What I Wish I Knew – Nicolas Medicamento, founder of Doctor Cocktail

When Nick Medicamento was put on furlough from his job in hospitality during the pandemic, he decided to start running some private cocktail making events online. Having seen how successful they were, when he was made redundant he decided to launch his own business rather than finding a job working for someone else.

Nick applied to Virgin StartUp for a Start Up Loan to help set up Doctor Cocktail and the business is going well. We caught up with him to find out more about his journey and what he’s learnt over the last 18 months. Here’s what he wishes he’d known sooner…

Doctor Cocktail

Be patient and plan

I need to plan each stage that's going to help me to reach my business goals. All the advice is to remember your vision, but in my mind the vision is something that is too far away and sometimes it's unreachable. 

What I've learnt is to have macro areas that I want to improve in the business. And then I break those down into steps to take to achieve that. 

It's strange because the instinct is to want to see success straightaway, and we are convinced that everything will go well. But the reality is that it won't. So you have to be prepared for that. Nine out of 10 projects that I plan don't go well. You just have to try things out to see what works.

Doctor Cocktail

Form habits

I need to have different habits in my daily routine that give me structure and discipline. This is really key for me, especially because I'm still a solo entrepreneur so I'm having to learn how to run the business. So having a structure and knowing what I have to do every single day is really important for me.

I think there's more pressure than when I was employed. But it's also way more satisfying now. Everything I'm learning is beneficial to me as a person, as well as for the business. 

Doctor Cocktail

Plans don't always work 

Everything you plan in the beginning will never happen. When I see what I planned from the beginning, nothing happened. But the flipside of this is that you never know what opportunities will come along. Whatever you plan, you're working in a particular direction but even if the original plan doesn't work, you'll always learn from it, or you'll benefit from the experience.

Every time I plan, I always think about what's going to happen and how it can change. Every decision I make will lead to something different.

Inspired to start your own business? Visit Virgin StartUp for advice, guidance and Start Up Loans.