When we start a business, we all want it to look "legitimate"

We want the big, shiny facility, the commercial packaging, a beautiful website, and a killer social media presence.

We want what the other - successful - businesses in our industry have. We want our brands to to look and feel just like them. We want people to think we're successful. We want other people to take us seriously.

But here's the thing no one tells you when you start a business:

Everyone starts at the bottom. And works their way up.

So when you're comparing yourself right now to people 5 years ahead of you, you're forgetting:

They started right where you are right now.

With the janky website. The product stored in their cars. The long hours standing on their feet making batch after batch with their own two hands. The plastic wrapped, self-labelled, labour of love.

Don't believe me? Take it from Erica Rankin, founder of Bro Dough. Erica started her business at the end of 2019 and now, just a few years later, Bro Dough is offered in over 120 stores across Ontario. But she didn't start out with everything perfect and shiny. Erica shares with us the behind-the-scenes messiness of starting a food business on your own.

Here's what we talk about:
- How Erica went from a desk job to a successful health food business in just a few years
- Why she did things that *don't scale*
- The expensive mistake of trying to make your business look "legitimate"
- Why she went from a big production facility to moving everything back into her condo
- How she leveraged social media to build a community of friends
- Why you should ignore the algorithm, numbers, and views
- The reason she completely changed her product and dealing with negative feedback
- How she's funding her business and why she brought on investors

Connect with Erica:
https://eatbrodough.com/
https://www.instagram.com/brodoughcanada/
https://www.instagram.com/life0ferica/

Connect with Nicole:
https://www.nicolehaney.com/
https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney/

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