Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerrod Lemmons.
Hi Jerrod, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I grew up working on my family’s farm in Wortham, TX, a small town about 80 miles south of Dallas, so I’ve never been a stranger to hard work. That’s why entrepreneurship has always been so appealing to me. Just like farming, entrepreneurship requires a whole lot of hard work and a whole lot of faith.
The decades of experience my wife and I have owned businesses have taught us this harsh reality about entrepreneurship: having the strongest work ethic, the best product, or the best service still isn’t always enough to make a business successful. Having gained some significant traction early on in the restaurant I opened with my family, we realized that there was no industry where that proved to be more true than the restaurant industry. I learned that support is critical, and if you are at the place where your talent, passion, and work ethic are all in alignment, support is the difference.
That being said, throughout our journey as restaurant owners, we were always paying attention to how certain players in the food industry were able to protect their margins and manage their risk, and we recognized that the brick-and-mortar restaurant model was one of the hardest places to do that. That’s when we started envisioning what would eventually become the Kitchen Combine, where our mission is to eliminate the biggest barriers to entry, survival, and expansion for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We’ve never had a smooth road in any entrepreneurial venture, and this was no different. Kitchen Combine was literally born out of what looked and felt like failure.
We realized fairly early on that our first restaurant was not going to be as successful as we hoped as early on as we had hoped, and rather than drag it on any further; we decided to shut it down to regroup and focus on finding a more sustainable model.
We had the work ethic, the product, and the intentionality surrounding customer service, yet there was still something missing. We realized that, for us, sustainability will always be connected to the community and doing what we can to support those in our community.
When we closed, our customers were confused by our decision because things seemed to be going well. Our employees – many of whom are family members and close friends – were worried as we tried to find work for them in our other businesses. Everyone looked at us like we were crazy for months. Regardless, we leaned into the hard lessons we learned and began to think critically about how to move forward.
As we sat looking at our restaurant and all the potential it possessed, we realized there were some inherent challenges to the brick-and-mortar restaurant model that would be hard for any new restaurant to overcome, including us. Food and labor costs are often rising more quickly than prices, and with all the money that goes into getting a restaurant off the ground, in addition to ever-increasing overhead expenses, breaking even can take a long time, if it ever is achieved at all. This can be especially difficult when a chef or restaurant owner does not already have a significant customer base.
Some of our mentors in the food industry saw success with alternative models like ghost kitchens and pop-ups, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. This idea, connected with our desire to support chefs who are interested in longevity, ushered us into a thought about how great it would be if you could have the best of all worlds: a restaurant that is as visible as a brick-and-mortar storefront as easy to open as a ghost kitchen, and as trendy as a pop-up.
We quickly realized that it didn’t exist, and that’s when we focused our energies on ironing out the Kitchen Combine concept. This opportunity may have been born out of failure, but we managed to do what any good entrepreneur would. We failed forward.
We’ve been impressed with Kitchen Combine, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Kitchen Combine is a revolving restaurant in Arlington, TX, where food lovers can enjoy a new chef’s menu every month.
In addition to being a one-stop shop for the DFW community to break up the monotony of their everyday food choices, we’re most proud of how we are helping early-stage chefs and food businesses expand their brands in North Texas.
We package the best of a ghost kitchen, brick-and-mortar storefront, pop-up event, tech app, and business accelerator into the perfect next step for rising foodpreneurs.
We give our chefs the keys to the perfect, turn-key operation for a short season – usually 30 days – and during that time, we cover all of their startup and overhead costs, from the location and the equipment to the technology and the front-of-house staffing.
With 24/7, exclusive access to a full commercial kitchen and restaurant space, they get to refine their kitchen processes, expand their customer following, and net more in one month than most restaurants net in a year.
Without having to pay any startup costs or overhead expenses, without giving up any ownership of their business, and without having to go into debt, they are profitable from day one and get access to an opportunity that would normally take them months, if not years, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to secure on their own.
At the end of their tenure with Kitchen Combine, we have a team of real estate agents, accountants, attorneys, suppliers, contractors, marketers, and other consultants to help them launch their business into its next chapter, whatever they want that to look like (ex. brick-and-mortar location, ghost kitchen, food truck, State Fair of Texas vendor).
That’s why eating at Kitchen Combine is about more than just having more delicious food options in North Texas. It’s about the DFW rallying around our rising foodpreneurs to help them take their businesses to the next level.
If you love food and care about supporting small businesses, or if you’re a solopreneur looking for the perfect next step for your brand, I invite you to visit our website – kitchencombine.com, follow us on Instagram and Facebook – @kitchencombine and come see us in Arlington.
The next wave of foodpreneurs is launching here.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Nothing taught me more about risk than the food industry.
We have all eaten food from restaurants with huge budgets for Super Bowl commercials and locations on every street corner that always seem to stay in business despite the food and service being mediocre at best.
On the flip side, we have all eaten food from establishments that had none of the capital and resources that those big food brands have despite having the best food and eating experience we’ve ever had in our lives.
The reason there is such a disconnect between who has the best food and who has the biggest business is because success is not defined by whose food is more delicious, but rather, it is defined by who can survive the financial crises that every business of every size must face and overcome.
The goal in business is not always about trying to be the best; sometimes, it is about simply lasting longer than everyone else.
Entrepreneurs who not only create great products and provide great service but also learn how to manage risk so they can last longer than their competition will be the true winners in the long run.
Kitchen Combine is helping foodpreneurs at the beginning of their journeys to help offset and manage their risk when it matters most.
Contact Info:
- Website: kitchencombine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitchencombine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kitchencombine
