They say that the key to business(and virtually every other pursuit) is timing. We tend to agree. Timing in and of itself can help and hinder you. With careful planning and time management, you can minimize logistical challenges, red tape and bureaucracy which may cause delays, optimize timing of PR, social media and product launches to amplify engagement, and maximize your odds of success by reducing unnecessary risk.

Suffice to say, timing is paramount, and choosing to start a business amidst a global pandemic is ill-advised. Simply put, the timing couldn’t be worse. The barriers to success couldn’t be more pronounced. The risk couldn’t be higher and audiences couldn’t be less receptive. However, starting a hot sauce business(or any business) should be a matter of conviction, not convenience. It was precisely the myopic, mainstream narrative, that inspired us to start our hot sauce business, Fury Hot Sauce.

1. Determine Your Value Proposition

Why should anyone care about your product? There are literally hundreds of new products each month on the very shelves you’re after. In the hot sauce space for example, many brands have a warm and fuzzy story and positioned themselves as local, vegan, gluten-free, all-natural blah blah blah. Who care’s anymore?

“Be the hero of your own story”

2. Have An Identity

Personalities are like whale sharks, tigers and common sense…endangered. You don’t have to be everything to everyone, and if anyone understands that it’s Fury Hot Sauce. Your brand should be authentic and unapologetic. It’s ok if your brand has a personality entirely of its own, but stay true to that personality.

“Stand and fight. If you run, you’ll die tired”

3. Ignore The Noise

Starting a business is one of the single toughest undertakings you can…undertake? Don’t get distracted by noise. Noise is a sneaky creature sometimes disguised as opportunity, unsolicited advice from the peanut gallery, competitors or even fancy new Instagram tools. No matter how shiny and cute it appears, noise is toxic and taxing. The quicker you’re able to identify it, the more productive you will be.

“No brain, no headache”

4. Pivot As Necessary

Pivoting comes from a place of strength, not weakness. Don’t be the band that kept playing as the Titanic sunk. Whether it’s your branding, your process, your recipes or your audience, trust your preparation and your intuition, not your pride.

“The smallest deed is greater than the best intentions”

5. Test and Validate

Testing and validating comes in many forms. What we at Fury Hot Sauce like to do is ask questions we already have answers to. You’ll be amazed by how valuable this novel concept is. The answers will help you to quickly decipher who’s an asset and who’s a liability, what’s noise and who’s making it. By asking questions you already have answers to you can:

a. Validate your direction

b. Gain market insight

c. Filter out noise

d. Competitive analysis

e. all the above

“If you’re not inspired by your circle, you’re not in a circle, you’re in a cage”