Abi Golland, joint MD of The Street Food Chef, tells us how Sheffielders getting behind local independents and the city’s entrepreneurial spirit helped her and husband Richard establish their ‘honest, delicious and helpful’ business
I was inspired to start my business by …
My husband and joint MD Richard and I are not afraid of change and we really wanted to do something together. Our objective was to build something we could be proud of, which would support our family. A street food business allowed us to start on a relatively low budget and still fulfil our philosophy that food should be made using fresh ingredients and tastes better when it is made with love!
My favourite thing about running my business is …
I love serving delicious food and trying to give the best customer experience possible. I particularly like working with our great teams. A surprising and wonderful ‘side effect’ is how it has helped me to feel rooted in Sheffield. I feel part of the business community, the food community in a way I never expected.
The three words that best describe my business are …
Honest, delicious and helpful.
Sheffield City Region is a great place to start a business because …
It has an entrepreneurial spirit and is supportive on so many levels. There are great services to help get start-ups off the ground, but also Sheffielders in general really get behind local independents – we have always felt there was a real will for us to make it work.
Sheffield City Region is a great place to grow a business because …
There are fantastic mentoring and business support networks and geographically Sheffield is so well placed to grow your business outside the region.
The best advice I ever got was …
Proper Pasty owner John Worrall told us to treat your business like a big business, because to you it is. Putting professional processes in place has helped us, and therefore our customers, to take it seriously.
Walt Disney said the difference between those who fail and those who succeed, is that those who succeed keep going. On a personal level, this has kept me going through the hard times.
The worst advice I ever got was …
I really can’t think of any. I suppose I question the general (very sensible) advice that when you start a business, keep your day job until your new business is settled, but I really think we made a go of The Street Food Chef because we absolutely had to.
The organisations that have supported me and my business include …
Business Link and the training sessions and guidance they provided. Jim Lawson, who worked for Business Enterprise South Yorkshire became a real ambassador for The Street Food Chef in the early days. We also accessed great mentoring via the Creative Sheffield growth scheme.
The main challenges facing my industry/sector are …
Rising costs, rates, increasing staffing and food prices are very real threats and our profit margins are small. Many European countries apply a discounted VAT rate to tourism, service or hospitality sectors. If that was introduced here, we could invest more easily.
In 5 years’ time I expect my business to …
Become more sustainable. We have removed all single use plastic from our dining rooms, now we need to tackle our suppliers. We also need to ensure our menu is sustainable.
