Many small business owners have unique ways of patching together the funds to get their business started. Katie Startzman of Berea, Kentucky may be one of the most unconventional funding stories we’ve heard in recent years. She’d always dreamed of starting a restaurant, but knew she needed to test the waters first.
No stranger to business, Katie previously sold knitting patterns online and had even published her own knitting book. However, launching a more capital-intensive business was intimidating. In 2015, Katie enrolled in a 10-week business builder course offered by the Mountain Association. There she realized how she could start a restaurant while limiting her family’s own risk; she decided to launch a bagel cart using a crowdfunding campaign.
“The whole first part of that class was identifying your values and how you want to live your life, and matching the business you come up with those values. One of the reasons I chose bagels was because it’s a breakfast food. Thinking about the practicalities of my life and my two small children, I realized I could not start with a restaurant that was open late,” Katie said. “Plus, bagels are a blank canvas for what local seasonal toppings you can add, which was important to me in developing something that would truly support my community.”
With her business concept and plan in hand, it was time to start fundraising. In launching a Kickstarter, Katie and her husband Michael built up community excitement for the idea by giving away different types of bagels and allowing the community to help them decide which recipes were the best.
“At the time, Berea did not have many restaurants or local food options at all,” Katie said. “Everyone was enthusiastic about having another option in town.”
The campaign was extremely successful, fully funded in 48 hours. Katie’s dad pitched in another $3,000 in the form of a loan and she received a CrowdMatch Loan from the Mountain Association, where campaigns are matched one-to-one with a loan up to $10,000 without reference to credit score or collateral. With this support, they built a commercial kitchen in their garage and launched the cart as Native Bagel.
On their first day in April 2016, they sold out in an hour. In one year’s time, they had built up so much support that they ran another crowdfunding campaign and were able to open their first brick-and-mortar in April 2017. This quickly evolved into them purchasing a building and opening in a bigger space in 2018.
Today, you can still feel the community support of how the shop was built if you sit awhile in the sunny windows of the shop. Surrounded by beautiful plants, people revolve in and out with smiles on their faces, usually greeting each other on a first name basis. However, the shop has not been without struggle and Katie has been transparent about that.
“It’s difficult to run a restaurant in a small town, especially one that values quality, local ingredients – and then you add in a pandemic!”
Katie continued to innovate and think of better uses of the space, supported by her awesome staff and husband. They decided to add a bar in 2021 to transform Native Bagel into Nightjar in the evenings, a cocktail and burger space. This allowed them to become one of the only places in town offering such a concept.
Beyond her entrepreneurial endeavors, Katie is a community builder. She serves on the Berea City Council, on the board of the Berea Farmers Market, and helped start a dynamic network of women chefs from across Eastern Kentucky. She is also a consultant with the Mountain Association where she works with fellow dreamers to turn their business ideas into a reality by coaching them through everything it takes to become a small business owner.
”It’s rare to find an entrepreneur like Katie who is generous with their knowledge and time to mentor others so the community can build up together,” said Emily LaDouceur, Mountain Association Business Support Specialist. “I often call her a ‘unicorn’ because of the breadth and depth of her knowledge, but also because it’s magical the way she provides business support and encouragement.”
Katie recently shared a slice her business wisdom in this Business Terms for Everyday People video, breaking down some confusing – but essential – topics in just 3 minutes.
We hope you’ll check it out and be sure to stop by Native Bagel / Nightjar next time you are in Berea!
