose a business partner it’s kind of like marrying somebody. Finding investors and calling in new clients is like dating.
My business partner and I were not good partners. We didn't want the same things and didn't really want to commit to the time, effort, money, and sacrifices it takes. I ended up kind of running everything on my own. It was very challenging. You need to be really clear and direct with the potential business partner just like you would with a potential romantic partner. You should get on the same page and communicate in similar ways and want the same things.
The second one is if you're going to start a company, you better be ready to eat, sleep, and breathe the company. Be prepared to sacrifice your time, money, energy, and relationships to some extent. You have to be able to talk about it and be healthily obsessed with it all the time because that is what it takes. You have to be so aligned with your first business to make it successful for the most part.
Third seek advice and separate personal feelings from your business negotiators. I had three buyers interested in my product, and I chose to be a “monogamous seller.” Knowing what I know now I should have used the interest of the other buyers to raise the price of the sale.
HSS: Do you have any additional advice for female-founded businesses?
NS: From my experience, I believe that you can have it all, but you can't have it all at once. When I was running a business and trying to manifest a husband, kids, etc. is extremely challenging. You should know your vision and your goal in life. You should proactively plan out how you want to balance your business and your personal life.
Additionally when you are pitching your business and people are making off-color comments stand up for yourself. I was in the food and beverage industry which is very male-dominated. I was doing a presentation to a liquor store and at the end of the presentation, he made a joke that was super offensive. He said “Your product is really awesome. How did you create this? Shouldn't you be doing laundry or something?”
I understood that he was making a bad joke, but I stood up when he said it to me. I said, “Look, I don't need this account this bad. I hope you're kidding because that's not going to fly with me.” And I stood up and I used my voice, and he apologized right away. I think women, need to have a voice. Unfortunately, we need to do it in a way that doesn’t bruise egos. When you're in the business world that's a factor that comes into play.
HSS: What’s next in your entrepreneurial journey?
NS: I now specialize in providing Conscious Communication Coaching to executives, entrepreneurs, and esteemed business leaders and their teams. I developed a program called The Alignment MethodTM, a step-by-step process that supports business leaders in cultivating conscious teams and businesses, so they can minimize miscommunication and wasted time and energy and maximize creativity, productivity, and profitability.
HSS: Thanks so much for taking the time!
- Insight: Most startups fail. Always be flexible and ready to pivot.
- Insight: You don’t need to be an expert in an industry to found a business.
- Insight: Find opportunities to be creative in your sales strategy.
- Insight: Decide the positioning of your product. If it is a premium product find ways to encourage decision makers to try it.
- Insight: Always look for opportunities to connect and network.
- Insight: Perfect your founder story. An emotional connection is much stronger than a product feature.
- Insight: Work on a business that gives you purpose.
- Insight: Always consider tradeoffs when running your business.
- Insight: Choose your co-founder wisely.
- Insight: Be ready to eat, sleep, and breathe your company.
- Insight: When making decisions for your business, remove any personal loyalty so you can make a clear and purposeful decision about what price is best for you.
- Insight: Stand up for yourself.
I messaged Natalie and she was shocked that I was a real human. We had a call that same day.
I've always been passionate about women helping other women. I created this blog to tell stories of successful female-founded businesses. Hopefully, these stories will help inspire more women to found their own businesses.