Greater Chattanooga: Company Chronicles

Lessons from a Chattanooga entrepreneur.

By Lindsey Hyde on August 7, 2023

From its mountain views and walkable downtown to its thriving arts scene, diverse restaurants and friendly people, Chattanooga boasts an abundance of quality-of-life amenities that locals love. In addition to leading an appealing lifestyle, residents can also build strong, successful businesses in Chattanooga, thanks to its many entrepreneurial opportunities and resources.

Sujata Singh, for example, is the owner and chef of a local Indian restaurant called Spice Trail. She launched her business in 2019 hosting bi-monthly pop-up dinners at different restaurants. In less than three years, she had grown enough of a following to open her own brick-and-mortar in downtown Chattanooga.

Why did you decide to open Spice Trail?

For me, it’s the whole experience when you eat or when you visit a shop. Ours is not a sit-down restaurant yet, but we have food to go, and it’s just a very pretty place. A lack of dine-in Indian restaurants here is what got me into this.

How has your business grown since you opened?

When I started the pop-ups, it was just me. I did all the cooking; I did everything. Now, we have a full-time employee, a physical location and a part-time employee. We changed our model just a little bit. We have food to go, but we also have Indian-centric items like hot sauces, dips, clothing and jewelry. 

What kind of support did you receive from the community when you opened?

The community has been a big help. Before I opened, I took a course at CO.LAB (an accelerator in Chattanooga for early-stage startups), where they basically help you come up with a business plan and execute it. That helped me quite a bit. It made me see that I can actually do this, even though I don’t have a background in the restaurant industry.

Why should others consider opening a business in Chattanooga?

There’s so much support available. For example, I became a member of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, and for the investment, there’s such a big support system. For its size, Chattanooga is very supportive of small businesses.

What is one piece of advice you would give entrepreneurs?

Just stay with it. Nothing is going to happen overnight, so for me, that’s what keeps me going. Don’t just give up in six months or even a year. You have to see where it goes. It’s also important to have a support system in place. You don’t have to do everything by yourself.