Full Transcript

Sari 0:04
I'm Sari Kimbell and I've done just about everything in the food industry. I have helped hundreds of packaged food business entrepreneurs. And now I want to help you make your delicious dream a reality! Whether you want to be successful at farmer's markets, online, or wholesale on the store shelves, Food Business Success is your secret ingredient. I will show you how to avoid an expensive hobby and instead run a profitable food business. Now let's jump in! Welcome back to the podcast everyone. We are continuing with the sales series. And I love these episodes where I get to bring on clients of mine who have gone from an idea and now we have a product. And it's so fitting because Bryan with Barfly Salsa is here today and he also has a sales background. So we were chatting about his experience and how he's brought sales to this new business of his. And so that's we're going to talk about today and you guys get to know Bryan a little bit more. So welcome Bryan of Barfly Salsa!

Bryan 1:15
Thanks, Sari!

Sari 1:17
Yeah, it's fun to have you here. You're a longtime listener.

Bryan 1:23
I am! I'm a longtime listener. First time longtime, Sari.

Sari 1:28
Yeah, exactly. Did you find me on the podcast? Or did you find me through YouTube?

Bryan 1:36
I found you through actually, as a happy accident. Remember in an online search when I was looking through some state licensing or food testing sites or something, I came across your website. And that's how you're introduced just over a year ago.

Sari 1:52
Nice. So just a little quick background. So, Bryan, to my knowledge, you never really been in the food industry. I know you grew up on a kind of a rural area farming, right? Potato farming.

Bryan 2:07
Grew up on a family farm, yes. But no, I mean, other than college jobs, you know, bartending and waiting tables, no formal food production, training, or experience.

Sari 2:16
Yeah. So this can be done even if you have never had, you know, CPG food industry experience. I'm fortunate enough that Bryan happens to live near where I do so we've seen each other in person, which is always fun. But like I said, you said you're in semiconductor sales, which I don't even know what that means.

Bryan 2:37
It's tough for you to be in semiconductor sales. But yes, that is my normal day to day job.

Sari 2:43
And then yeah, a year ago or a little more, we started talking, you approached me, you were, you know, on the outside, thinking to yourself. Well, let's just talk about that. Like, let's go back to a year or more as we were meeting, like how long did you want to do this business? Tell us a little bit more about the business.

Bryan 3:04
My wife was the one that convinced me to do it during the pandemic, June of 2020. We were out at our anniversary dinner, and we were just kind of talking about how the year had gone and kind of what do we think is going to happen. When are we going to come out of this? Those types of discussions and we had visited brewery earlier in the day and all they had, the food truck didn't show up that was there, and all there was, you know, dry pretzels, Doritos, you know, normal dried snack fair. And she was saying, you should just sell your salsa, you should sell salsa and I was like "oh, okay, hahaha". But then I thought it was like in my job during the pandemic, I'm normally in my car driving all over the area and visiting customers and those cycles were gone. So I thought okay, I committed to her that I'd spend two hours a week to start this and I quickly realized it was way more than two hours a week. Looking into what it would take to go to market with this, and then thankfully through my search I came across Sari Kimbell and Food Business Success. And we started our conversation from there but the desire was always you know, I really enjoy cooking, I enjoy making food at home and watching something you create watching someone enjoy that. So that was kind of one of the things I really like, but just seeing if this had a shot. At the sauces, we put the warning label on their contents, highly addictive. So I mean, I'm a fan of my own work, and I just wanted to see if anybody else would be as well.

Sari 4:46
Yeah, I know. I love it.

Bryan 4:48
You can credit pandemic boredom, I guess.

Sari 4:52
Yeah, you're not the only one, at least like the pandemic nudge you know, like, somewhat it's boredom. But some of it's like, I wonder, what if, right? You have like, you had a minute to think about things.

Bryan 5:05
Yep. You only live once and if we love it, let's see if the mass market likes it.

Sari 5:14
Did you ever think that you would be an entrepreneur? Has that been something you've ever thought about doing?

Bryan 5:18
That's funny. I'm from the great state of North Dakota and moved to Colorado in late 2002. Right before I left, I was having dinner with a close family friend of my dad's. And, you know, my parents and I were there with talking to him. And he was just a really, really funny man, his name's Jim Vest, he's since passed away, but just he said something that always sticks with me and I was moving to Colorado, I didn't have a job. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And he asked me "whoa, what do you want to do?" And that's, you know, I said, "God, I don't know", you know, I could see myself in this profession. I'm kind of interested in that. And he just said, "find something that you love to do and then sell the shit out of it." And so that kind of always stuck with me. And I love making salsa. I love watching people enjoy it. So now we're trying to just sell a lot of it.

Sari 6:12
Yeah. Sell the shit out of it. I love it. So you came to me literally, I totally remember when you dropped off a sample in some Tupperware and you're like, "just try. Try the salsa, make sure I'm not..."

Bryan 6:30
Yeah, you want to work with someone that would believe in it. Right? And I love the fact that you said to me, what did you? Tell me honestly, what did you say to me when I dropped off the salsa?

Sari 6:39
I don't know.

Bryan 6:41
I remember you saying, "I'm actually not a big salsa person." And I thought, "well, good. If she's not a big salsa person, then if she likes it, then I maybe have something."

Sari 6:51
And I did. I ate it on my eggs for the next few days. I was like, this is actually pretty good!

Bryan 6:58
Good.

Sari 6:59
I became a fan. Yeah, so we just started the journey together. What were some of those initial, some of the harder things that you felt like when we first started?

Bryan 7:10
I think, getting into it without any experience, kind of feeling overwhelmed about state regulation and how do you get license. You're constantly thinking, I'm gonna do something wrong. I'm gonna not file the right paperwork, this is going to be way harder than I thought. And with your coaching and help, I mean, you certainly minimize those concerns. But that was a major one, like, just making sure, okay, I'm not doing anything illegal, or certainly, you know, out of policy for what the state or county. And then secondly, trying to find commercial, you know, a spot to produce was really challenging and took me a while to, you know, to find the right partnership, and get in the right space there. And I guess, thirdly, thinking about it, I think it was working with you and with Karen Savory at Sweet and Savory Designs, being very intentional about a brand and the imagery, and the logo and the messaging, because it is a crowded space, like any food business, it's a crowded spot. And, you know, we wanted to have fun with it, but differente it at the same time.

Sari 8:24
Yeah, I love it. And we're gonna talk definitely talk more about the branding, but I do remember, you know, I won't describe you as like an anxious person, but just having those like, okay, you know, you came with a whole bunch of things in your brain. And it was like,

Bryan 8:40
I am. You just haven't hang out with me long enough. I'm pretty anxious, but

Sari 8:45
I wouldn't describe you that way. But maybe you're right, but yeah, I mean, that's what happens when you're starting a business, you're like, pi ping pi ping pi ping! Right? Like everything's all over the place. And you're waking up. And I mean, I'm not even saying like, I woke up in middle night. And I was like "aaaah".

Bryan 9:00
Oh yeah, I think if you're anything that's, you know, scary and new shit and you're excited about it, should wake you up a little bit and, and all the things that you can't prepare for or would never think of, I think that's to anyone new listening to podcasts that hasn't worked with Sari before. I mean, I really think that that's a positive attribute of working with you as helping young entrepreneurs navigate those potential pitfalls that you could never think of on your own until you have you went through them.

Sari 9:32
Yeah, I do think and I'm not just saying I'm tooting my own horn, but I do think that's such a huge value. I mean, that's why I have a coach as well. Like, when you're the entrepreneur, you're in the middle of it, and you can't see the forest from the trees and having somebody who understands the landscape. I mean, do you think you would have, you would be here, anywhere close to here, like, do you think you would have?

Bryan 9:53
No, not at all and I'm just certain, you know, practices and stuff. Yeah, I think it was Christmas last year, Sari, that I gave you some more samples we were testing out packaging, and they weren't producing a sterile environment and they exploded in your fridge, right? Day after Christmas, you called me or texted me "what is going on? What are you putting in this?" And so it's like, "oh great. It doesn't even last a week and a half in the fridge and it explodes, this is not gonna work."

Sari 10:26
I know as I added more anxiety on your plate. But that I could call my food scientists people and be like, what happened? What do we need to know? How do we extend shelf life?

Bryan 10:39
We are not making a food bomb in someone's refrigerator . It was just , you know, there was just some bacteria on a tight lid and exploded and here's what you do to avoid that. And the ingredients that we've chosen were great and actually extended the shelf life of a fresh product to keep it in the fridge longer.

Sari 10:59
Yep, yeah. So we are good now and I think you're pushing like five or six weeks now. So it's so great.

Bryan 11:06
That's right.

Sari 11:07
Yeah. All right. So well. Let's talk about the branding part too, because we're both for Barfly hats. Well, first of all, the name I think that was very intentional, and then we'll talk up Karen a little bit here as well.

Bryan 11:23
So the name Barfly really was one we have thought about, my wife and I guess and some of my friends considered ourselves barflies in the sense that we would go to a few local breweries or something during the pandemic, we'd be outside and socially distance and whatnot, we would go to these few establishments, ride our bikes or just grab a beer. And we would see some similar faces, or the same families even different spots around town. And so it kind of stuck with me that for barflies like myself would enjoy a snack like this, right? So it was kind of being intentional about our target audience and who we were going after that would pay, you know, more than a jar of salsa at the grocery store, but wanted a snack when you're out having fun. And that's where the name kind of stems from. And then we were still kicking around a few different name ideas. And working with Karen at Sweet and Savory Designs, we were going through some logos. And she pointed out when we did the B and the F for Barfly that that was actually my initials, Bryan Fagerholt. And it never crossed my mind that that was my initials. And so that was kind of the clincher. And of course, I played it off to her like it was my idea. Sorry, Karen. Cats out of the bag, that was all you're doing. None of mine.

Sari 12:46
That's awesome. Yeah, I know, we were kicking around a few other things. But you know, for people maybe who are not in brewery culture. I mean, Colorado is very, you know, we're at Denver, and Northern Colorado is very brewery centric. And they're very family friendly.

Bryan 13:05
Yeah, very German stuff, picnic tables. You know, our family can ride our bikes to, you know, four or five different places of small family owned operations. So that was kind of my target audience as we roll the product out.

Sari 13:20
Yeah, yeah. So you came in you were like, I loved it because it was such a different sales channel, right? It wasn't the you know, grocery store, Amazon or something like that. You're like, I want to really try, I think this could work in breweries. Let's give it a try. So I love that it was a little bit of a unique path to market. Right?

Bryan 13:40
Yeah, nothing against farmers markets, they're great venues and I love going to those. Our families normally very busy on weekends, as most are, I just didn't see myself being, the opportunity to dedicate time to being at a farmers market on a Saturday and Sunday. And so I thought, well, what if, and I guess someone's going to probably, you know, use this idea, go for it. But what if I think I could reach just as many people during the week and the weekend at a microbrewery as I could, you know, at a farmers market.

Sari 14:12
Yeah. And so yeah, you've had a lot of success, we're gonna talk about that. And actually, there's been a number of people who either are in my program inside Food Business Success, or have just found you through me talking about you that have reached out, like, oh, it's a great idea. And the nice thing is it's pretty local, right? I mean, you're focused on a very local channel.

Bryan 14:36
It's very local as we start right now, and I just find to that at least in Colorado, the microbrewery culture, as people are very approachable, very like minded, very open. And if even if they don't want your product, they'll hear you out, try your product and they are usually open to the idea whether they agree to take it on or not.

Sari 15:01
Yeah, yeah. So then yeah, we got your product, we got amazing labels, we're both done in our cool Barfly hats, you get so many compliments on this logo and we were joking about your sweat equity and your sweat stains

Bryan 15:18
Yeah, Sari doesn't have the sweat stain on her like I wear it when I produce salsa in the summertime when the kitchen get kind of hot in there.

Sari 15:26
Yeah so we found your kitchen which was great it was actually a kitchen out of a sports bar so you know your salsa is not very labor intensive, you don't need stoves and things like that so it's been working out really nicely and you sell to them too, right?

Bryan 15:42
I do. I sell the bulk to them as their house salsa for two of their sister restaurant facilities. So selling in bulk to those has worked for me as well.

Sari 15:51
Yeah. We figured out the containers, the labels, the branding, the product, got all of that dialed in, the pricing. And then you were off and running! And you know, I mean, I definitely gave you some feedback and guidance but like I said you have a sales background so tell me about what your experience has been like where you're at now.

Bryan 16:16
And I think that's where we got to having this conversation, I just want to start by saying that I am by no means a sales expert, okay? I've struggled and we've gone through the struggles of approaching customers, keeping customers. I found it second nature and talking with Sari obviously, some people listening to this podcast maybe have no sales experience or are nervous or anxious about starting dialogue and I just want to say, you certainly can do it as Sari said, you know, as you can do hard things, right? But I guess, I'd start by saying as sales mentor of mine, sales manager, always said sales is a full contact sport. So you need to be out in front of people talking to them otherwise you're wasting time, right? And people don't know they want your product until you approach them, so you have to be willing to engage dialogue and even the salsa that you think would sell itself, it doesn't sell itself, you have to convince people that they want it.

Sari 17:17
Yeah, I love it! That's how we were talking about it because I was mentioning, you know, talking about sales and just how nervous a lot of people are like a lot of people that come to me to work with me are, you know, never been in the food industry and then never had a sales background and I just thought wow, you know, you kind of have a natural ability, not to use an expert by any means. But I thought, you know, the fact that you could, cuz how many breweries are you up to now?

Bryan 17:50
Nine.

Sari 17:51
Nine, amazing.

Bryan 17:52
And four restaurants.

Sari 17:56
Because when did you actually have a product? Last spring?

Bryan 17:58
We started production, February. You were there to help me, we had our masks on, and making salsa so we've grown about, sometimes little less, sometimes more than 10% kind of month over month in sales. So for a salesperson, first of all, if you're the one selling your product you have to get some thick skin and be brave and you know, be bold. Be willing to approach people and I mean some tips or some traits, you have to be willing to hear "no", you're gonna hear "no" a lot, so be persistent and have perseverance that "no" in the in the sales world, if you got sales training, "no" usually means either not now or you're not explaining yourself properly on why they need your product. So if it's one of those two things, think about that why you got a "no" and maybe work on your pitch as to that particular place you're trying to sell into, what's their need for your product.

Sari 19:04
Right. And don't be afraid to just ask again and try to figure out.

Bryan 19:09
Yeah, I mean not now. So follow up in four weeks, six weeks, two months and say, you know I dropped off that sample, I'd really love a chance to talk with you again about having my product in your establishment.

Sari 19:23
Yeah. So what do you think the offer is for you? Like why is your offer compelling? I mean you got that first brewery pretty quickly and then you've been able to add on, I mean, really you're kind of limited more by your own time because you have a full time job and you have kids and so on a lot of ways, I think your growth is very purposeful and that you are trying to be not run around all over the place.

Bryan 19:50
So sales is a very intention based profession, right? The best salespeople I know are extremely good listeners and communicators. They're very prepared. And they're very organized and they're also extremely curious, they ask really good questions and I'm not saying I do this but you asked really good questions of your customers and ask them why do you do this way, why you set up this way? You know, for for me, do you consider having fresh snack options for your customers? Well, we only have food trucks. Okay, well that's great, I don't intend to sell against your food trucks. Food trucks are great, but you know, this is a snack option that your business can make margin on, your employees can sell to add their available gratuity.

Sari 20:36
We all know salty snacks, dry beer sells, right?

Bryan 20:40
I'm not reinventing the wheel on that notion so that certainly helps. But just you know, and that helps. I had a question from another one of your listeners asking me about my price point and while it's extremely important to work with Sari or anyone to figure out what you can sell this for, I thought my price point was very agreeable versus what a food truck would sell their snack options for. They have higher margins, higher costs and that was focusing on the win-win in the scenario for your target customer. I win because you buy my product, you win because you make margin and your employees. It's easy for them to sell, they can grab it out of a cooler, they don't have to turn on an oven, or go to the bathroom or do anything else.

Sari 21:24
And the customer wins because now they have a snack, right?

Bryan 21:28
Focusing on the win-win, yeah.

Sari 21:30
Yeah, and so you got into a couple stores. So when you go, well I just love to know your process a little bit more, so when you are approaching a brewery, I know you kind of started with some you probably knew already, right?

Bryan 21:44
Very few I had. Before I engaged with you, I just had my homemade versions that a couple of places I'd go to, just as to try this, what do you think, and one guy really loved it. He left one for his employees and he actually took it home, he goes "my wife is gonna really love this", so I thought that was good. So my approach is always, of course, have your samples with you, have samples to drop off because again, people don't know they want your product until they try it. People think salsa, so what? There's dozens of jars of salsa at the grocery store, why would I try yours? If I wanted to sell salsa I would just go buy salsa in little containers and sell it here. My process would be to when you show up of course have a sample with you, have your sale sheet with you, have your business cards with you. Because chances are, the person that you're going to want to meet with, you'll need to figure out who the decision maker is in the process. Chances are, that person is either busy and not there, or you're going to interrupt them and I can guarantee you, when you're selling you're going to interrupt whoever you're walking in. This is not on a cold call but you're going to interrupt who's ever day you're walking in on so it's important to be as likeable as possible. And then, I always like by just saying "you know, I don't have an appointment today and I don't know if you're the right person to talk to but, is there someone I can talk to you about fresh snack options at your brewery?" "Well, that's our taproom manager who's not here." Make sure to get people's names too. If they're not the decision maker, people always love to hear their name, so that's one thing I tried to even though I'm usually one of those type of people that as soon as someone says their name, it's in one ear and out the other, I just can't. I have a mental block. So I try to write it down. But it's always important to follow up with the decision maker if they're not there, leave your sample, get their card if you can, and then follow up with emails or phone calls. Follow them on social media and then in a day or two, come back with an email or phone call and say, you know Mr. Business Owner, I met with Alex at the front of your establishment yesterday and I left a salsa sample and my name is Bryan, I would really love an opportunity to discuss my product being sold at your place. Sometimes you get responses, oftentimes you'll get nothing, right? You'll get silence and you'll get ghosted, and that's something you have to get used to about being persistence and organized of who to follow-up with, when, what's a good cadence of follow-up, and just work that into part of your routine.

Sari 24:23
Yeah, and I'm sure even asking like Alex for instance like, when is a good time or you know trying to figure out like when are they in?

Bryan 24:32
Exactly, make it easy to catch them or to get ahold of them. For sales, you have to think about who's receiving your message, right? Somebody's trying to remember a four beer order that they just had, five beer order, and you're coming in "hey want to try this salsa?" You're just there like okay, but please get away from me.

Sari 24:56
Yep, timing's everything too, right? Being mindful of time of day. That you know, you're going in on a weekend.

Bryan 25:03
Yeah, when's their busy spot? When does he have a few cycles? You know, I would say if you if you are considering targeting breweries with your snacks, I mean try if there's managers meetings that you know about, I mean, that was when I got lucky on that there was right before a manager's meeting, and they said to come back on Thursday before two o'clock because of the manager's meeting. Well guess what? I brought extra samples. The whole staff try it and then they realized that- you know, that was a good move. A good one.

Sari 25:32
Yeah. So fun. I think that's so great. And yeah, it's just been a persistent thing. And then you've done a great job once you're in one, half of this half the battle, right? You get into it.

Bryan 25:46
I have a customer now, what? Right? Another thing that you hear in a sales cliche that you hear is, life would be perfect if it wasn't for all these dang customers, because now they demand your time and energy. And that's the thing that keeps you up, right? You get a bunch of orders, you don't have supply, you run out of labels, I've run into those scenarios before but try to focus on being easy to do business with, right? Because you're going to make mistakes. I've dropped and broken containers on the way to places. I've had products expire on the shelves that didn't move, give your product away to start. Give it away to start.

Sari 26:28
Be super generous. Yeah.

Bryan 26:29
And someone said, I would have placed an order. But last time we ordered too many. And I said just tell me next time I'll replace those for free and give you extra ones.

Sari 26:37
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like we've always talked about, like those first few accounts, you just got to baby them and like really take care of them.

Bryan 26:45
And then I asked for permission. So and this is a relatively funny, a few of the breweries I started, I didn't know how I was going to help promote in there. So I would just go without permission and set up shop and kind of give away a little ramekins with some chips. And one of the taproom managers came to me and just said, what are you doing? Please, please stop approaching my customers. And then subsequently, we've set up events where I have a table with signs and you know, people just then ask, with their permission and you know, have free samples and chips or your product available to set up just like your own little, you know, farmers market, just with free samples inside of an establishment, right? And give it away.

Sari 27:32
Yeah, I love it. You've brought stickers and we've made a poster that says "Barfly Salsa Here". So I think you're doing a lot to support it, because it is kind of a little bit different idea. I mean, not completely, but just you want to support.

Bryan 27:50
People get confused at the breweries. They come to me and just with cash or with a card say, this is really good. Do I just buy this from you? Or how does? I said, we buy it here. Go to the counter, and pay for it.

Sari 28:04
Right. Like I'm not an actual, like farmers market. I'm here, yeah, it's a different thing. But that's fine. You've done a great job. And, you know, for somebody who is like, I don't want to spend my weekends at farmer's markets, now you spend them over.

Bryan 28:19
My wife is not always a huge fan of that of my target audience for me to be spending cycles there, but yeah, I'm on the job. I have to keep it.

Sari 28:30
It's a business expense. I love it. All right. So you're just continually to add and we've talked a lot because you are busy. Got a lot going on, you know, we've really focused on being careful not to expand geographically too quickly, like really just saturating a place first so that you can get the efficiencies of delivery. And then kind of going into another zone where there's a high brewery concentration and saturating that.

Bryan 29:01
Yeah, when you break out of your market, do the math not only what you're paying in gas and of course, your vehicles deductible through taxes at the end of the year, but you know, what are you paying in gas to get to a new location. And if you do targeted your location, do not just stop at one spot that's close by, make sure you look online, look for other target customers in the area and make sure that you're not just putting, because one of the places I went I didn't even know if they'd want I was actually trying to hit another business. And they said you should try that place down the street. And I thought, oh those guys, they're too small. No, actually, they're my best customer today. So again, you make sure you have multiple samples, multiple target locations if you're going to go out of your homebase geography.

Sari 29:54
Yeah. So it seems to be really working for you. So what's the goal, I know we've had some goal planning but yeah, what are you looking as you look ahead?

Bryan 30:05
So just for concrete goals, you know, we'll get to the end of the year and I want to at least double my 2022 sales to 2021. And I'll have a two-month headstart, I guess, conceivably in 2022. But really, for me, I mean, just abstract high picture, I want to take over the fresh salsa market. People, I think, are so ingrained to buy a jar of salsa at the supermarket. There's nothing wrong with that, there are plenty of good jarred salsas out there. I was just blown away when I started doing market research on fresh salsa at multiple different grocery stores or convenience stores, they're largely either flavor lists, or they're totally inbounds too pull a forward or too garlic forward or really overbearing in some ways. And so my dream is to take over and just be a dominant fresh salsa player at major outlets in the future, not just the niche ones, but the niche ones are really fun to sell to.

Sari 31:07
For sure, for sure. And you're coming in. I mean, the branding I think is so important with your product, right? I mean, it makes sense in the bar situation, but it's like a fun thing like salsa should be fun! And we won't name names, but there's some really like super boring salsas out there.

Bryan 31:25
Yeah, for our geography and where we live, I think, it's just super important to be intentional about who your audience is, and then have fun with it.

Sari 31:35
Yeah, yeah. And I think you chose a name that was fun. We chose branding that was really fun. And it could really, ultimately, you know, like said, like, why not? Why not you like there's no reason why Barfly can't replace or squeeze in some of those places and you're really catering to a younger audience, somebody that's wanting more fun in their food and more of an experience so I think it's absolutely possible. We've talked about some of our strategies and things for a year or two.

Bryan 32:09
You know, again, having a coach like Sari or whomever you work with is extremely important not only to keep you focused, but then to challenge you for growth and I think that's one of the things I struggle with here at the end of the year is, you know, vision of where this. Do I stay in my lane? Am I am I getting ahead of myself? It really helps to have proper mentoring when you're thinking about your growth and your goal planning.

Sari 32:37
Yeah, love it. Well I did an episode not too long ago called Your Fourth Quarter Pep Talk and I've been working with my coaching clients. So this might be helpful for you and to people listening but as we're getting towards the end of the year, like just really looking at what are those like top two or three high leverage things that are going to help move your business forward, I think it's tempting to be like, I'm going to try to do all the things and then it's also Thanksgiving and it's Christmas and family and travel and it's like let's pull it back and be a little more realistic. But also just focus on like things that are super high leverage, right? Like where are there opportunities in breweries with the holidays to really capitalize on or I know you've been doing some bulk sales as well like some some of your breweries do bulk versus the eight ounce that they're selling direct to the consumer.

Bryan 33:32
Gift baskets. Just trying to, I'm a horrible gift giver so anything that can be pre-packaged or something that you can, or work with your, it gives you an opportunity to, and this gets back to, you know, developing and growing your relationship or your existing customers. Any opportunity to have dialogue with them, on collaboration, on events, what are their charitable causes, how can I help you promote yours and say things like I don't I know you don't need my help but I would really love if Barfly Salsa, if I can help promote this event.

Sari 34:12
I love that, I love that you've been really generous with your time and with samples and things like that because you just never know who you're going to run into at those events. I mean, you did an event for Colorado Foodworks and came out and who knows right it could be nothing but you could meet somebody that's like "oh my friend is here and does da da da da da." You just don't know who you're gonna meet at those things.

Bryan 34:34
Exactly, and very important and near and dear to my heart, Barfly Salsa does donate a portion of all proceeds to Food Bank of the Rockies. And I think that's an, when you start selling, you don't have to. They appreciate all donations. So even a small percentage of your sales, if you can donate to a charity you're passionate about. It's another marketing and selling point.You know, find community with people that you're trying to sell to.

Sari 35:03
Yeah, I mean, we know millennials love products that have double duty, right? Like they provide experience, they give back, they're more than just a food that's in the package.

Bryan 35:15
So if you are a customer, thank you. By every chips and salsa that you buy, you're helping support Food Bank of the Rockies. So there you go.

Sari 35:24
It's a win-win, win-win. I love it. Anything else you want to make sure you get out there or things you want to.

Bryan 35:36
For anyone that is starting this, it's hard, it's fun, it's tiring, it's awesome. And that the only advice I'd give you is just, other than find something that you love and then sell the shit out of it would be, the first step in doing this is believing in yourself because if you don't believe in yourself, it will erode quickly.

Sari 35:57
Yeah, it's been super fun and I love that you believe in this so much and it seems like you're just having a lot of fun and it's been fun to be on this journey with you.

Bryan 36:09
Well with your help, yes, thank you there would have been a lot of not fun moments. So yeah, thank you very much. And if anyone, you can follow, check us out online on Instagram, you can go to my website. If you'd like to email me and ask any questions about my business or about Sari's, I couldn't be a more staunch supporter of what Sari has done for my business and if you would like me to help explain her process or anything, I'd be happy to do so.

Sari 36:36
Thank you so much. Yeah, you guys go check out Barfly Salsa. It's nice. I mean, names are tough and you got lucky with yours.

Bryan 36:45
Yeah, it's got my name and my initials.

Sari 36:47
Yeah, and you know, firefly.com was taken but Barfly Salsa, like none of those exists. So it's so good that we were able to find something.

Bryan 36:57
The world needs more barflies. So I'll take all the support I can get.

Sari 37:01
I remember some of those early drawings from Karen. I mean, you would ask for them so but it was kind of the drunk flies, you know, falling off the.

Bryan 37:11
Oh, yeah. With barely above the bar. And so really so, but the logo itself was boiled down to four or five different initial ideas.

Sari 37:20
Yeah, that's a fun process. She did a great job, I'm pretty sure. Something I know you get a lot of compliments on and really helps sell the salsa when you're not around to do it for it. That's right, get good salsa in people's mouth.

Bryan 37:37
Life's too short to eat bad salsa or drink bad beer. So, hey.

Sari 37:41
I love it. Yes, we are spoiled here in Colorado. So all right, thanks so much, Bryan, I appreciate your time, this was really fun to just dig in a little bit more with your business.

Bryan 37:54
All my appreciation goes to you. Thank you for having me. It was fun. Looking back on the past 14 or 15 months here. And I guess fun is not a word that a lot of people in this, you know, in the pandemic, or post pandemic era would say, but it's been learning a lot about myself, a lot about the industry. And I just thank you again, for all your help.

Sari 38:13
Would you choose it again? Would you do it all again?

Bryan 38:17
Absolutely. This has been a lot, this has been great. And there's still only 24 hours in every day. And it's amazing that you think. When you put your mind to what you can accomplish with the right help.

Sari 38:29
Yeah, something to be really proud of. Well, I'm sure you can tell that Bryan and I get along very well and have a lot of laughs together. And one thing I love about Bryan is that even though he's had moments of a freakout and anxiety, that he doesn't take himself too seriously. And I think that is a trait that goes a long way when you are building a business. And I know there's so many of you out there thinking about building a salsa business. So feel free to get in touch with him. Feel free to get in touch with me, whatever your delicious idea is, I have created Food Business Success for you to be more successful in your business. So what are you waiting for, head over to the website, go apply and then let's see you inside where you get community support, expertise and the confidence that you're on the right track. Until next time, have an amazing week.

Sari 39:36
Are you ready to start that delicious idea that you make in your home kitchen or grow your existing packaged food business and take it to the next level. The most successful food business entrepreneurs have support, guidance, focus and accountability to help them make it happen quickly without wasting time or money. Plus, I think starting your packaged food business should actually be fun. Food Business Success is your secret ingredient to creating your food business dream. Please don't go this alone. Check out the private free Food Business Success Facebook Group to connect with other foodpreneurs. Get your questions answered quickly. Share your wins and receive special training and tools I only share inside the private community. Just search for Food Business Success on Facebook, or get the link in the show notes. Curious about how Food Business Success can help you? Head over to FoodBizSuccess.Com and fill out the application to see if you're a great fit for the program. Together let's make your food business dream, a reality!