Meet Jun / Jonathan Bae / Baek | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jun / Jonathan Bae / Baek and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jun / Jonathan, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Jonathan: It all started when I visited Japan. I was in Tokyo and I was looking for something new that wasn’t available here. I was walking through the streets of Harajuku district and that’s when I came across Japanese style crepes being sold. I thought to myself, ‘what an amazing product that I could bring here from Japan because all their customers were tourists speaking English’.

Jun: For me it started when Jonathan came to my place with a small batch of crepe batter and I was amazed by how much research and development he put inside of just the batter. I had few crepes here and there but the batter that Jonathan made was out of this world and I instantly thought there’s something really special.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Taste and presentation are something that we are keen on. The taste is obviously the key for food business so we try to match the authenticity of Japanese crepes Jonathan had in Japan and also the presentation sets our crepes apart from other crepes. We try to make a crepe that different in style of consuming because crepes available in the States or in Atlanta are the French crepes.

Our challenge was just starting it out. We had nothing and had to learn as we went forward. We held jobs to fund our initial purchases and registrations with LLC formation. Balancing our work with our business formation was not easy since our schedules were different and had to meet for a brief moment and discuss our progress and next steps.

We believe as partnership, it is crucial to have an open communication. Even if we don’t have time available, we try to sort out our goals and objectives with texts, calls and in-person meetings – whatever method of communication that is viable, we used it and made it work for us.

Also, starting a new business with just two of us, we had to figure out other side of business that we had no previous knowledge on. We have different backgrounds and we tried to apply as much as we can and learn as we go. We believe this is essential for entrepreneurs who are just getting started, not being afraid to learn and adapt to new sides of business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Okiboru in Duluth is a must. They have the best ramen and tsukemen in Atlanta. I would also go to the Local – a bar near Ponce City Market, they have smoked wings which are out of this world. They are closing soon btw. Duluth for Korean food, Johns Creek for Indian food and Doraville for Mexican food – these are the truth!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
People around us, who helped with tasting, designs, and everything else that was needed for us to start O! Kurepu. Emotional support and physically showing to our first iterations gave us courage and motivation to push through.

Instagram: @okurepu