Overcoming hardship makes success all the sweeter

As a group, entrepreneurs love a challenge. It’s practically part of the job description. But even among these Type A personalities, Righteous Gelato’s James Boettcher seems to thrive on hardship.

Maybe it’s because he’s never had it easy. James started working at age 14 to help support his family, and he was able to make ends meet, he says, by being a serial entrepreneur and running as best he could. In 2009, he was doing some graphic design work for a gelato shop in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta called Fiasco when he fell in love with the company. So with only $1,800 in the bank and a promise to pay for the $100,000 purchase over three years, he bought an ice cream parlor in one of Canada’s coldest cities.

James had big plans. He intended to make Fiasco (the name change to Righteous was a few years later) a regional and perhaps even a national brand. Not only that, but he wanted his company to be the kind of compassionate employer akin to the grocery store where his father worked – one that would reward loyalty with loyalty in return, supporting employees and the community at large.

All those dreams came to an abrupt halt two days before the grand reopening when a fire destroyed the store. So James turned around, rented kitchen space to make his product and distributed it to local restaurants by scooter. He reinvested every penny in new equipment and other efficiencies until he was finally able to open a new store three years later.

Then came the floods. In 2013, torrential rains prompted the evacuation of 75,000 people in the city – and an entire zoo full of wildlife, including six Amur tigers. This, it turned out, was a stroke of luck for Fiasco. The company partnered with the zoo to raise money during the crisis, and the zoo helped with a new wholesale connection to a local grocer, Calgary Co-op. To fulfill that first order from a supermarket chain, more than 11,000 jars had to be filled by hand.

As the company expanded its wholesale distribution—which would eventually make it Canada’s No. 1 gelato brand—James took on some additional responsibilities to fulfill his other dreams for the company. He placed a “mission lock” in the company’s documents demanding, among other things, that the company pay a living wage, take as much waste as possible from landfill and invest 1% of its total revenue back into the community.

In 2015, Fiasco opened his piece de resistance, a $2 million gelateria/cafe that Boettcher calls a “Willie Wonka meets Google” factory, where the company’s gelato is produced in a glass manufacturing facility.

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James continued with ‘Shark Tank’, which is called ‘Dragon’s Den’ in Canada. It only took James five minutes of airtime to receive three $500,000 investment offers to choose from, representing a 10% stake in the company.

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Then, you guessed it, a fire broke out, shutting down the new headquarters four months after opening. Repairs, he was told, would take months, seriously jeopardizing the wholesale business. In desperation, James did what any good entrepreneur would do. He continued with “Shark Tank” – what is called “Dragon’s Den” in Canada. It only took James five minutes of airtime to receive three $500,000 investment offers to choose from, representing a 10% stake in the company. In front of the cameras, he said yes to one of them, but later chose to reject it, instead launching the company’s wholesale production in just a few weeks.

However, James wasn’t ready to challenge himself just yet. The following year, Fiasco applied for and received B Corp certification. First issued in 2007, B Corp certification is issued to companies that agree to meet high standards from verified performance, accountability and transparency in the areas of employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. Well-known brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia are B Corps. To become certified, a company must:

• Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a score of at least 80 out of 250 on a “B Impact Assessment”.
• Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
• Show transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against publicly available standards.

The company quickly earned bragging rights by achieving a score of 115 – beating Boettcher’s hero, Ben & Jerry’s, by one point.

James’ final challenge? Entering the US market with a new name and a complete divide-and-conquer game plan, aligning the company’s strategy across multiple markets. James acknowledges that he will now play in the big leagues and face giants like Nestle, Pepsico and Mondelez, but his past challenges have hardened his resolve and his game plan.

Are you willing to put in the sweat it takes to keep a fledgling company afloat against all odds? To learn more about how James and other entrepreneurs have built high-growth businesses by weathering tough times with savvy and perseverance, Register for free How I did it monthly video series.