Joshua Horwitz has a refreshingly honest perspective on what it takes to be successful in business.

“The food industry is simpler than people give it credit for,” he says. “If someone has a meal they enjoy, they tell their friends.”

He would know. Horwitz is part of the family behind Field to Fork, a group of farm-to-table butchers that has been operating in Sydney’s eastern suburbs since 2014. Field to Fork was founded by his mum, Paula, 11 years ago and has grown to encompass four retail butcheries, two takeaway grills and a “pop-up” homewares store that’s now been open for over three years.

Field to Fork has built its name on creating delicious food you can’t help but rave about, whether that’s South African-style biltong or ready-made ‘homestyle meals’ for the days you just don’t feel like cooking.

A recipe for success

It’s that great-tasting food – and service with a smile – that Horwitz thinks have been simple ingredients to Field to Fork’s success.

“[If you] focus on providing fresh, delicious food at a reasonable price and the rest will probably fall into place,” he says. “At the end of the day, customers want to be treated with respect and honesty and maybe share a memorable meal with their loved ones, and that’s the message we try to instil in our retail teams.”

Horwitz has been working at Field to Fork since its first shop opened in Bondi in 2014. He started out as a cleaner, then began serving customers, later undertook a butchery apprenticeship through TAFE and now serves as Operations Director alongside his brother, Sam.

Having filled just about every role there is, Horwitz has seen first-hand the challenges a small business faces – even one as successful as Field to Fork. Top of the list is staffing.

“It’s hard to find skilled butchers in Sydney and even harder to manage them across multiple locations,” he says.

But that’s not all. Being a small business owner also often means spinning multiple plates in the air.

“Anything can happen at any moment,” Horwitz says. “My job can be as glamorous as pitching a line of packaged biltong products to the meat-buyers of supermarkets, but if the power drops out on a Sunday in one of our stores, or the waste management company forgets to empty our bins, or if one of our butchers decides to chuck a sickie, I have to stop what I’m doing and get my hands dirty.”

Committed to the customer

But through it all, Fork to Field’s commitment to customer service has seen them through.

“We try to focus on pleasing the customer, because they’re the ones putting their money in the till,” Horwitz says.

One simple thing they’ve found puts a smile on customers’ faces is accepting their preferred payment method.

“The fact that we accept American Express without fees is enough to turn a one-time customer into a dedicated regular. It sounds silly, but often when I’m serving customers, they’ll ask; ‘do you take Amex?’ and the look of happiness on their face when I happily proclaim, ‘we sure do’ usually means I’ll be seeing them again,” Horwitz says.

“I’ve found that some customers shop with us simply because they can tap their Amex Card and earn points¹ as they do.”

There are perks for the business owner, too – Horwitz uses his Amex Card for every business expense, then redeeming his rewards points for travel².

Because after 11 years in business, Horwitz has learned that even the boss needs a holiday sometimes. His advice to other small business owners is to remember to take a step back and enjoy life when you can.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff and remember to practise self-care” he laughs. “Business isn’t everything. It’s important to hang up the knives and put up your feet from time to time.”

Terms, exclusions and conditions apply on American Express products and services. Explore our range of Business Cards here.

1. Membership Rewards Program: Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards program apply. Visit com/en-au/rewards/membership-rewards/terms for more information. Participating partners and available rewards are subject to change without notice.
2. American Express Travel Online: To earn or redeem Membership Rewards points, Cards must be enrolled to the American Express Membership Rewards program, and your Card Account must be in good standing. To redeem Membership Rewards points with American Express Travel Online, you need to have available limit on your Card for the full transaction amount of the booking. You will then receive a statement credit within 3 business days for your points redemption. If the credit isn’t on the same statement as the transaction, it should appear on your next statement. Please pay all amounts due each month. You will earn Membership Rewards points on the full dollar amount charged to your Card. All bookings are subject to the terms and conditions of our Membership Rewards Program.​