Sarah Khoshaba utilized lockdown to create, perfect and launch her very own small business specializing in selling her hand-crafted tasty soups out of her own home.
The pandemic has created obstacles for many people, including Khoshaba, better known to the Instagram world as SoupQueenBK, whose job shut down in March 2020. Like numerous others, she found herself with a lot more time on her hands.
Khoshaba’s small business, which started out as a side hustle during the pandemic, was inspired by her love for cooking. She cooked for her friends every winter, she said, holding tasting sessions where she would prepare approximately 10 soups. In order to improve on the creations she had been in the process of perfecting for years, Khoshaba asked her friends to leave anonymous comments about each soup.
With support from her friends and collaboration on various projects, SoupQueenBK was born.
Khoshaba remarked, “If it wasn’t for my friends posting every time I had a pop-up or reposting the soups of the week, I really don’t think it would have gotten to the magnitude that it has.”
What started out as approximately 10 orders every week evolved into an influx of custom orders on top of the weekly soup rotations. Additionally, Khoshaba started holding pop-ups at places like 101 Wilson, Arlene’s Grocery and The Sampler in Bushwick.
The soup connoisseur currently has her recipe book stocked with approximately 30 different soups. Her business began with 10 to 15 soups on rotation, with two soups being offered each week to order via Instagram with pints ranging from $8 to $9 and quarts ranging between $15 to $18 depending on the ingredients.
One of her most popular soups to date is the Asian-inspired “hot n’ spicy” soup which contains sriracha, Asian chili powder and garlic. Other favorites include the broccoli cheddar, buffalo chicken and cream of crab.
With the popularity of her business increasing, Khoshaba is in the process of creating a website that will feature a custom order form for your favorite soups. She will also be partnering with several local coffee shops, bagel shops and bars, including Til Death in Bushwick and The Bagel Bin in Bernardsville, NJ, which is her hometown. Other businesses in the North Brooklyn area that will stock their fridges with her eclectic creations will be announced in the near future.
In the meantime, while her website is being created, Khoshaba is planning a one-year anniversary pop-up party at 101 Wilson Bar on September 16th. She is scheduled to be at 101 Wilson every other Thursday after that and hopes to collaborate with other small businesses owned by her friends and to meet new small business owners looking to work together.
Her advice for other entrepreneurs wanting to start a small business?
Khoshaba said to over-plan because while your business might start out small, it always has the potential to expand and be more successful than you ever expected.
All images courtesy of SoupQueenBK.
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