Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Mata.
Hi Luis, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a Miami resident for 23 years now, and despite its flaws, I find myself loving the city even more in 2023 than I did back in 2001. After graduating from Barry University, I tried my hand with an internship at Merrill Lynch. It was a good experience, but I soon realized that the banking world wasn’t my fit. The rules and regulations felt too confining, and I’m not one for limits. So, after the internship, I explored different job options and eventually landed a Financial Analyst role at UPS.
Working at UPS turned out to be quite a learning experience – I’d say, I learned as much there as I did during my university years. It was a mix of finance and logistics, and being at the UPS Americas office gave me a broad view of various divisions. Later, Ryder Systems came knocking, offering me a better opportunity, and they even sponsored my MBA at the University of Miami. I started in finance, but I got to have some fun too, working in Asset Management, sales, and even getting my feet wet in M&A projects.
During my time at Ryder and UPS, I built some amazing friendships. We still keep in touch and meet up regularly.
Some of my bosses turned into mentors, and my coworkers became close friends. However, a company restructuring led to me being laid off, prompting a temporary move to Puerto Rico for a beachside hiatus. But the allure of Miami brought me back, and I ventured into the luxury sector with Bell & Ross/Chanel as a Finance Director. It was a smaller outfit, so I had my hands on everything. It was the complete opposite of everything I had done before and it changed the way I thought about business.
From there, I shifted gears again, this time joining the higher education field with Laureate Education. It was a fantastic five years, during which I dabbled in finance, strategy, business intelligence, and M&A. It felt like my best working experience yet and I learned a lot from some very remarkable individuals and truly learned what working with a truly amazing team was.
My journey took an entrepreneurial turn during my last year at Laureate. Inspired, I started mapping out a business plan for Meat N’ Bone. It began as a side project, gradually evolving into a full-fledged omnichannel venture – something I’m proud of. Yet, I was still enjoying my job and learning loads, so I held off on leaving the corporate world. A lunch meeting brought forth the chance to step into the CFO role at SAE North America, and I embraced the challenge. We managed to turn around a struggling division, transforming it into a profitable enterprise.
Only after four more years, and with Meat N’ Bone four years in the making, did I decide to focus entirely on my own business. Our operations kicked off five years ago, and recently, we crossed the seven-figure revenue mark. It’s pretty incredible to think that it all began with less than $10K and a lot of hard work.
Meat N’ Bone is a blend of all my experience and that of my business partners. Meat N’ Bone is a protein purveyor that relies on a statistical model for its inventory, efficient logistics to make it financially feasible, and where the customer experience and service aspect is aking to buying a fine watch at a luxury boutique.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We knew the road would not be easy from day one, because starting a business is always hard. You are no longer working for someone else or a corporation. The schedule is insane, you work 24/7. It all comes down to you. The moment we decided to decline outside investment and bootstrap the company we knew it meant doing it all. I and my partners have done it all… construction, deliveries, customer service, sales, accounting, finance, etc. the glamorous and unglamorous parts of the job.
The lack of funds was always a challenge, but having worked for Private Equity before I knew that the freedom and flexibility of controlling our destiny was worth it. Our business model is crazy ambitious and it is about to pay off. But it’s been a struggle and we have never really been able to afford to make mistakes.
Partnerships are also extremely difficult, not everyone has the same work ethic and not everyone is willing to make the same sacrifices. Also as life changes and we become older priorities change and with that loyalties change as well as the motivation to work. Not everyone has the same tolerance for risk (we are still betting the house on this working and are fully aware it may not) and stress can make people do stupid things and even act against their interests.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Meat N’ Bone is an omnichannel butcher shop that has been disrupting the meat industry for the past three years by empowering consumers to access premium meats previously available only to chefs from high-end purveyors.
We sell more than 350 premium quality staples – individually packed from the best programs in the US, Australia, Japan, and Spain. We focus on G1 Certified USDA Choice and Prime beef sourced from Midwestern farms, Wagyu-Angus Cross Beef (Prime+), and Japanese Wagyu A5, from the prefecture of Miyazaki, Japan. We also offer premium Aged Steaks, including alcohol-infused steaks (rum, whisky, gin) as well as Grass-Fed steaks.
Our standards for sourcing are extremely rigorous and extend to our other offerings such as fish, seafood, lamb, duck, pork, chicken, turkey, and a wide variety of game meats. We only work with best-in-class products from farmers who care. Meat N’ Bone is the only place customers can get over 20 different types of Ribeye, let alone the only place in the world where you can get 5 different types of Picanha -from G1 Certified to Japanese A5 Miyazaki-Gyu.
We only work with programs that offer traceability and stand behind their quality.
Meat N’ Bone offers on-demand ordering with same-day delivery and pickup in South Florida and 24-hour+ delivery nationwide. Our prices are competitive with other online meat retailers and fine grocery stores. We have clients all over the country and even ship to Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Our boutiques have re-defined the way our customers buy proteins, with an experience akin to buying a fine watch. The customer is always front and center, receiving help from one of our associates. Most people will learn more about beef on one visit to Meat N’ Bone than in a lifetime of buying from the supermarket.
We also operate a steakhouse in Coral Way called “The Wagyu Bar” (www.thewagyubar.com) and are opening a second steakhouse in North Hallandale Beach called “The Wagyu House”. We have a catering division under the name of Get The Cook (www.getthecook.com) and run an experiential venue called Undisclosed (www.undisclosedmiami.com).
We have also partnered to offer our products, cooked, at some of the coolest breweries in South Florida: Tripping Animals Brewing, Magic13 Brewing, and Biscayne Bay Brewing.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Whatever happens, never lie and do the right thing. Build relationships with a win-win mentality. Always do right by your customers and treasure your employees. Everyone deserves an opportunity. Never hide from reality. Plan for the worst, and work to achieve the best result you can.
This mentality has allowed us to build incredible relationships with both our customers and our suppliers. They have gone out of their way to help us through the tough times.
One valuable lesson is to make sure everyone in our team believes in this motto. If not, the whole thing falls apart. Lies are toxic and contagious.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.meatnbone.com
- Instagram: @meatnbone
- Facebook: @meatnbone
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/meat-n-bone/
- Twitter: @meatnbone
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MeatNBone
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/meat-n-bone-miami
Image Credits
Giano Currie – “Grill”
