We recently connected with Quincy Randolph and have shared our conversation below.

Quincy, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Honestly, this is a question I ask myself everyday, as I still don’t consider myself successful, or at least where I want to be. In my industry (restaurant ownership/hospitality) most restaurants close. It’s just a fact. Oftentimes people consider your establishment successful if it can operate for a few years and break even.

Restaurateurs who want to survive in the long-term and operate multiple projects have to re-think what success in our industry is, and how to approach it. Many of the heralded successes in our industry (awards, acclaim, nominations) are often the steps that lead to downfall if you chase them too readily.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Quincy Randolph. I’ve been a chef for over 13 years. I moved to Roanoke to launch a coffee company with my brother, and from there expanded to have a small hospitality group. I’ve been fortunate to appear on a few Food Network TV shows, and engage in creating other forms of media.

That said, I still face all the issues that other small businesses face. Including thin margins, limited staffing, and constantly increasing cost of goods.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

The story for funding my business is a traditional one. Neither my brother nor I had a large amount of money to launch our brick & mortar coffee store front. We had collected some equipment throughout our time operating as a pop-up, and had a bit of cash from our current jobs. Essentially my brother and I rubbed our pennies together, while also raising a small amount of capital (less than 50k) through asking friends and close family to invest.

We got our doors open with less that 3k remaining in the bank account, and worked the first few months of the business everyday without taking a paycheck for ourselves. It was a grind. One I would sign up for again if it was my only option, but I would strongly advise future business owners to raise more capital than they think they need to launch their business.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My advice for maintaining a team and managing high morale is to keep your presence and impact as an owner high. This doesn’t mean that you have to micromanage your team, or be there everyday as a business owner. But it means hearing your employees out in detail, empathizing with them during tough situations, and making the time your are in store significant.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.roanokecoffee.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef_qr/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rookierestaurateur

Image Credits

Steffon Randolph

John Park