National University Library Blog

Reflecting on Start-Up Stories

As we look forward to the Business Plan Pitch Competition, the final event of the Library's Entrepreneurship Series on November 10, we look back at the event that kicked things off. In this guest post, student research fellow Angel Parsons offers her reflection on Start-Up Stories.

At the first event of the Library’s Entrepreneurship Series on October 6, 2018, we got to hear the personal start-up stories of five local business owners in San Diego. The panel of guest speakers thoroughly answered questions related to launching, sustaining and growing a business. They shared their failures or “learning moments” in conjunction with their success stories. Listening to them in person was inspiring and incredible.

Johan Engman, the founder and owner of Rise and Shine Restaurant Group, manages several notable restaurants in San Diego such as Breakfast Republic. He shared his experience of how he saved up to open his first restaurant, the Fig Tree Café, by having $30,000 in two years. His mother and aunt also invested an additional $20,000 into this project. Three months after his grand opening, he was completely out of money and was forced to face many challenges. When people around him were advising him to close his business, he never gave up and continued to persevere. As such, he gave us his remarkable advice as, “The most important thing is to just go for it. You are going to make a lot of mistakes, but it’s better to make those mistakes and keep trying.”

Doug Constantiner, who is the co-founder and CEO of Societe Brewing Company in Kearny Mesa, shared the importance of having a vision. He and his colleague wrote a business plan to convince investors but they realized that the investors were really looking at them. “Who are these guys?” “What do they want?” “Can they pull it off?” His message was that having a clear vision and confidence takes precedence over, for example, 40 pages of marketing ideas. “You are starting your own business so you should have no doubt that you will succeed, so why not ask for the world?”

Jacqueline Coulon, co-owner of the Little Lion Café, started the restaurant with her sisters as they followed in the footsteps of their grandparents, who ran the Belgian Lion Restaurant many years ago. She told the audience that work is hard and sacrifices are huge, but in return, it was well worth it. In order to challenge herself daily, she continues to ask herself how her business can make more money.

Brad Keiller, co-founder and co-owner of Nomad Donuts, shared his challenges as an owner for understanding that he cannot do everything by himself. He found out through his business experience that it is easier to delegate tasks and to encourage others to do better. Brad also firmly believes that you are your brand, and this was evident in the Nomad Donuts hat and hoodie that he was wearing during the event.

Clay Summers is the founder and owner of Young Hickory. His business is a café that serves espresso and craft beer in North Park. He reminds the audience that, “Best laid plans do not always go as planned.” He also shared stories of when he felt that he was going to fail, but he then reassured the audience that there is always a way for the path of success. “Ask for advice and help from people and friends around you, be patient and don’t freak out. There is no perfect way to do this. We have five examples up here and everyone did it totally different.”

Each of the speakers were genuine and down to earth. This type of mindset and personality made their experiences much more relatable to everyone in the audience. They all agreed that the key to a successful business is to be able to adapt to changes, put forth your best effort, and stay motivated.
 

Thank you to our student research fellow, Angel Parsons, for her reflection! Check out the video below for a full recording of the event.