One of the newest trends from recent years has been meal preparation. In the past few years, there has been a rise in businesses created to address the need for easier meal preparation or even at times, for prepared meal delivery. These efforts are directed towards people who do not really have the time to prepare their own meals and instead eat whatever they find in their way.
Fortunately, people like Viviana Espinosa are ahead of all of us and have this covered. Viviana, who was born and raised in Miami, runs one of her city’s favorite meal preparation and delivery services: Eating By V.
“I began my journey in the food industry when I was 16, as a server at Applebees. I gradually moved up, getting better and better positions in high class restaurants, where I learned from top chefs and restaurant managers how to create a great experience for the people they fed.” Viviana recounts.
Soon after these experiences, Viviana got into a long-term relationship and was encouraged to leave her work to instead take the house-wife role. Her cooking was devoted to cooking for her partner, rather than for other people as she had previously done. But this relationship eventually ended.
“After my breakup and the subsequential heartbreak that ensued, I took a leap of faith to become the boss instead of working for someone else. That is when my idea for Eating By V, my meal preparation and delivery service took off.” Viviana shares.
In just seven days, Viviana had 40 people supporting her and signing up to receive her meals. With that, she was able to fund her business, which is now after only 2 years, one of Miami’s favourite meal prep services–having fed over a thousand people in the Miami-Dade area and being the only female-owned and operated meal prep business in the city.
“The biggest challenge when starting a business is finding the right people who you can trust. Skilled people come in all shapes and sizes, but the most important qualities a person can possess is good communication, loyalty, timeliness and a positive mental attitude. Finding those people can prove challenging, but is the most rewarding!” Viviana says.
Viviana was inspired to get into this industry because of the love she had always had for this industry, ever since she was 16. After learning and obtaining experience, she decided to take a chance on herself and become the boss. But she also stresses the importance of having the right mindset.
“Without the right mindset, you are bound to fail. Life will always put obstacles and challenges in your way, but with a resilient mindset you can accomplish anything. My mentor taught me ‘The big shooter is just the small shooter who kept shooting’.” Viviana states.
For Viviana, the first months of Eating By V were chaotic, but through her strong mindset she was able to not give into other people’s doubts or her own, which is why she claims that a strong mindset can be the most vital and rewarding tool for long-term success.
“My advice to anyone trying to start their business is to just go for it. To take a shot and learn from your mistakes and try again. Try a thousand times if that is how long it takes to reach your goal. And also make sure to focus on relationships with people.” Viviana advises.
Eating By V is a very successful business venture. For Viviana, success is precisely pursuing what you love and pushing your limits with that passion to see how far you can take it. It has been important to see fear as just “false evidence appearing real” in order to achieve this.
Viviana’s next projects include expanding Eating By V to 500 monthly clients. They are currently launching an iOS app and expanding their line of products to juices, snacks and even providing private catering.
Eating By V is different from their competition not only in that it is the only woman-founded and managed business of its kind, but also in that they focus on creating the best experience with our clients, which is part of why they are looking forward to being the first meal prep business in the industry to have an iOS app available, because “in today’s age, convenience is key,” as Viviana says.
To follow Viviana’s journey go here, and to learn more about the groundbreaking Eating By V project go here.