OSU student makes good on last name, starts barbecue business

Adam Robbins
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 03:59:57 +0000
Arts & Life, Dining, News, barbecue, bbq, columbus food, david butcher, flybybbq, food, student business

David Butcher with 3 of his regional sauces. Credit: Courtesy of David Butcher

Cousins Dave and Mark Butcher took their family namesake and love for old-school barbecue to heart and started FlyByBBQ.

David Butcher, a second-year in marketing, started the business out of what he saw as a lack of modern, convenient and fresh places to get barbecue. The name comes from the founders’ goal for fast-casual service. The pair is set to open a food truck in early April.

“We want to see how receptive people are to it,” David Butcher said. “We plan on leaving the food truck in different places for around a week from April until it snows and if we are successful, we are going to start planning a restaurant.”

FlyByBBQ will offer pulled chicken, pulled pork and vegan pulled jackfruit with a choice of four homemade sauces: South Carolina Gold, Ohio Apple Bourbon, Fruity Florida Beachside and Tangy Kansas City.

The idea started in January 2016 with market research by sending out hundreds of emails, and, by May, they had sold their first sauce. From there, they have served their food through catering at Ohio State events.

Mark Butcher described FlyByBBQ as “freedom in a bun.”

“We have customizable barbecue sandwiches and bowls,” he said. “We focus our menu on simplicity, so we can put time and love into everything we serve and give you a quick, painless experience.”

The love for barbecue stemmed from the Butchers’ ancestors from Yugoslavia. They were butchers until the family came to the United States and pursued other occupations.

David said he wanted to pick the business back up.

“My father was an entrepreneur and I saw it get him through some tough times, so I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” he said.

Since its inception, the company has won multiple contests.

In March 2016, it won first place in the Business Builders Club idea pitch and Fisher Business Plan competitions, which David Butcher parlayed into creating a website to see how people felt about his business idea. In December of 2016, he won the “OSU Best of Student Startups” contest.

While these wins have helped, David Butcher said the biggest contest is coming up. He will be attending Global Student Entrepreneur Awards idea pitch competition in Kansas City on Tuesday, along with students from the other 49 states. The prize is $20,000.

“This would be huge to win,” he said. “It would basically mean that I have the best pitch idea of college students in the US and if I win, I get to go the global competition with college kids from all over the world. It would really show how successful this could possibly be.”