Why You Should Build on What You Know to Create a Successful Business

During my recent bike ride across America to interview dozens of small town entrepreneurs, I discovered that most of the entrepreneurs we interviewed had a fair amount of experience with the industries their business was in. About one-third of them had worked in the same industry they started their business in. Another third had worked in a related industry. Most of the remaining third were regular users of the products or services and understood the pain points and opportunities from personal experience.

In other words, they knew the market from the customers’ point of view. They knew the products’ features, the competitors, and the missing pieces. Only a small percentage of the successful entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed over the past 20 years have started businesses in markets they knew absolutely nothing about. And these people generally become serious students of the industry. In addition, many of these entrepreneurs bring in partners who know more about the industry than they do.

How My Days as a Chef Prepared Me to Grow a Startup

At the start of my career, I was the head chef of a catering company. But even before that, I put myself through college working in restaurants, so I’ve had quite a bit of experience in and around kitchens. There were times I enjoyed and others I’ve absolutely hated, all of which I still vividly remember, yet I never would have thought those experiences would contribute to the business I now run: a digital commerce dev shop named SUMO Heavy. Come to think of it, the name is unintentionally fitting, given that food is one of the staples of sumo training.

Here are four examples of the invaluable lessons I quickly learned as a chef, which ultimately became the framework for much of the culture, business processes and vision that continues to drive my dev shop today.