Minus Twenty: The Journey of an Independent Food Business

One of CEO Keith Schroeder's greatest business regrets is not getting right back on the horse when his first restaurant failed. He went to work for others for 10 years before he got that push to go back after his own venture.The answer you'll get most often from the investment community is "No." For an entrepreneur with passion for their concept, all of those "No's" can wear you down. And it's ok if you never get to the "Yes" with your first idea. You need to take that rejection, learn from it, then step back up to the horse and take another swing. Metaphorically of course, don't swing at the horse like Mongo.You might have to reframe your entire business plan or your entire concept. Strangely enough, having too much confidence in your plan and execution can scare away potential investors. That sounds contradictory but as Keith explains, you need to be open to the areas of your business you don't know or need help with. As you wade through the world of fund raising and investor pitches, you need to be ready for "No" and have a plan to move forward to get the "Yes." Or move on to the next idea and start again. Keith presents some great insight on investor navigation and staying positive in what can be a long and exhausting road.This podcast features High Road Craft Brands CEO Keith Schroeder and Walter Biscardi Jr., Executive Creative Director.Here's a link to Steve Blank's Four Steps to the Epiphany that Keith refers to in the episode.

Starting any business requires money, often a lot of money. But where do you start if you’ve never raised funding before?High Road CEO Keith Schroeder gives a fantastic “101 Primer” on how capital can be raised and some ideas on where to find funding. Should you start with friends and family? What should be their expectations? How do investments work? Can you get help from your local state? What’s a waterfall or a term sheet? Once you raise your funding, what does the return look like?This podcast is essential for anyone starting their fundraising process to help you begin to understand some sources of funding and some of the terminology you’ll run into. Keith draws from his own experiences knowing nothing about fundraising to having to raise funding for his various ventures. As usual, he presents is a straightforward, no BS style.Before you set out to find funding for your venture, grab yourself a beverage and take in these 30 minutes of essential listening on raising capital from someone who has been there and is still there today growing his business.This podcast features High Road Craft Brands CEO Keith Schroeder and Walter Biscardi Jr., Executive Creative Director.You can watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/w5qSQISX8kQ

Becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business is incredible. But making the transition from Employee to Entrepreneur is a major step in anyone’s career and life. Your decision can go from absolutely amazing to sideways in a hurryHigh Road CEO Keith Schroeder has learned a great deal about how to be both successful and unsuccessful making the leap to running your own business.Some areas we cover are the mindset of an entrepreneur vs. employee. How do you know if you have a viable idea? Financial considerations for moving out on your own. Gaining business and entrepreneurial skills. Where to look for help and much more. Additionally we look at some obstacles and considerations specific to launching restaurants and commercial food manufacturing.As usual, Keith presents in his straight-talk, no BS style, sharing his own personal experiences, trials and tribulations as he progressed from chef to executive chef to launching his own restaurant (that closed) to opening High Road Craft Brands. Life isn’t always perfect and starting a business certainly isn’t. This episodes aims to help you consider your leap with your eyes wide open.This episode features host High Road Craft Brands CEO Keith Schroeder and Walter Biscardi, Jr., Executive Creative Director. You can watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TYmCKHeLpuU

After almost 10 years in business, High Road Craft Brands has begun to look outside of ice cream for products. They even purchased another company to fold into their operations.With a company founded by, and still run by, chefs the opportunity to bring Ciao Bella Gelato and Sorbetto into the High Road Craft Brands family was too good to pass up. Ciao Bella has a long history in food service and it was CEO Keith Schroeder's heart that led to the acquisition of the company. As the company prepares to move forward into 2020 and beyond, a restructuring of the parent company was necessary. High Road Craft Brands is now the home of 5 distinct brands and the ability to manage those brands, deliver quality products and win in the retail market means raising the game for the entire corporation.Keith shares the inside stories on the mindset of purchasing another company along with the why and how the restructuring was necessary for High Road to continue to grow its market share moving forward. This discussion touches upon raising capital, what to consider when purchasing another company and thoughts on maintaining proper company structure as you grow and evolve.This is the third of a three part overview discussion on the launch, expansion and future of High Road Craft Brands.This episode features host Walter Biscardi, Jr., Executive Creative Director for High Road Craft Brands and CEO Keith Schroeder.You can also watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Asuyg_d5aUI

After successfully launching High Road by keeping a singular focus on food service clients, CEO Keith Schroeder was presented an unexpected opportunity to move into retail. High Road was also unexpectedly kicked out of their original commercial home.Ironically it was High Road's narrow focus on providing high quality ice cream products to food service clients in Atlanta that created the retail opportunity Keith wanted to avoid. Retail meant investment in new equipment, new processes, new employees and moving into the brutal world of grocery frozen foods. Ice Cream is one of the most difficult grocery areas to win. As High Road's retail momentum started to grow, Keith was faced with another unexpected development, eviction from his commercial home because the new owners planned to tear down the entire property. Proof that fact is stranger than fiction, this discussion dives into the mindset of an entrepreneur faced with change that brings tremendous risk to the business. Keith shares the real story on how High Road made that leap into retail, how they raised the capital to purchase the new equipment and then how he went about moving his entire company while still delivering quality product to his customers.This discussion is all about leap of faith for those of you looking to take that next step. Move your home based business into commercial. Grow your commercial business into retail. Grow your business from small to medium or large. This is the second of a three part overview discussion on the launch, expansion and future of High Road Craft Brands.This episode features host Walter Biscardi, Jr., Executive Creative Director for High Road Craft Brands and CEO Keith Schroeder.You can also watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VHdOTWDUAcQ

Every story has a beginning. High Road Craft Brands was born of one chef's frustration with the limitations in the corporate food service world.Keith Schroeder made the leap from Executive Chef to Entrepreneur to seize an opportunity in the food service manufacturing sector. But this was not a leap made blindly. In this discussion you'll hear some of the steps Keith took including business school programs to prepare himself to not just open a business, but to be successful by keeping a narrow focus. This is a great, real-world introduction for anyone who is ready to make that leap from employee to entrepreneur but isn't sure exactly what they need to do to prepare. Whether you're in food service or any other industry, the path that Keith followed to start the High Road is full of good advice for all listeners.This is the first of a three part overview discussion on the launch, expansion and future of High Road Craft Brands.This episode features host Walter Biscardi, Jr., Executive Creative Director for High Road Craft Brands and CEO Keith Schroeder.You can also watch this podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s01OeuUcYoM