Portrait of an Entrepreneur: Sébastien Romagny
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<p><strong>Portrait of an Entrepreneur - Meet inspiring people who have chosen to earn a living by being self-employed. Through a very humanistic perspective, discover their story, unique lifestyle, and challenges. Today, we meet Sébastien Romagny, the founder of Les Sablés de l’Osti d’Français.</strong></p>
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<h3><strong>1- Tell us about yourself</strong></h3>
<p>My name is Sébastien Romagny and I am the founder of the Les Sablés de l’Osti d’Français company, a food business.</p>
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<h3><strong>2- Where does your immense passion for cooking and entrepreneurship come from?</strong></h3>
<p>Since my childhood, I have always liked to stay hours and hours in the kitchen; time is different when we cook. I also studied cuisine for five years in France, which made me passionate about the food business. I quickly realized that I was comfortable with taking risks. Rewards can be better when we take risks in life, and we make things with passion. From that, entrepreneurship seemed more accessible.</p>
<p>Sablés are my favorite cookie because it is both simple and complex. The butter, the humidity level, the types of flour used, the precise amount of egg yolk… It is only the beginning!</p>
<p>I have a few kept secret pages where it explains how to do a good sablé cookie. Since I was a kid, I have been cooking them , and my original recipe was refined when I studied cuisine in Biarritz.</p>
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<h3><strong>3- How did you become self-employed and an entrepreneur?</strong></h3>
<p>When my summer job ended in October 2019, I returned to Quebec City, more specifically in the Saint-Jean Baptiste neighborhood, which I find really beautiful. I then started to look for suppliers that would help me do THE best sablé recipe. After a month, when everyone was asking for my tax numbers, my Quebec Business Number, and other administrative things, I decided to take this more seriously. I was selling my first cookies on December 1st.</p>
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<h3><strong> 4- What is the most challenging part of self-employment?</strong></h3>
<p>Most of the time, a self-employed worker is alone; it is then essential to overcome this, have many contacts in your field and work with other people. Solitude regarding some issues is part of self-employed workers’ lives, even though they have the freedom to be their own bosses. Meet other people as much as possible and work together while staying autonomous. It is a way to make it.</p>
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<h3><strong>5- Which part of being self-employed do you like the most?</strong></h3>
<p>Marketing! I like to find new ways to sell, create ads related to the universe of Les Sablés de l’Osti d’Français. I love to surprise people. I need my weekly dose of baking cookies too.</p>
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<h3><strong>6- Tell us about your work routine.</strong></h3>
<p>I like to start early in the morning to bake cookies. After that, around 11 am, I do a tour of all the aspects of my business: social media, ads, calling my suppliers, calling my resellers, accounting (thanks Momenteo!), the next products to create, etc. I made myself a little checklist with everything I need to do daily. In the afternoons, I take action: I deliver the cookies and do other tasks that must be done.</p>
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<h3><strong>7- What are the online tools you could not live without?</strong></h3>
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<p>Adobe Illustrator (for a professional look for the packaging of the cookies, billboards, and other printed tools).</p>
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<p>Canva Pro (for my posts on social media and my website). </p>
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<p>Momenteo (the ultimate tool for accounting). I am always looking for ways to save time, and you rose to the challenge! </p>
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</ul>
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<h3><strong>8. How did you learn about Momenteo, and how long have you been using it?</strong></h3>
<p>Last August, I discovered Momenteo when I was looking for software to answer my business’ needs. Incredibly, since the beginning, I was only using Word and Excel files for my accounting.</p>
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<h3><strong>9- What makes Momenteo different from other accounting software?</strong></h3>
<p>It is truly made for self-employed workers! Often, we are forgotten. I like to enter my expenses on the software now because of you! Self-employed workers prefer to work on their projects instead of doing their accounting; however, with Momenteo and its simple interface, we understand how to use it at first glance. It is then more fun.</p>
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<h3><strong>10- How do you find your new points of sale?</strong></h3>
<p>50% of the time, they contact me directly because one customer recommended us or they heard about us. It also happens that I visit them in person when a sector does not have my cookies!</p>
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<h3><strong>11. What are your tips for someone who would like to become an entrepreneur?</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Here are my pieces of advice from my humble experience:</strong></p>
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<p>Do you have something special to offer the world? If not, do you see a need that is not satisfied? The world will always need a graphic designer or a good plumber. Find a way to stand out and let it be a competitive advantage.<br />
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<p>It is not easy to be an entrepreneur. It helps when you accept that there are good days and bad days. </p>
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<h3><strong>12. Why are your cookies so special?</strong></h3>
<p>My sablés are made in Quebec from local ingredients (butter from Saguenay Lac-St-Jean, local and organic flours, etc.) For each cookie, I try to showcase a local producer:</p>
<p>- Boreal Vanilla (local wildflowers from Gourmet Sauvage)</p>
<p>- Chocolate (roasted in Gaspésie at Chaleur B Chocolat in Carleton-sur-Mer, beans from Venezuela) </p>
<p>- Maple (Érablière Godbout of Saint-Raphaël)</p>
<p>They are made with love by a damn French guy that arrived two years ago in Quebec. We are ready to seduce Quebec one cookie at the time!</p>
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<h3><strong>13. Which projects are you most proud of?</strong></h3>
<p>Our research on the spent grains (this cereal residue is usually thrown away during the beer fabrication process). We want to retrieve it and transform it into crackers. It is a massive project, but the final result will be incredible. These cookies will not be available until 2021. Be patient!</p>
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<h3><strong>14. Do you have any big plans for this winter?</strong></h3>
<p>Once we have the new packaging with our new designs, barcodes, and all mandatory food mentions, I will be free to sell my cookies directly at grocery stores. For now, my cookies were sold on a consignment basis to test the market. The main goal will be to increase the number of resellers.</p>
<p>We will also be looking for developing new cookies that will be more crackers that we can eat with your favorite cocktail. It is an important project! It might be better to be incorporated then.</p>
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<h3><strong>15. How can we contact you and find your products?</strong></h3>
<p>You can contact me on social media:</p>
<p>Facebook: Les Sablés de l'Osti d'Français</p>
<p>Instagram: sables_losti_dfrancais</p>
<p><strong> </strong>or on my website (in French)</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://lessablesdelostidfrancais.com/" target="_blank">https://lessablesdelostidfrancais.com/</a></strong></p>
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<p>There is a ‘’Points of sale’’ page on the website that gathers all the places where you can find our cookies! You can find them in Quebec, but also Montreal.</p>
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