Our guest on “I’m a Millionaire! So Now What?” is Jonnel Sloane, founder of Farm to Fork. Jonnel tells us about how this Ottawa-based success story came to be. On this episode, you’ll hear how this door-to-door salesman became a national sales trainer before founding an online meat delivery company inspired by M&M Meat Shops. One that earns greater ROI through transparency and integrity.
The story behind Farm to Fork
Jonnel’s company was originally called Home Food solutions, but as he evolved from door- to-door delivery to outsourcing product development and into e-commerce, he saw a greater need. One that he knew he could meet.
“I wanted to offer products that have transparency associated with them, that have a value system, whether they were organic or raised with antibiotics. That's really what my background was in the way I ate and how I took care of myself and what I was into. I am a strong believer in the customer having control – so that when they do buy something, they know what went into it and can then make their choice. But there’s not much incentive for farms and companies to provide this kind of transparency because regulations make the costs really high, which, in turn, limits innovation.”
Jonnel decided to found Farm to Fork to bridge the gap between farmers, producers, and consumers. Their goal is to bring consumers delicious premium meat and sustainably sourced seafood from trusted small-scale producers who have a clearly defined value system. Without any funding or employing a team in the traditional sense of the word, he’s now expanded the business. He manages the Ottawa and Montreal side of Farm to Fork, another company handles their operations in Toronto, and everything else is outsourced. The results?
Two million in sales over 2020. During Covid-19.
Impact of a pandemic
“For ecommerce, it’s definitely been positive. Many companies already had online shopping in place. But they weren't putting a lot into it. Now they are building out their e-commerce platforms like crazy. And they've been collecting data for the last year and this has propelled people's behaviours. In our businesses, the same people that bought in the beginning of the COVID pandemic have stayed with us, so this isn’t a temporary trend. We grew up to six times bigger. We were ahead of everyone else, because I put everything into the great e-commerce website we have now. When COVID-19 hit, we were ready, we had the right supply chain and we just needed to ramp up our inventory.”
His motivation?
“I saw what other bigger companies were doing, and I paid close attention to how they're doing it, the technology they use, and what they continue to do to make the customer experience better and reduce time, simultaneously. The creative team I chose were also pushing me into automation and different software saying that if there’s anything I don’t have to do, that we can automate, let’s do that. And it opened up more capacity for me to be more efficient, and that’s one way we are ahead of our competitors. Our customers are always saying: “Wow, from the time I order, to the text and the email afterwards to the delivery and the time window, I can’t believe how efficient it is.” The other factor we work hard on is our personality.”
However, Jonnel does want to pass the baton on by exiting when the time is right. If that’s not going to happen just yet, he aims to build the business in Toronto and scale up into the rest of Canada. While remaining true to their brand’s integrity and transparency.
“I’m excited by cryptocurrency and blockchain. But I’m not just going to sell my company to (just) anybody. I want the brand to continue. And I want it to continue in the same way, in the same fashion with same integrity and same value systems that we have. So, we're going to make sure that the company will stay in this direction, whoever ends up buying us out.”
Fun, frank advice?
“I try not to be the smartest guy in the room. I think that if you're in rooms where you're the smartest guy, then people are propping you up and boosting your ego, which means you need to get out of those rooms because that’s where you’ve stopped growing. It's okay to feel stupid, it's okay to say things that you don't know, to ask questions that you don't know the answers to. If people don't want to answer those questions, or want to look at you a different way, or think you don't belong…that's okay. It’s okay to be afraid; fear is a positive thing. Because it's making you vulnerable. And I believe the only place that growth can happen is when things are uncomfortable.
Are you an entrepreneur looking to exit, or at the helm of a thriving business or startup? I would love to talk with you about your stories! You can drop me a line here.
And watch this space for more details about future Elevated Conversations.