Devan is a trained chef with over 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry in Canada, Italy, France and now the Netherlands. With his restaurant forced to minimal opening hours, he used this extra time to build his online side-hustle, Braised & Deglazed.
What is Braised & Deglazed all about?
Braised & Deglazed is a food-focused online resource with recipes, guides and how-tos for the home cook. My ultimate goal is to help home cooks create tastier, more delicious food at home with my professional experience.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your business?
I started to look for a better work/life balance after years of working long hours in restaurants. It wasn’t until my friends and family started asking me for recipes that I thought about sharing them online. I got tired of seeing popular internet recipes that were poorly made and sometimes even dangerous. I knew I could do a better job than what was out there.
How has the pandemic affected you or your new business?
My business is actually a product of the pandemic because the lockdown meant I had more time to focus on my side hustle. If it wasn’t for the forced shutdown of our restaurant, I wouldn’t have had the time or energy to focus on this. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity that was given to me.
What was the biggest problem you encountered starting up and how did you overcome it?
The biggest problem starting up is finding the time. Running a website that consistently posts at least once a week takes a lot of effort to do it right. Managing the time for photography, recipe development, photo editing, social media scheduling and writing can be difficult to handle with a full-time job. The only way to overcome this problem is to properly plan and organize your time. There’s an endless amount of work that can be done for any blog and you have to prioritize your work.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
The biggest mistake I made with my first website was not being focused enough. Branding, finding an audience and narrowing in on a clear path or goal for the website is pretty important and I didn’t do this at the beginning. My first website was just a bunch of random ideas under one name. I asked for help from some other professional bloggers and got great advice for branding, site speed and the overall feel of my site. I went back to the drawing board and crafted a new name, a new site with better speed and a more clear vision. It was a ton of work to make the switch and update all of my old recipes but in the end, I’m so glad I did.
My first website’s “mistakes” were really just part of the process of growing and learning. Even if I had had all of the right information at the beginning of my business, there are just so many mistakes I needed to make to effectively progress. Photography, style and what people are interested in are a few examples of many skills that get better over time.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
For me, the best tool to get my brand’s name out there has been HARO. For those that don’t know, it stands for Help a Reporter Out and it’s a giant mass of requests delivered to your inbox 3 times a day from reporters from all over the world. They’re looking for help with their articles and depending on your niche it can be a great way to get more exposure. The downside is this takes up a ton of time and there’s no guarantee they will use your answer. Still, I find it to be the most effective strategy for me as a chef with a website.
On the other hand, I’ve spent hours trying to figure out social media but without paid advertising, it seems to be much more difficult to grow these days.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
That’s a fun question, I’d love to imagine what to do with a free $1000! If I was just starting out as a new blogger I would spend the $1000 on buying a new website from someone who has already started for at least a year. This saves a lot of time because it takes a long time for Google to notice your website and start ranking it. Some people start great websites but later decide it’s too much work and give up before it explodes. If you do your research carefully, this can be a great investment and real time-saver.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
I had the pleasure to cook for a millionaire business owner in Canada and I had asked him this same question. He said “Never take no for an answer. Believe in your product and be confident. I had 10 business owners turn my product down before one finally said yes. That one that said yes made me rich.”
I loved this advice and implemented that idea into my own business. You’ve got to be prepared to hear a lot of no’s but you can’t get discouraged. Keep on pushing.
What is your favorite quote?
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
– Wayne Gretzky.
I love this quote not only because it resonates with me, but I’m also a big hockey fan.
What is your definition of success?
My definition of success is work/life balance. It’s easy to make lots of money if you work all the time. Finding something that gives me the freedom to do what I want to do in life is the most important.
How do you personally overcome fear?
If I’m afraid to try something I just think about how much scarier it would be if I didn’t try at all. I’m not afraid to fail, but I’m certainly afraid of the regret of not trying at all.
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can find all of my work at braisedanddeglazed.com or check out my Instagram @braisedanddeglazed or Twitter @bdeglazed.
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