We recently connected with Rolan Pongpuntara and have shared our conversation below.

Rolan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I been a pharmacy tech for about 5-6 years and what I fell in love with is alternative medicine. The idea of my small business comes from my experience working as a pharmacy technician to my healing journey. As I was healing, I have worked on many recipes to help people “heal through food.” I feel that eating healthy and with intention is a lifestyle. This doesn’t mean you have to be on a diet, it just means to eat with intention. As a cook and as a small business owner it’s important for me to help the community by putting ingredients in each dish that make it worthwhile for the customer wellbeing and have them feel good at the end of the day. The universe is shifting to a healthier lifestyle and this approach has helped many of my customer feel better inside and out.

Rolan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2013, I got into juicing and I would sell them to friends and family. A year later, I opened a brick and mortar selling burgers, smoothies, cold-pressed juices and the famous rainbow grilled cheese. It was a one stop shop where we have healthy and regular food. Later down the road, I got deep into my healing journey and I opened a catering business which focus on healthy eating for offices and events. What I’m most proud is bringing healthy dishes to a person without sacrificing the taste of food.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I just started my e-commerce business with Etsy selling adaptogen latte and handcrafted spices. Etsy is a good platform for small business that sells handcrafted products. The pro is everything is moving torns e-commerce so it is important to have a present there. The con about e-commerce is there is a lot of competition and people don’t really know who you’re until they try your product so it is important to have a good product and have positive reviews.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

In 2022, I purchased an existing restaurant called “Golden Indian grilled and pizza.” I bought the restaurant to have a kitchen to work on catering and opened a store front. I continue to grow Side Kitch with this kitchen and love my new space.

Contact Info:

• Website: sidekitch.com
• Instagram: sidekitch
• Linkedin: rolan pongpuntara
• Yelp: Side Kitch

Image Credits
Rey Trajano