These two photos were taken exactly one year apart. May 2025 vs May 2026.
In the first, my market setup included an 8.5-by-11-inch sign printed on my home printer and placed inside a picture frame. In the second, the booth is more polished, branded and much closer to what I once imagined the business should look like.
Could I have created the setup on the left sooner if I had planned more carefully? Probably.
But I only knew what I knew at the time, and there is also a cost to waiting until everything feels perfect.
Selling my first 10,000 jars taught me that building a business is much less about having every step figured out and much more about being willing to take the next one.
Action Creates Clarity
For almost a year, I spent a lot of time thinking about business plans, commercial production and getting into larger grocery stores.
What I did not have was proof that customers actually wanted the product.
That changed when I attended my first market with approximately 200 jars and sold out within a few hours.
The market gave me more useful information in one day than months of planning had. It showed me that people were willing to try beet salsa, buy it and come back for more.
From there, I kept taking the next step: booking another market, producing another batch, improving the booth and learning from each event.
I still do not have every answer figured out. Every time I solve one problem, I usually discover the next three questions.
But I have learned that clarity often comes after taking action, not before it.
The Unglamorous Work Matters
Selling 10,000 jars sounds exciting. The work behind that number was much less glamorous.
It meant hauling cases of tomatoes, jars and finished product up and down stairs. It meant loading the vehicle, unloading at markets, setting up, tearing down and unloading again when I returned home.
It meant carrying cases through snow, producing late into the evening and applying labels when I wanted to be finished.
I was also constantly running out of labels.
No matter how many I ordered, I always seemed to underestimate what I would need. The cycle became: make more salsa, sell more salsa and scramble to order more labels.
Those repetitive tasks are often the part of building a business that no one sees. They are also the moments when it becomes easiest to quit.
The first 10,000 jars did not come from always feeling motivated. They came from continuing to show up, adjust and do the work in front of me.
Good People Change the Experience
Attending markets was uncomfortable at first.
I did not know the other vendors. I did not know whether customers would understand the product, and I did not know whether anyone would buy it.
But stepping into that unfamiliar environment introduced me to a community of people who were also putting themselves and their products out into the world.
Many of those business owners have since become friends.
My family has also been part of the business from the beginning. My brother was the first person who encouraged me to sell the salsa. My mom helped keep production days organized, and my grandma peeled the beets.
Jessica originally came to help at one market. She has since become an important part of the business and one of my close friends.
The work can still be difficult, but it feels very different when you are surrounded by people who believe in what you are building.
People Connect With the Story
One of the most surprising lessons from markets was that people connect with the story almost as much as they connect with the product.
The salsa still has to taste good. That part matters.
But beet salsa is unfamiliar, and customers often approach it with mixed reactions. Some are excited to try it. Others tell me that they normally think beets taste like dirt—but they are willing to give it a chance.
While they sample it, I tell them about the garden, my grandma peeling beets, and Jessica and me producing the salsa in small batches.
I like to think people can feel how much we care about the product, because we genuinely do.
The experience has reminded me that people want to support real people. They want to understand where their food comes from and who is behind it.
That has made every jar feel like more than just a jar of salsa.
The first 10,000 jars did not come from having the perfect plan.
They came from starting with what I had, learning from the people around me and continuing to take the next step.