Professionalize Doing What You Love
Below is an interview with Taylor Erkkinen, founder of the Brooklyn Kitchen, about how he and Harry turned their passion into a business.
Sara: How did your business get its start?
Taylor: Preparing for our annual New Year’s Day Chili Party in 2005, we (myself and Harry Rosenblum) lamented the lack of a neighborhood kitchenware store. I was tiring of my job as a construction project manager, and Harry - a freelancer always up for a new project and adventure - was happy to fan the flames of entrepreneurship. At first it was what seemed like a good idea over dinner with friends, but the more we talked about it and got excited about it we decided to go for it. The Brooklyn Kitchen is the result of those ideas.
Sara: What do you sell?
Taylor: The Brooklyn Kitchen is a neighborhood kitchenware and grocery store. We offer a variety of classes aimed at home cooks and ranging from basic knife skills to pig butchering to vegan tamales to mini cupcakes to Persian dinners. We also host several classes in DIY food skills, such as canning and brewing beer at home.
Sara: What are some of your greatest successes?
Taylor: After six years of success, the business has moved to an expanded location with two classrooms, which host daily classes that are often sold-out. It has also more than tripled its selection of kitchenware and organic and natural groceries.
Sara: What are some of your biggest challenges?
Taylor: While revenues are growing, profit margins are shrinking. This unusual trend is caused by the new need for employees to serve as managers, in addition to being product specialists.
Sara: What do you do to keep your business competitive?
Taylor: Among other things we train our employees. Through NYC Business Solutions Customized Training we received a grant of $14,228 to train 11 of our staff in the skills they need to make our business succeed. Some of the courses that staff will take include: Human Resources; Finance for Non-Financial Managers; Website Design and Sales training. These classes will allow us to take our staff from passionate experts on all things cooking to expert business and sales people alongside their technical expertise.
Sara: What’s it like working with the NYC Business Solutions training team?
Taylor: I wouldn’t have been able to do this without Kymberly and Rashi, my partners on the NYC Business Solutions team. They are diligent and thorough, and were integral to our ability to participate in this wonderful program. Throughout this process, they have been responsive and comprehensive, and I look forward to continuing to work with them.
Sara: How do you train the next generation?
Taylor: We’ve been educating home cooks since 2006, and we know that the kitchen is a great classroom. That’s why we open our doors to NYC Public Schools to share our passion for responsibly sourced products. The Brooklyn Kitchen and The Meat Hook invite New York City schools to take a fieldtrip to our laboratory kitchen and butcher shop, to spend the day learning about food sourcing, meat and cooking
Sara: How has the hurricane affected you?
Taylor: Over Thanksgiving, we raised more than $1,500 for the Brooklyn Recovery Fund through our ’Big Time Sandy Relief Raffle’! Thanks to our friends at Smorgasburg, our vendors who donated prizes, and to all of our customers for buying raffle tickets. We’ve continued encouraging donations of $5 and $10 throughout the holidays to raise funds for the Greenpoint Reformed Church Soup Kitchen/Food Pantry and for Bread and Life in Bed Stuy.
Sara Schlossberg is the Executive Director of Training for NYC Business Solutions. In this role, Sara helps New York City businesses become more competitive by improving employee skills and productivity. NYC Business Solutions invests more than $1 million each year in helping businesses train employees.
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