By the Chanda temple
Slutty Vegan CEO and founder Pinky Cole, who will open her restaurant today in Woodlawn with a block party starting at 12pm and a ribbon cutting at 1pm. It is also an ecosystem centered on people, purpose and philanthropy.
On Saturday, he met with several Black small business leaders from Birmingham to discuss their rise to build a $100 million plant-based food company that has five locations in Georgia and is poised to open many more in the United States. During his talk, she offered tips that people should know when starting a business. Some of them include:
1. Hire an accountant, even if you don’t have a lot of money in the bank.
An accountant will help make sure your books are clean in case you get audited, especially if finances aren’t your strong suit. Cole made the mistake of not having an accountant when he started his first business in New York several years ago, and he did not pay his sales and use tax. That mistake cost him two years after his first business burned down in a fire; the government garnished his salary. But she said her mistake only made her a smarter businesswoman. Hiring professionals will help you stay focused on the business.
“Sometimes, you have to go through the mud, you have to go through some bumps, and some tribulations and some bad things for you to realize that you need to make better decisions.”
2. Hire an attorney.
You will need legal support while running a business. All of his business names, including the burgers and his name, are registered trademarks. Hire an attorney early on so you don’t have to worry about that while you build your foundation.
3. Hire a publicist.
Your social media posts draw people in because they make them laugh, make them proud, and provide them with information. But when you’re not advertising your food online, you’re also telling stories of how the company gives back through scholarships and provides opportunities and resources for people. If you’re doing well in a neighborhood, let people know. When you share good news, people start talking, and when people start talking, they will pay attention to you and buy what you have to offer.
“Philanthropy is the real deal,” he said. “It’s not the product.”
4. Hire people who have the same hustle as you.
If you have people around you who need to think smarter and come up with impossible ideas to improve the business, that will only make you a better entrepreneur.
5. Know what it means to be a good leader.
In the past two years, Cole has learned what it takes to be a good leader. It takes collaboration and knowing what employees need. For a business to grow, employees must love being at work and helping customers return.
6. Offer an experience for your customer.
When people visit Slutty Vegan, they get an experience they can’t get anywhere else. The way employees make customers feel is intentional. But that starts with building a strong internal company culture so that the external culture can exist. Cole raised the minimum wage, offered incentives, and more, which is a big deal for employees.
7. Get a mentor.
You’ll find mentors in different industries and at different ages, and it’s okay if they’re not in your business specialty. Cole only has one mentor in the restaurant space. It’s important to have the right people to check on him for the things he’s not doing right.
8. Don’t let little problems get to you.
Evolution in business is so key, Cole said. He used to panic if his registration system failed. He no longer panics. If the registration system fails, just tell people to get naked with you. If you put out good energy, the good energy will come back to you.
9. It’s okay to have a full-time job while building your dream.
Cole was working as a casting director for “Iyanla, Fix My Life” on the OWN network when she worked at Slutty Vegan at night. She used paychecks from her full-time job to help pay her employees when money was tight, pay for wraps from her food truck and pay for supplies. “Don’t be too quick to back down,” she said. “Having a job as an entrepreneur was the best thing that could have happened to me. And I was able to pay employees to do things that I couldn’t do while I was at work.”
Cole said that even though he bought the Woodlawn building on 55th Place South two years ago, a delay is not a denial. He can’t wait to open in Magic City, where he said he feels business is going to be big here. “It took two years to get here, but I’m sure this will be my highest-grossing restaurant of all my Slutty Vegans,” she said during a Saturday morning meeting with some of Birmingham’s black small business owners.
Abra Barnes, owner of Barnes & Associates, hosted Saturday’s business roundtable. He helped Cole close the deal on his building. Also at the table to help connect Cole with Woodlawn was Mashonda Taylor, CEO of Woodlawn United.
All three women are members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., demonstrating the strength of sisterhood, intentionality, and collaboration.
“The brotherhood brought us together in all the different spaces, but right here at Woodlawn, we made some magic happen,” Barnes said. “We love to give back. Our goal is to see our community prosper.”
Saturday’s meeting almost brought Dr. Brandi Rudolph Bolling to tears. Hearing Cole talk about her journey and taking even bigger steps in business was confirmation that Dr. Bolling was going after the things on her list.
“The last time I felt this way was when my company was born in May 2020. And I get that feeling again, like something big is on the horizon,” said Dr. Bolling. “This has solidified, it’s time to do it.”
Barnes said he plans to host more roundtables like this one in the future.
Source: www.birminghamal.gov