CONSTANT BETA

Being an entrepreneur is part serendipitous. Often, it’s like shooting arrows in the dark hoping one of them will hit the bulls-eye. Jason Wachob, is the dictionary definition of an entrepreneur. Spirited, hungry and not afraid of failure, Wachob is on his second entrepreneurial adventure. From stylish cheesecakes to one-stop shopping website, Jason’s journey will motivate you and leave you wanting more…

A history major and basketball player at Columbia University, Jason worked his way through college. Knowing well that there wasn’t a trust fund waiting for him after graduation, he took an internship on Wall Street to learn how people in New York were making their money. At that point, paying off student loans was the most important task at hand. For four years he worked on Wall Street, paying off his student loans and saving money. “I liked it, but that was just it,” says Jason. He was sure of quitting and he began to look around for ideas to start his business. “I always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit and I knew it was time.”

Jason grew up in a household that cherished traditions. Christmas preparations in his family start as early as August. A few years ago Jason decided to try his hand at contributing to the Christmas dinner and decided he’d make cheesecakes for the family. Weeks of practicing with ingredients, quantities and time- Jason had nailed the perfect recipe for the cheesecake. Thus was the beginning of Luscious Living – the most stylish cheesecakes I’ve ever seen. A series of chance meetings with the right people pushed Jason along the tumultuous journey of operating a food-based business. A close buddy from Columbia helped him design his concepts and the business was ready to go.

The initial plan was to supply Luscious Living Cheesecakes to every grocery store in the area and  major retailers like Costco’s and Whole Foods. Although the business was doing well, the cheesecakes weren’t at any major grocery chain yet. “To take it to the next level became a challenge. Doors kept slamming and I was frustrated. We knew we neededa  change, but what?”

And then serendipity struck.

At a Columbia University event, he met with a friend who mentioned that his market research class did research for startups as a case-study. Jason agreed to let the students use his business as a case-study and by the end of the semester he had solid knowledge about his company’s target audience and the market. “It didn’t translate into sales, but the wealth of knowledge I left with was amazing.”

At the end of the semester, Jason launched his own research and dissected his brand. “I learnt that gift-giving was a strong niche market and my cheesecakes fit in perfectly there.” The more he thought, the more sense it began to make. He decided to ditch his efforts to push his brand into grocery chain stores and instead focused on positioning his cheesecakes as the gift item and sold them exclusively online “I also started focusing a lot on the low-carb, low-fat cheesecake. That was another niche market.” With two new ideas, Jason breathed life into his brand again and made it a self-sustaining business.

Jason is a voracious reader. During our interview, we started talking about books and he read a few titles off the shelf of his library. He peppered our conversation with book recommendations, site recommendations and anecdotes he had read. I was both envious and amazed. Envious of his exuberant energy and amazed with the possibilities his mind. He also often referred to Steve Jobs’ “connecting the dots” speech. “It’s funny,” he says, “but that dots-idea has been very predominant in my life.” And as his story unfurled, I saw it how.

“I had built a nice clean business with the cheesecakes and I don’t have to do much for it anymore. I was ready for another challenge,” said Jason as he narrated the story of Onegoodie, By targeting the low-carb and gift markets, Jason had really understood the power of niche markets and with one eye on trends, he began to bounce around ideas centered around niche markets. Again, serendipity struck.

“A friend of a friend introduced me to a guy who was interested in starting a niche shopping site.” The concept was based on the already successful idea of woot.com. The intent was to target the entire family by providing one product a day for a great price. The minute he heard the idea, he knew it. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with all the useless information I’d picked up with the cheesecake business."

But another dot connected and his cheesecake experience in supply-chain management and dealing with manufactures and distributors became indispensable with the new business. Onegoodie.com had a soft launch early this August. They emailed a few friends and let the word spread. Slowly blogs and other online sites picked up on it and before they knew it, the site was inviting tons of traffic.

By the end of my interview with Jason, I’d come to expect ideas for yet another business in the pipeline. Jason laughed saying, “I don’t know abou the future right now, but for now all my energies are focused here.” And so be it!

Jason’s Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs:

1) Don’t find reasons why not to do something. A lot of people get mired down in writing endless business plans. I understand the importance of a business plan but listen to your guts. You have to go for it, wherever it leads.

2) Don’t be married to making something work. Don’t be married to make it something you thought will work. Be open to change and accept it.

3) Now is the right time.

"What I love about Being My Boss: that the buck stops with you. I love it that I am building something, contributing something, shaping something and creating something. The greatest thing about being an entrepreneur is taking an idea and executing it. "

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