Known as “The Godfather” of the Indianapolis food truck scene, Sonic has an innate knack for entrepreneurism. He is also passionate about health and nutrition. At the intersection of these worlds he has built a wholesome beverage brand and established himself as a thought leader in the better for you beverage space.
Early in Sonic’s career he discovered butter coffee. He noticed that it provided him with clean energy without any crash as well as mental clarity and focus throughout the day. So, he set out to create his own butter coffee that would be accessible and convenient for everyone, without compromising taste, quality, and functionality. Grass Fed has quickly become a favorite ready-to-drink butter coffee among consumers. Grass Fed uses organic, fair trade coffee, MCT oil, and has ZERO sugar. What’s more, the grass-fed butter is high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and healthy fats to keep your nutrient levels up! In addition, Grass Fed can be used as a meal replacement and is great for anyone on the Keto diet as well as any health and coffee enthusiast.
Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Sonic has developed some keys to success that he would love to share with other entrepreneurs seeking success in their respective industries:
- Building a great and reliable team is crucial for running a successful company. He attributes much of Grass Fed Coffee’s success to his three major teams: The Sales Team, The Demo Team, and The PR Team. These three teams are essential for taking one’s product to the next level. Sonic credits these teams with finding stores for targeted audiences, growing the company’s consumer base, and building brand awareness. These are the areas that are essential for seeing instant change and growth in one’s company. Gary Steele, the chairman of HiLight Semiconductor, agrees as he states, “you need to get a great team, have the right finances, and be lucky with the market”.
- Finding a niche market is necessary to be able to significantly grow a company. The product should improve the consumer’s life in some way. Butter coffee is in its own niche market and provides great benefits for its consumers. Butter coffee is perfect for keto dieters as well as health nuts and coffee enthusiasts — plus is convenient for those on-the-go.
- When building a start-up, it is easy to become eager and consequently forget how long the process can actually take. Sonic encourages the importance of patience and honesty with others and yourself — as changes don’t happen overnight. He suggests having a large enough budget to get the company through their first five years of business. And hopefully by the end of the fifth year, the company can gain some traction and eventually have the option to expand or be bought out by a larger company.
- Sonic also believes that being flexible and adaptable is correlated with being successful. When starting a company, it is almost certain that things won’t go as planned. A business owner cannot be afraid to switch things up and adapt at any moment if it is what’s best for the company. Sonic has experienced speed bumps along the way, but his ability to adapt has kept him steady on the road to success.
- Sonic’s final tip for success is to factor for the unexpected when calculating your budget. Sonic recalls a perfect example of this in an interview with Voyage LA, in which he shares crucial problem Grass Fed Coffee faced last summer. As sales for the company skyrocketed, so did the heat– causing the butter in their coffee to clump. Utilizing natural emulsifiers, Grass Fed Coffee was prone to this clumping and consequently lost a lot of inventory. Sonic describes this moment as, “The crazy types of things that can happen and you just have to make adjustments quickly and adapt.” While running a start-up, it is easy to forget that cash flow may be limited. It is imperative to keep track of cash flow and make sure no money is being wasted. Because Sonic had maintained a steady budget, he was able to account for this mistake and it did not drastically affect Grass Fed Coffee.
Sonic sets a great precedent as to how one should grow their business. Starting out as a pioneer for the Indianapolis food truck scene, he has taken his passion for the culinary and beverage industries and his interest in health and wellness and created his own butter coffee empire. By sticking to his own advice and introducing a great product to the market, Sonic has made Grass Fed Coffee a perfect example for start-up food and beverage brands around the world.
Interested in learning more about Grass Fed Coffee and trying some for yourself? Check out their site: https://grassfedcoffee.com
Cheers!
