We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tsuzuki Kanaoka a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tsuzuki, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later
That’s an interesting question. I’ve always wanted to have my own business even when I worked in the corporate world, but that being said, I don’t think I would’ve started my current business any earlier. To provide a bit of a background, I started From TK in March 2021, about half a year after leaving my corporate job and working as a freelancer. I was helping out at my parents’ restaurant and started making desserts for their business. The Japanese-style desserts were really popular among our customers, and that’s when I thought this could be a potential business and started pursuing this path. The timing was great and I was able to experiment before actually starting my business because I was working at a restaurant.
In addition, I don’t think the time I spent working at my corporate job in Boston and the freelance time was a waste of time either. I learned a lot from both experiences and in a way helped me build a foundation for what I’m doing now. The only thing I would change, if I could go back in time, is maybe starting a small business or just something on the side even when I was working at a corporate job. This doesn’t have to be a dessert business, but I think just having your own thing, no matter how small it is, is valuable and you learn a lot from it. So I would’ve liked to start that process earlier.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
From TK provides the finest and freshest cakes to the local communities in Colorado, featuring light, Japanese-style desserts, and sophisticated flavors. The main focus is the delicately made tiramisu, with the soft cocoa sponge soaked in bold coffee aroma, layered with light mascarpone cream. Recently, we’ve expanded our lineup and added the matcha tiramisu as well, using high-quality matcha from Japan, which has also been popular among our customers.
I started the dessert business in early 2021, about 6 months after leaving my corporate job in Boston. I’ve always wanted to start my own business, so I decided to pursue my passion for baking and try out something on my own. It took a while to perfect the recipe, experimenting with different thicknesses of the sponge cake, sweetness of the cream, and amount of coffee syrup used. Changing the slightest thing can make a big difference in the texture and flavor. Now with the perfected recipe, the tiramisu is one of the most popular desserts at my parents’ restaurant Sakana and can also be ordered in bulk for birthdays, parties, and more. I do like to still experiment with other desserts, and any updates on our new lineup can be seen on our Instagram/Facebook @fromtksweets!
Have you ever had to pivot?
After 4 years of working at a corporate job in Boston, I wanted a change. So even though I wasn’t sure of my next steps, I left the company and moved back to Denver. That was a big pivot for me because I never really imagined moving back to Colorado, but for some reason, it just felt right. After moving back here, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, so I started working as a freelancer and helping out at my parents’ restaurant. During this time I was able to take a step back and see what I was really interested in, and learn more about myself. When I was in Boston, I always wondered what I wanted to do next, but I was never able to figure it out. Moving back to Denver, trying out new things. and getting myself out of my comfort zone really allowed me to discover what I wanted to do and eventually led me to start my own business.
Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses
I almost bought a restaurant. I found the property online, and I immediately contacted the broker to go take a look at the property. I’ve worked at a restaurant and am fairly familiar with the operation, but when it comes to investing in one I had no clue. So I asked my parents, who are restaurant owners, to go take a look with me. The location, price, and conditions seemed like a good fit so I signed a 17 page document to submit an offer. While I waited for the response, I started coming up with a business plan for the restaurant and started calculating how much everything costs in terms of just starting a restaurant – this included creating a sign for the business, health inspections, getting a license, etc. and wow the list is more extensive than you’d think! Even after submitting an offer the closing process takes a while including time for due diligence and negotiating rent, equipment, and more. In the end, it didn’t work out, and currently, my goals don’t align with buying a restaurant but I really did learn a lot from this process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fromtk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromtksweets/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fromtksweets/
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