(gentle music playing) - Funding for Working Capital is provided by the Friends of KTWU and Go Topeka.

(gentle music playing) - Welcome back for our eighth season of Working Capital.

On today's show, we learned that not all great business ideas have to come from scratch.

Turnkey business opportunities are a great option.

So let's learn a bit about what happens when there is a change in ownership.

It's all about business on Working Capital.

(gentle music playing) If walls could talk, our first business would've a lot to share.

Its foundation was laid in 1888 and the space has seen many incarnations in the past 134 years.

It is the perfect place for the Celtic Fox, which has been adding its own rich history to downtown Topeka for the last two decades.

Joining us today to talk about the Celtic Fox is John Federico and Jeremiah Nelson.

Welcome to Working Capital gentlemen.

- Thanks for having us.

- So, what was the allure of taking over a business that someone had already started?

It was someone else's love and blood, sweat and tears.

What drew you to this business?

- Want to take it?

- Well, it was a rare opportunity to purchase an existing successful business in downtown Topeka.

We, both Jeremiah and I and our other two partners have an affinity for the hospitality industry, whether it be a bar or restaurant, catering, what have you.

There's interest from all four of us in that particular industry.

So we thought we had something to add.

The fact that it was an existing business is actually quite helpful.

The biggest challenge we had is do we keep the name, and what is the value of that, and what is the risk of keeping the name.

The other is, as we made improvements to this 14 year old business, how do we maintain its charm as a neighborhood friendly downtown pub?

And that was our biggest challenge as we work through it as partners.

- So I mean, when you go in and you're looking over I mean, are you looking at the, you say it's better because you have so many years already in the business, so you're checking out all the financials or you're seeing the ups and downs.

I mean, you're kind of forecasting or is it one of those things where it's one of those feel good things?

I mean, it's not necessarily to turn a lot of money, it's more about the space and community building, which, I mean for your group, was it about the financials really or is it just it's that diamond in the rough?

- So John brought us all together.

So John's the one who found the deal and brought Brooks and Greg and I in.

To be a good business person, you have to look at the financials.

But we thought we could take something that was already good and the tradition and the history that Mike Fox and team had built at the bar and turn around and add a little bit of modernization to it.

Bring in some fresh ideas and turn it into what it is today.

- And Jay, I'll add to that there, as you review businesses and whether to buy one or invest in one, there are easier ways to make money out there than a bar, and restaurant.

And I don't care what city you're in and what location you're in.

So there was a big part of this, it was almost like a social obligation, if not us taking this over and making sure that it is successful, it continues to be successful, it adds to downtown, then who.

And so all four of us are active in the community.

So this seemed like, I don't want to say that's the only reason, but none of us have illusions that we're going to get rich off of this particular business endeavor.

- I worked for a entrepreneur who had his own cafe during college and yeah, he definitely wasn't in it to make the money.

He loved it and it was a more of a community restaurant.

So I kind of get that feel.

Now the climate of downtown now with restaurants.

I know John, you were involved with the restaurant early on when Topeka was kind of starting to revitalize downtown.

Pretty successful when you guys had it.

Tell me a little bit about that restaurant, and the experiences from that and what that led into how you're maybe looking at the Celtic Fox now.

- Sure.

That's a great question actually.

So our other two partners are Brooks Petit and Greg Schwart.

And Greg Schwart and I were friends back in the day, and 20 years ago I pitched an idea of putting in a bar, and restaurant in the old Ray Beers space at eighth and Kansas.

And how that deal all came together is maybe an entire show in and of itself.

But we did it.

And downtown Topeka back then, in spite the city's best efforts is totally different.

It was the very beginning of the renaissance of focusing on downtown as an asset that it can turn into a dining and entertainment district.

And so we were right on the very beginning.

They offered grant money and without that grant money to help renovate the space, I'm not quite sure we ever would've made it.

So we built it up from nothing.

It was extremely popular, but a challenge on the weekends.

Now it is almost just the opposite where when Covid hit us, there were very few people downtown during the week, but on the weekend it was a thriving area.

We're proud to be part of that.

And I can tell you whether we put money back into our pockets ever from this business matters not, we all take a step back, look at it and are proud of what we're contributing to add, for lack of a better word, a cool factor downtown.

- One of the biggest things I think going into a business that's already established, how did the staff that was already there take it?

I mean, did you have a lot of turnover or did everyone kind of on the same page to begin with?

- That was something actually part of the deal was keeping the general manager Katie Turner in place.

So it was trying to limit the turnover, and we've been very blessed, especially in today's industry with workers jumping around quite a bit of really maintaining a very good core group of employees.

- That's great.

It's time for a short break.

When we return, we'll order another round of advice.

We'll be right back.

You're watching Working Capital.

(gentle music playing) Welcome back.

We were just talking about great employees and how to keep them on board, but I think it also probably takes a pretty good owner's group.

So Jeremiah, tell me about you four partners, and what everyone kind of brings to the table.

- Okay.

So, we're all involved in different businesses across Topeka and I think we really all have, although we have the same goals for the pub and for where we're going, we all bring something a little bit different.

And a lot of that came out in the renovation process when we spent about a month, month and a half redoing some of the rooms.

And everybody brought something a little bit differently.

John had the overall vision of what we wanted it to become.

I worked with some of my team in other endeavors, and helped get the projects done, get them done promptly.

Greg with his architectural background, was able to help in a lot of ways with that, especially when you're renovating a building that's 140 years old.

And then Brooks, his unique eye for details and taste besides trying to keep the project on budget was fantastic.

So everybody brought something to the table through that renovation and it's kind of led to where we are today.

- You're almost making it sound too easy.

So for our viewers out there, John, what are some of the big hurdles you guys have encountered?

- Well, going back to the partnership with any partnerships, you assemble a good team.

Everyone has different opinions and then how do you marshal the opinions and then pick out the ones that are going to work.

So working together as a team, there were a few rough spots at the beginning, and through communication, we're all on board.

I don't care what business you're in, it's all about communication.

So we work through that.

The challenge of staff is huge.

We've been blessed with a very loyal staff, all attributed to Katie Turner, the general manager.

And we thought it's smart to bring in a younger person.

He happens to be my son, Hayden Federico, who's studying business here at Washburn University.

But he came in and adds that element to attracting more customers down there.

But to your question specifically, the challenge is we at the very beginning when we started, we had supply chain issues both during the construction, and getting food and things of that nature.

The one which ties a bow on where you started this conversation about an existing business, that particular bar and restaurant has a very small kitchen and the food has become the star of that business, and we could do so much more.

So our next, I think renovation to improve what we offer down there is to expand the kitchen.

- Fantastic.

Well, okay, on that note to then, how do you decide what else stays and goes, whether it's the font you're using or you know, the paint in a room, how do you decide what to keep, and what to switch?

'Cause you do have a lot of faithful customers, and you don't want to rock the boat too much.

- That was something that, you know, especially on the early construction project that we had to kind of weigh what's, we have a very good local following that we want to make sure that they still feel comfortable there.

It's still a place that they want to come eat, drink with their friends.

And so, everything that we did and every change we made, we wanted to make sure that not only were we bringing something new that people would like, but also maintaining that kind of neighborhood pub feel where it sounds a little cliche, but like that cheers feeling where, you walk in there any given day, and you're going to see five, 10 people you know, and they're going to know your name.

- So, with the new remodels and all, what services are offering besides someone just coming in for their lunch or dinner.

I mean, you do have spaces now for events I think, are you also doing catering?

Which I'm sure the new kitchen would help improve that aspect of the business and make it a even larger.

But.

- Yeah, as I mentioned the hidden secret of the Celtic Fox, where I always knew it as a great place to gather with friends and have a drink and maybe an appetizer.

It's the food, it's homemade food.

And Katie Turner and our kitchen staff there.

It's a passion of theirs.

It's just been fantastic.

We saw an opportunity with the two private rooms to the east of the building.

That building is actually two separate buildings.

And a little known fact, Washburn Law School occupied the third floor of the original building to the west, but they're combined.

But there were two big spaces.

We completely renovated one, and you might find this odd, we un-Irished the other and renovated it thinking we didn't need 6,000 square feet of Irish.

We just needed a pub and dining Irish to stay with the theme that's worked so well down there.

And those have been tremendously successful.

It's free space.

And we made that decision as an ownership group so that our give back to the community, and they're filled on most days, the one that holds about 60 people, and the one that holds about 25 people.

We couldn't be happier with how that all worked out.

And we think that supports downtown.

People need spaces to gather.

- And the food is a staple there.

But of course we got about 30 seconds left.

But the beer side of it, the liquor side, I mean, are you focused on the community?

Do you have any locally in Kansas brewed beers, how do you guys cater that side of the business?

- So we do carry some local beers.

We've got some rotational ones as well.

One of our actual flagships, and it tends to be one of our best sellers, is Warbeard, which is Baird in Laredo, Kansas.

So it's an Irish red, so right there with the Irish theme and it seems to be a big hit.

- That's awesome.

Congratulations guys on taking this over, and keeping it at such a hit.

I know Topeka, thanks you also because it is really a staple downtown.

So thank you both.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- It's time for another short break.

When we return, we'll get to the meat and bones of another great business.

We'll be right back.

You're watching Working Capital.

(gentle music playing) Welcome back to Working Capital.

In 2001, Drew Forster took ownership of a business that he worked at in high school, and truly made it his own.

With a little refurbishing and modernization.

The old Valley Vista Locker was reborn as Farview Farms Meat Company.

Welcome to Working Capital Drew.

- Thank you Jay.

- So as we said up front, I mean you started working here in high school, I think you were a sophomore probably.

- Yes sir.

- So how did you fall in love with this business?

I mean, you went to college then you graduated from K State also.

Give me a little bit about your early path before you took over.

- Okay.

Well I grew up on a farm real close to Valley Vista Locker, raised cattle, and we used the services there on occasion for our own, fill our own freezer.

So I was familiar with the place.

So when I got into high school, I needed a job to pay gas money and that was a place they were hiring for cleanup.

So I started there and worked there all the way through high school.

Went to college and having that job got me a job at the meat lab at Kansas State.

Just kept learning more and more about meat processing, and found out that that was something I kind of had an knack for and I liked.

And it just so happened that when after I graduated that they were trying to sell the old Valley Vista locker plant.

And so I guess fate intervened, and we figured out a way to do it, and me and the ex owner worked out a deal and we got going.

And that was in the August of 2001.

Graduated in May of 2001, started a business in August of 2001.

- Most new college graduates couldn't even fathom that.

So congratulations on still going, awesome.

Usually, you know, we'd probably hear that, oh, it lasted two or three years.

How did you take the business, and really make it into your own?

What did you add to it?

What did you have to do?

- When we started, it was still functioning as a meat locker, but only for deer processing.

So we wanted to get back into selling red meats, and processing cattle and hogs and stuff for people again.

And so in order to do that, there was a lot of regulations that we had to meet that it no longer did.

So, in the first couple of years, and when I say we, I mean me and my parents at the time, we basically refinished the inside of the entire plant.

We put all new floors, walls, ceiling covering on everything.

We had to make it so that it was, and which is what's required of all meat processing plants.

It had to be cleanable, everything had to be cleanable.

So we got it to that point and it took us, took two years to get back to where we could start butchering cattle and hogs again.

But in 2003 we started doing that, and then since then it's just grown and grown, and grown and grown.

- And when you're talking about butchering, I mean there's a lot that goes into that.

Depends on the animal you're processing, probably the end product that the consumer wants.

Tell me a little bit about your offerings that you have there.

- Starting out, you know, back in those days it was just fresh meat, some steaks and hamburger, pork roast and pork chops.

And then as we've moved along, I got more and more interested in doing further processed meats, sausages, jerky, snack sticks, summer sausages, dried sausages, things like that.

And that's kind of what my focus has been on the last 10 years.

It's a really wide category of meat processing.

There's so many things that you can do and try, try a little of this and a little of that and try cooking it this way, try cooking it that way.

And so we have all kinds of different offerings from just smoked sausage to fresh brat wars to summer sausage, jerky, snacks, sticks, hot dogs.

We've got a whole wide variety of things.

Yeah.

- So with all those products, I mean, how do you market those now?

Is everyone just coming in the shop?

I mean, is it just for the end user who brought their killing or do you have your own products that you're pushing out now?

- All of those things.

We will make any of those products or a lot of those products we'll make for somebody that brings their own animal in.

And we do a lot of those products for deer processing as well.

But our focus right now is on, we have a lot of retail customers, and have had a lot of retail customers that come in and they demand to those products.

And that just has shown us over the years that we need to get spread out.

We need to start marketing ourselves to other retailers to help them grow their business.

And so that's kind of our focus right now is to get into more stores, find some distribution channels to get out a little farther and spread out some.

And also to start doing some private labeling for other companies like us that maybe don't have the time or the expertise to do those types of things where we can make the product for them, and they could sell it in their store.

So.

- Let's talk a little bit about the breadth of customers you have.

Like, it could be someone just bringing in their own or do you have anything on scale?

How can you guys scale up, whether it's someone bringing in a single cow or can someone bring in, you know, 50 herd?

- We're kind of limited as far as space goes to how many animals we can do in a certain period of time.

We usually do eight to 10 a week, but we also bring in a lot of pre-processed boxed meats, and we buy as local as possible for that kind of stuff.

And that's what we process a lot of our snack sticks, and jerky and summer sausage out of.

And that type of thing.

- Okay.

What are some of the other retail places where you can find your products right now?

- Right now we do a lot of work with Stumpy's Smoked Cheese.

We've been working with them for several years, and they just opened a shop a little over a year ago right before last Christmas.

And they sell a lot of our products there, and do really well.

Petro Deli, Tar Water.

Sugar Creek store in St. Mary's.

So a few little places.

- That's good growth.

I mean that's something you probably didn't envision when you first got into this.

- No, not necessarily.

No.

- All right.

It's time for a short break.

When we return, we'll learn how you too can have a stake in your future.

We'll be right back.

You're watching Working Capital.

(gentle music playing) Welcome back to Working Capital.

Okay Drew, I love how you started here so young.

So let's talk about your staff now though.

I know your wife's involved also.

Tell us a little bit about the makeup of your staff, and is there anyone around there like you were like an apprentice who just loves learning that craft?

- So yeah, my wife and I are the main operators.

My mom was with the business for a lot of years as the office manager.

She just retired not too long ago.

So we've had a little bit of a challenge of filling that gap.

But we have 15 other employees.

From full-time cutters, and quality assurance people to, we have a few part-time younger people that come in and clean up.

And that's what I did when I started was, in high school was cleaning up.

So yeah, there's two or three you could call them apprentices that are, learning the ways of the business from the ground up by learning to clean up first.

- Are there any taste tester openings because you know, I'm always looking for something like that.

- Well, I tell you what, we have samples out every day and yeah.

And that's what we're always looking for.

We want those samples out and people to try them, and give us some feedback, that's how we get better.

So.

- Well and you have a lot of fantastic products, but when you look ahead to the future, I mean, what's on your horizon?

What are you playing with that you might do here coming up?

- Yeah, we're really focused on growing our meat snack products.

So jerky, snack sticks, summer sausage, some ground beef bites that we're kind of working on, stuff like that.

We'd like to eventually get into some type of a online ordering.

Once a month you get a box of a varied amount of, you know, products.

Not sure exactly how that looks yet, but it's something that we're kind of throwing ideas around on.

And we feel like the future of the business as in any business right now is probably somewhat online at least.

And so we we're looking at growing that bit too.

- So with the day-to-day of running the business, what have been some of the biggest hurdles you've come with?

Once you're set up the business is running smoothly.

Where do you have to jump?

- Most of the jumping comes with the labor pool, employees, whether it be just not having enough, which is most of the time to, people just maybe not showing up, we're such a skilled trade, and there's very few people that have that skill anymore that the learning curve is steep, but it's long and, you know, it may be we have new people come in and it may be six months before they're really up to snuff with, and really doing the amount of work and the quality of work that we would expect.

So it's tough when we lose somebody.

It's tough when we want to expand, it takes a long time to find an individual that will work and get them trained and get them into the flow of things.

So that's always a big hurdle.

- Have you had any of the larger farms approach you about, being just the single processor for their beef?

I know you're not quite there yet facilities wise, but is there anything your future where if you had the right client it would help, help push your business to even bigger?

- Yeah, that's something we had looked at and thought of as far as like jerky processing.

We're starting to get into processing where there's a lot of small processors like us that are processing, butchering and cutting up, but they're not doing the jerky, they're not doing the snack sticks.

They don't want to devote this time or the space to those types of things.

And that's kind of where our focus is.

And so we are getting some people who are maybe doing the front end processing here, and they're bringing some meat to us to do processing of those types of products.

So, we're seeing some possible growth in that part of the process.

- Are there any other regulations for if you are go ahead and packaging and making it for retail as opposed to someone just coming in and picking up their order?

I mean, is there other hoops to jump through on that side?

- Yeah, so.

We would call something that, where somebody was just bringing their own animal in as custom.

Yes.

That's less inspected than if I'm going to make product and sell it to the public.

So, we are a federally inspected facility.

- People have no worries.

I mean.

Used to be, if you got some meat from your friend or someone else, you know, it's probably good, but you're never quite sure.

You guys have it down to the science.

- Yeah.

It's a requirement of us that we have to be on top of all that stuff.

We have to be on top of the newest science, and we're testing all the time, and we're cleaning all the time, and we're figuring out better ways to do it faster, and cleaner and safer.

So that's.

- And with kind of pivoting and wanting more of the meat stack products, I mean, is that already the majority of your business or is that just where you can you see the most growth?

So.

- Yeah, that's where we're seeing the most growth, and it's probably getting close to 50% of our business now.

And we're going to keep it moving in that direction for lots of reasons.

That's what I love and my main love is making snacks sticks and jerky.

We've won a lot of awards for that stuff nationally, and locally.

And so that's where I kind of like to put all my focuses on doing that stuff.

Luckily at this point in the business, we have people who are skilled and trained enough to do a lot of the work.

And so I get to spend probably more time than I should sitting around thinking of wild ideas to do with the business.

But.

- And this snack sticks are probably easier for inventory just because, you know, it's not necessarily refrigerated and cooled all the time.

It's pre-packaged, it's ready to go.

So we can kind of keep that going year round.

That's awesome.

Well, congratulations Drew.

- [Drew] Thank you.

- I'm glad you kept the tradition going there in North Topeka.

Hope you guys go and check out, and get some of his great products.

Well, that's a wrap for tonight's show.

I'd like to thank John Federico and Jeremiah Nelson from the Celtic Fox, along with Drew Forster from Farview Farms Meat Company.

Thank you for joining us on Working Capital.

If you know of any interesting businesses or management techniques, we want to hear from you.

So give us a call, drop us an email, or send us a letter.

See you next time.

And thanks for watching.

It's all about business, and you've been watching Working Capital.

(gentle music playing) - Funding for Working Capital is provided by the Friends of KTWU and Go Topeka.

(gentle music playing)