From Backyard Barbecue to a World-Class Business with Darian Kosmo Khosravi

Darian Kosmo Khosravi-Backstory

Kosmo explains where he gets his strength from, "When I was 17 months old, I was burned in the bathtub. I spent the majority of my childhood in and out of the Shriners Burn Institute in Galveston, Texas which made it tough in school." After dropping out of school Kosmo began working in a factory. The turning point for Kosmo was when he decided to step out of his depression and do more for his family. "I went and bought a smoker at Walmart for 50 bucks, which turned out to be the absolute worst meal I have ever cooked in my life. My wife held the dumpster open as I dumped the food in there. I remember feeling like I had reached rock bottom. I could not provide a simple meal for my family. This is what fueled everything in me. I swore that would never happen again. That's what drove me to start the company," recalls Kosmo.

About Kosmo's Q Inc.

According to Kosmo, "The business sells life-changing barbecue rubs, sauces, injections, marinades, and wing dust to barbecue enthusiasts all over the world." Kosmo started concocting his own recipes and began competing on the professional barbecue circuit. These were his first customers.

Kosmo explains his process of developing a recipe. As a self taught cook, he experimented with various ingredients and processes. 

"I can visualize the way things should taste. When I look at something, for example we made a sauce cherry apple habanero. It was a glaze and I remember it— I knew what it tasted like but we had never even tested a batch of it yet."

It took 18 batches and 1 and a half years for Kosmo to perfect his recipe.



In terms of business, Kosmo uses the same analogy. "The best way to succeed at any goal is understand where the finish line is.

How Did You Let the World Know About Kosmos Q Inc.?

Kosmo initially started touting his products by going out every weekend and serving barbecue cooks at competitions. Kosmo found that this method was not easy to scale. He then decided to run a Facebook Ads campaign. This was at a time when eCommerce was not yet big. "It worked. Things started scaling up and it was amazing," says Kosmo.



Kosmo learnt everything about eCommerce from scratch. From receiving cheques to discovering paypal and creating his own website. Kosmo was on a roll.

Do Most of Your Sales Come from Your Website or Through Third Party Sellers?

Kosmo is a firm believer in not putting all his eggs in one basket. He diversifies as much as he can. "We sell on our website and on Amazon. We also have 7000 retail partners around the world.

Kosmo and His Biggest Lessons in Business

"I have learned so many lessons, but the one that stands out is a lesson from my dad. He always told me, when I was young, ' If you don't want to listen, life will teach you everything you need to know.' I am the type of guy that learns the hard way. This does not bother me because in that, I find a better way.

Where Else Did You See Success in Sales?

Kosmo looks at his system of success as a three-tier system. He compares it to rafting.

• Downstream—"The easiest thing to do in a raft is to get in it and let the current take you. These are what I call our downstream customers. Those are the B to C. Those are me going to the competition and using the product and handing out samples," says Kosmo.
• Side stream—It takes a little bit more effort to go upstream and maybe hit a little river off to the side. These are the 'mom and pop' stores and the hardware stores that you call up on the phone," says Kosmo
• Upstream—"This is the hardest one to do. These are your big box locations. I have not been a fan of them for a long time because I heard horror stories about the way they treat people, but we did get into Walmart nationwide with three products. It is amazing how much three products can generate when they are nationwide," says Kosmo.

"The main thing is to listen to your customer and ask them questions. Provide them the value that they are actually looking for," says Kosmo.

Kosmo and Youtube

Kosmo has a popular YouTube channel that was initially created to close the disconnect between the business, his side stream clients and the customer. He had begun to receive a lot of questions and emails. He decided to create a cooking show to educate the customers about his products.

"Business owners need to understand where the value is," says Kosmo. He began to transfer information that was valuable to the customer. "It's the transfer of knowledge. That is the key, the vehicle doesn't matter," says Kosmo.

What is the Mindset of a Successful Entrepreneur?

"You will never be better than you are right now, if you don't change your standards. If your standards remain the same, you will stay exactly the same." Kosmo advises that entrepreneurs move forward every single day, in a way that is healthy.

What are Some of the Things That You Do to Keep your Mindset Performing at that Level?

Gratitude—"Gratitude for me. I did not get here by myself. Some say luck, some say drive. It is a combination of myself, my drive and the people around me. I am always trying to be thankful for what I have and who I have," says Kosmo.



Kosmo is very thankful to be in the position he is. "I wasn't here always, and I dang sure don't want to go back to where I was," he says.

Final Words of Wisdom from Kosmo

"As my dad always told me, 'if you don't want to listen to me, life will teach you everything you need to know.' I think about that all the time. If you don't want to listen, life will teach you everything you need to know. What he was saying to me was, 'I can show you a better way if you want to listen.'" My drive and my stubbornness said no, I would rather learn the hard way than learn it the easy way by listening to you.This just doesn't seem complete. I think the biggest thing that drives me is fear of regret," says Kosmo. Entrepreneurs should take the leap, lest they regret it later

Closing Statement

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