Spotlight On Bronuts: When Bros Meet Donuts

Sometimes you find inspiration in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times, and that’s exactly what happened when the idea of Bronuts came to be. Co-owner, Brett Zahari and his wife (now business partner), Meghan were on a road trip to Portland in the summer of 2014 when they kept stumbling upon gourmet donut shops. Falling completely in love with the idea of fresh gourmet donuts every day, and being slightly heartbroken that upon their return back to Winnipeg, they would have to say goodbye to them, Brett realized that Winnipeg needed its own gourmet donut shop.

When Meghan and Brett returned from their trip, they shared the idea with Brett’s brother, Dylan. At first, everybody involved was hesitant, but after some brainstorming, number-crunching, and the suggestion of the name “Bronuts,” the team felt that this was a viable idea and something worth pursuing. Once they found the perfect spot for their shop, with the help of their father, who is a contractor, Dylan, Brett and Meghan spent their days and nights, on top of their regular careers doing construction, to turn their dream into reality.

Now serving up delicious donut creations from peanut butter and chocolate, to a new special summer donut, lemon poppy seed, Bronuts is quickly growing.  Meghan, Dylan and Brett are constantly being challenged each day as entrepreneurs. When asked what a typical day looks like for the three of them, Meghan explained that the answer today will be entirely different from tomorrow, but there is one thing she can always count on each week—Costco runs. “I can’t say I thought I’d ever need to run to Costco in a panic to buy 18 jugs of milk multiple times a week.”In addition to leading the hectic, yet rewarding, lives of entrepreneurs, being in business with family has a great balance of being challenging and awesome, Brett shared. Brett and Dylan grew up as not just brothers, but best friends. “We know how to work with each other, and how to annoy each other,” Brett explained. “There’s a real balance of trying to make sure that everyone’s ideas were considered equally and we all felt good about what we were building together.”

It’s evident that family and food are the top priorities for Bronuts. “It was family that built the place, it’s family-run, our staff get along so well and have become a little family, and families are often the ones filing our tables all day,” Brett shared. Meghan explained that the team works really well together and each of their strengths supports each other’s weaknesses. Brett handles the numbers and the coffee, Dylan handles the kitchen and the donuts, and Meghan looks after the staff and social media.

Photographed above Brett and Meghan’s baby supporting the family business.

The powerful family trio has advice for entrepreneurs wanting to get into business with their families: “Don’t do it because ‘it will be so fun!’. Be realistic and intentional all the way through. It’s one of the most incredible experiences, but it takes work. Communicate. Don’t let things sit and fester. Just keep talking and always remember that your disagreements within the business don’t reflect on your personal relationship. That’s probably the coolest thing about working with family—no matter what happens, you know you have that family bond at the end of the day.”

Written By: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Creation Coordinator, Futurpreneur Canada