When opportunity knocks, Fresh Heir delivers

two individuals who ran the business for four or five years.”

The previous owners were looking to get out of the business and reached out to Watkins. “They were like, ‘We think you’d be a great person to take this thing over. You’re organized, and you’ve got experience in the business world,’” he said.

According to Malik, the decision to buy the company was fairly easy, since it was a low overhead business that required little investment on his part. “I ended up purchasing the business with another friend who was a partner at the time. The purchase price was really low—like $300 for the van and a few hundred for the contacts and names.”

Nevertheless, the fact that 37-year-old Watkins decided to start a small business is pretty radical. “That’s a big step. It’s a risk. You’re investing your own money, even if it’s $100, or thousands of dollars. You’re still investing, or you’re asking other people to believe in what it is you’re doing. No one’s gonna believe in your dream or your aspirations as much as you will.” think I’ll be delivering anymore.’ There’s always this feeling that I could do better if I just had one more person, or two more people that could show up at least twice a week.” ture is focused on commercial spaces, because that tends to be where I think people want to read the newspaper.

The biggest challenge Fresh Heir faces, said Watkins, is trying to find reliable, honest, hard-working carriers. “If we’ve got pick-ups on Wednesday, trying to get everybody on board and organized is hard. Everybody’s got their lives.

“Folks may have different situations or challenges that they’re dealing with.” Other challenges for a newspaper delivery service are the weather and getting a route done in a timely fashion.

One of the perks of owning your own business, said Malik, is being able to set your own schedule.

“I also want to connect with publications that are not only diverse, but who also treat people well. I like doing business with people who also want to do good business.”

His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: “I’d say go for it. Go for your dreams. Even if you start small you can grow the business. It doesn’t have to be the biggest thing on the block, but it’s yours. You get a chance to put your tender love and care and parts of your personality into it,” he continued.

“There’s turnover. You might get people who will stick around for two months. But then they may just stop showing up or they’ll let you know, ‘Hey, I think I’m moving to California. I don’t

“There’s a sense of pride that comes with being able to successfully run a small business and being able to hire some people and connect with them. Hiring people and being able to provide some kind of em- ployment, even if it’s not all the money in the world, is rewarding. Even just giving out bonuses—Christmas bonuses— is a big thing.

“I guess you could say I’m giving back, even though I’m paying them and they’re doing a service for me. I think the people that you work with become like family.”

As for the future of Fresh Heir, Malik said, “I initially came into this with the mindset of only wanting to do it for 5-10 years. We’re coming up on year five,” he added. “I think the fu-

“Fear and nervousness around taking that first step is natural. But you never know what you’ll learn, and you’ll learn so much about yourself. You’ll learn what your limits are. You’ll learn what your challenges are.

“Start with a small plan and see it through. Then go from there.”

Fresh Heir Delivery is located at 6238 Girard Ave S, Richfield, MN, 55423.

Chris Juhn welcomes reader comments at cjuhn@spokesmanrecorder.com.