We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Stuart recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joshua , appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Starting my business is probably the biggest risk I’ve taken in my life so far. Since I was a child I’ve always loved pizza and it has always been my favorite thing to eat. When I was in college I was a business major and the point of me getting my degree was to figure out mistakes that can be made in new businesses. It wasn’t until my 2nd year that I realized I wanted to be in the pizza business. Originally I wanted go the franchise route with a pizza place based in New Jersey. Unfortunately Covid happened in 2020 and everything changed for the world. This tragedy made me really evaluate what I want to do with my life and realized I want to do my own thing with what I love. I bought my first small wood pellet pizza oven and taught myself how to make pizza from scratch. I used the remainder of 2020 to try and create a pizza people would happily pay for because to me it’s not worth it if people don’t enjoy it. I was able to test my pizzas out at gatherings with friends and family until I felt is was good enough to sell.
In May of 2021 I started the process of starting the business by getting incorporated, buying equipment and finding a place to sell. It was a huge risk for me because I spent thousands of dollars with no guarantee of a return. Looking back now, I wish I would’ve taken this risk sooner because it is exhausting at times but I enjoy every minute of the process.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I own a pizza business. I currently sell at a farmers market, events I’m invited to, and even do catering. I got into the pizza business because it’s something I’ve always loved to eat and it became an interest that has evolved to a passion. I make my own dough and sauces from scratch and I use all fresh ingredients that are prepared weekly. I’m most proud of my product overall and that people are actually enjoying it. It gives me so much joy and happiness when people tell me how much they like the pizza and to see people come back time after time. No matter how much work it is to prepare hearing the positive feedback makes all the hard work more than worth it.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
My business funding came from one of my credit cards and personal savings. It’s not the best way to start a business but I didn’t want take out a loan. When the lockdowns from Covid first started I was unsure if I would continue to have a job due to businesses closing temporarily so the first thing I did was pay off my credit card debt and a personal loan I had at the time. Fortunately I was able to keep working and ended up saving money to use to start the business but things were more expensive then I expected so I ended up using a credit card for about half of my startup costs.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The thing I believe helped build my reputation with other vendors is just my positive attitude. I like being positive and feel like when you give off good energy and positivity it transfers to the people who surround you. I always say it’s ok to get angry every once in a while because everybody has bad days but there is always somebody that wishes they had your problems instead of their own. I also make a good pizza so it helps my reputation a bit.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: jxosh_pizza
- Facebook: Josh’s Pizza