For Dawon Matthews, pursuing entrepreneurship has all the time been a “no brainer.”
After he was charged with a felony at age 19, Matthews could not discover a job within the company world, so he determined to carve his personal path, he says.
“As soon as they see a felony behind an individual they do not even care about what credentials you bought. You are simply not accepted in that society,” Matthews says.
Now, Matthews, 32, presently owns 5 firms, most notably his profitable Houston, Texas meals truck, Goodies Soul Kitchen.
Born in Philadelphia, Matthews had a “tough begin” in life, earlier than his household moved to the metro space borough of Norristown, he says.
“Rising up, I did not have any mentors or anybody I needed to be like. I simply had a bunch of people who I did not wish to be like,” he says.
Matthews excelled in highschool, however acquired into authorized hassle in school.
As a freshman, he was charged with aggravated assault after a celebration brawl, for which he was expelled from college and served 6 months in jail. Whereas on probation, he was charged with a DUI.
“That simply led to me taking place a gap of simply going out and in of the system,” Matthews recollects.
Although Matthews earned an affiliate’s diploma from Manor School and a B.A. in enterprise from La Salle College, he utilized to over 200 jobs in a two-month interval with no luck. He began his first firm “as a result of easy incontrovertible fact that I could not get a job with my school diploma,” he says.
At present, his companies collectively herald over $1 million in internet income yearly.
‘At all times in search of the subsequent factor’
In 2017, Matthews launched his first enterprise, a cleansing firm referred to as Great Cleansing, within the Philadelphia space along with his childhood pal Darnell Hinton.
He selected to enter the cleansing business as a result of it had low startup prices and did not require background checks for enterprise homeowners, he says.
“So long as you will get some bleach and a few sizzling water and a few spray bottles and a few rags, you possibly can flip this factor right into a enterprise,” Matthews says.
His first job was cleansing his brother’s home, however with assist from his highschool soccer coach, Matthews landed extra profitable business cleansing contracts.
By the tip of 12 months two, Great Cleansing introduced in round $12,000 in income every month, and Matthews transitioned into being the “intermediary,” hiring different cleansing crews to meet his contracts.
With the income from Great Cleansing, Matthews and Hinton purchased a pickup truck and began a second enterprise, R&R Junk Elimination, in 2020.
A number of months in, they had been in a position to buy a dump truck, and R&R Junk Elimination introduced in over $100,000 in its first 12 months, in keeping with Matthews.
Matthews additionally used his earnings from the 2 companies to purchase single-family properties, which he refinanced as a way to purchase duplexes and triplexes. He presently owns 16 properties within the Philadelphia space, from which he makes round $11,000 a month in revenue.
In January 2024, Matthews moved to Houston: “I felt like I reached my success in Philly, so I needed to get out of there,” he says.
Not all of his enterprise concepts had been hits: proper after transferring to Houston, Matthews offered a few his properties to begin a nightclub. It did not work out, he says, and he ended up shedding over $170,000 on the enterprise.
After that, he determined to attempt the restaurant business.
“I am all the time in search of the subsequent factor,” he says, “after which that is once I got here up with meals.”
Matthews took out a $40,000 mortgage to purchase a meals truck and launched Goodies Soul Kitchen in August 2024, which he operates with enterprise companion Jessica Ahwash.
Goodies Soul Kitchen is a meals truck based mostly in Houston, Texas.
Corentin Soibinet/CNBC Make It
Discovering success within the meals business
Apart from working at KFC throughout his freshman 12 months of faculty, Matthews did not have any prior restaurant expertise when he began Goodies.
There have been loads of rising pains: “I did not even know learn how to flip the trailer on once I first began,” Matthews says.
And only one month after launching Goodies Soul Meals Kitchen, the chef he employed give up unexpectedly.
“I do not know nothing about meals,” Matthews says, however “I had to determine learn how to turn into a chef” till he might rent one other.
For Matthews, creating Goodies’ enterprise mannequin was paramount.
He was impressed by the success of chains like Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle: “These individuals aren’t doing something completely different. Their meals is not completely different than every other meals you will see at KFC, Popeyes or something like that. However what’s completely different is the service,” he says.
“Taking a look at it as a businessman, the cash is not in meals,” he continues. “The cash is within the service and the standard and the methods that you just produce. That is the place you attain your success within the meals business.”
In his view, Houston’s late evening meals scene was “not that good,” so Matthews determined to market Goodies Soul Kitchen as a night possibility for clubgoers.
Goodies Soul Kitchen’s presents fried fish, lamb chops, hen wings and fried hen, in addition to aspect dishes like mac-and-cheese, candy potato casserole and fried cabbage.
The truck presently operates 4 days per week from 7 p.m. to three a.m., and Matthews has 4 staff who run the truck and deal with meals prep.
Not like many different meals vehicles, Goodies Soul Kitchen is all the time based mostly on the similar location in downtown Houston. On common, they serve about 300 clients every week – extra on a “good membership evening,” however much less when it is raining, he says.
This summer season, Goodies Soul Kitchen introduced in round $20,000 in income every week, Matthews says, and the truck has been worthwhile because the starting.
In 2024, Goodies introduced in simply over $1 million in gross income, in keeping with paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It, and in keeping with Matthews, they’re on monitor to make much more in 2025 with catering contracts and vacation events.
As of September this 12 months, Goodies has remodeled $665,000 in gross sales.
Meals is the longer term
Following the success of Goodies, Matthews opened one other meals truck, Birds and Buns, which sells hoagies, tacos and hen wings, in March 2025.
“I assumed, you realize, what the heck? We did very well at this enterprise mannequin. Let’s do one other one,” he says.
He plans to promote most of his different firms within the subsequent 12 months as a way to concentrate on his meals companies.
“They are saying you begin to discover what you wish to do for the remainder of your life round this age,” Matthews says. “I feel I discovered my love for entrepreneurship in hospitality.”
Other than his enterprise targets, Matthews can be dedicated to using recovering addicts and former felons.
“Right here, you are not judged by a paper,” he says. “You are not judged by a report. You are judged by your abilities.”
Managing all of his ventures is not straightforward, Matthews says, however his mantra is “select your arduous.”
“Being poor is difficult. Being wealthy is difficult. Being completely satisfied is difficult. Being unhappy is difficult, proper? So it is the fact of simply selecting your ‘arduous.'”
Matthews is presently getting ready to develop Goodies right into a brick-and-mortar location with a sports activities bar and burger store.
Going ahead, it is “Goodies to the moon,” he says.
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