Image via visuEats
The best ideas occur when women get together. That’s what happened in 2018 when visuEats founder Sophronia McKenzie was at happy hour with her best friend.
“I was fussing at her, saying, ‘Why doesn’t this restaurant show us pictures of the menu items? We’re in this digital era where everything is photo-driven or video-driven.’ And she said, ‘Well, don’t you work in technology? Why don’t you build that type of menu yourself?’ A light bulb went off. I was like, you know what? You’re right. I want to be able to eat with my eyes first before actually tasting the food.
In an era where social media food porn can leave us scrolling for hours, and Seamless decisions are based on meticulous photo analysis, it makes sense that customers have a similar visual menu experience at restaurants while ordering.
Through visuEats, an app enhancing the dining experience through mouth-watering imagery and customized menu-management features, founder Sophronia McKenzie is giving customers the perfect visual menu experience while upselling items to the benefit of restaurants everywhere. Read this week’s Founder Feature to learn more!
Image via visuEats
digitalundivided: As a founder, what has been the biggest struggle that you’ve had to overcome in building your business?
Sophronia McKenzie: My biggest challenge is breaking down the notion that I am a startup — visuEats is a startup, but I’m not. I have almost a decade of experience in the software industry. I am a professional project manager. I’ve worked in the technology space for almost ten years now. Yet, one of the first things that I encounter — whether I’m working on a project or (building) visuEats — is how quickly the individual I’m speaking with is trying to assess whether or not I’m truly qualified just by looking at me.
The hardest challenge in that moment, or in that conversation, is to — in the most humble way — articulate that I’m qualified in the space I’m standing in. I may not be a chef. I may not have owned a restaurant before. But I do understand technology. I do know how to build software from scratch. I have achieved the goal that (my projects) should have achieved and provided a return on investment. I do know how to manage scope and manage a multi-million dollar budget and showcase that return on investment.
digitalundivided: How do you keep yourself going in those moments? How do you build that resilience for yourself?
Sophronia McKenzie: I have done door-to-door sales for almost two years. That was strictly commission based. I think my level of resistance has come in because I’m used to hearing ‘no’. But I have conditioned myself to understand that the more ‘no’s’ I get, it takes me closer ‘yes’. So if 40 houses are on my list, I know I need to get 38 ‘no’s’ to get to two ‘yeses’. Or I need 39 ‘nos’ to get to one ‘yes’. And sometimes that one ‘yes’ can be at the very last door.
That has helped me with my resilience. But for those who have never done door-to-door sales before, take that concept, right? You have to weed through. If you’re at pre-seed like I am, I don’t want to talk to an investor that is at the seed level. They’re going to waste my time and I’m going to waste theirs. They’re going to quickly say you don’t have the numbers. I’m going to qualify VCs quickly as well. I’m not going to be rude about it. I’m not going to be dismissive, But I’m not going to waste their time. And I’m not going to have them waste my time.
Image via visuEats
digitalundivided: How has participating in digitalundivided’s BIG program helped you to navigate your founder journey?
Sophronia McKenzie: The biggest blessing from being a part of BIG is meeting my fellow founders. I’ve fostered friendships and sisterhood more than anything else. I haven’t raised any money from the people that we’ve networked with. And that’s okay. But the relationships that I’ve built with the other founders, that’s priceless. They’re calling my names in rooms that I am not in, and I’m calling their names in rooms that they are not in. That within itself is the biggest advantage of participating in the BIG digitalundivided’s program.
digitalundivided: What does success mean to you?
Sophronia McKenzie: The typical response would be, to go public, have X amount of dollars in revenue and be a millionaire. But success for me is for each team member that joins the organization to feel positively impacted in their lives.
For example, I have a team member, I’ll call her name, Janice. She’s based in Colombia. She started out as a social media manager back in September 2020, and she’s evolved into a UX designer. The fact that she could grow and evolve, and we’re still pre-seed and shift her career and just be excited about building out a company product and designing an app as transformational… really makes me feel good that the company has such an impact on somebody’s life like that. That’s what success means to me.
digitalundivided: Is there anything else that you want to speak to?
Sophronia McKenzie: I want to say this, and I’m directing it to investors, VCs, or anyone that says they are “for the founders”: I’m challenging you. Because if you say we invest in the founder, especially pre-seed investors, but your questions the majority of the time are catered to the bottom line, the numbers, the traction, right? How do you get to know the founder? I challenge you to do that. How do you do that as you’re going through your application process?
Is your startup ready to go to market? BIG is a free 12- week program providing Latina and Black women entrepreneurs with the network, know-how, and scalable revenue model to get there. Apply to digitalundivided’s BIG program today! Applications close on April 27th.
[Editors note]: This interview has been lightly edited from its original transcription.