May 10
Yesterday I introduced you to Beth Kirby, a successful cookie maker who sells on Etsy under the SunshineBakes name. During the course of our interview Beth was kind enough to share the following tips for any other food entrepreneurs who are looking to open their own Esty store: Read more
May 9
In honor of the upcoming Mother’s Day, today and tomorrow’s articles are reprints of highly popular material I originally published in 2011.
Despite the fact that many women love to cook, you’ll find that men outnumber women in professional kitchens at an astonishing rate. One reason for this is that a professional kitchen career leaves very little room for motherhood. It’s not easy to juggle partner, house, and baby when you’re working 14 hour days. With Mother’s Day coming up I thought it would only be appropriate to share a story of a mompreneur (entrepreneur + mother) working in this crazy food industry. Read more
Courser Farm Kitchen Granola really did start at a farm’s kitchen table. Thanks to the homestead laws in Hew Hampshire (known as Cottage Food Laws in other states), Emma Bates was able to start her company out of her home kitchen while keeping a watchful eye on her children. But that’s not all there is to the story. It was some ingenious thinking and the help of neighbors that helped Courser Farm Kitchen Granola really take off. Read more
Apr 25
Like any business, Small Food Business is constantly changing and evolving, thanks in part to your feedback and recommendations. While the online forum didn’t pan out as hoped and has been disabled, I am excited to announce that Small Food Business will begin offering webinars. Some webinars will feature business experts who will speak about what you can to do grow your business while other webinars will be “Potlucks” where anyone who’s interested can come and share ideas/challenges/frustrations/and just generally connect with others in the food entrepreneurship community. Read more
Apr 24
They say that imitation is the best form of flattery but when someone comes along and not only copies your product and your packaging but also, as I’ve been hearing more and more, even the very photos you post of your products and sometimes your product descriptions word for word too, it’s stealing pure and simple. But what are you, with a limited budget to put towards legal fees, supposed to do when faced with this? Read more
Apr 12
Without a doubt, the one piece of your business that really makes you stand apart in a crowded marketplace is your story. All of us have a story to tell about how we landed on this wonderful rollercoaster known as entrepreneurship and the kicker is that other people actually want to hear this story! They may love your product but it’s your story that will really help them connect with your company, your brand, and your products. So what are you telling them? Read more
Apr 11
I don’t care how ‘handmade,’ ‘unique,’ or ‘one-of-a-kind’ your product or flavors are. Your customers only have so many dollars in their wallet that they’re willing to spend on specialty food products which means that you do have competitors. So do you know who they are and what they’re doing? Read more
Apr 3
I’m in need of a few food entrepreneurs for new Entrepreneur Spotlights this year. This is not only a great way to tell your story and showcase your business, but I got word last week from one of my prior Entrepreneur Spotlight interviewees that they’d been contacted by the Food Network so in that out of the thousands of viewers this website gets every month there are some heavy-hitters. I don’t have any restrictions on the type of food business (as long as you are legally operating based on the laws in your state/province/country), how long you’ve been in business, or your gross sales revenue so if you’d be interested in being featured drop me a note at info (at) smallfoodbiz (dot) com and let me know. Thanks! Read more
Apr 2
The fact that many independent restaurants start and fail probably isn’t news to any of us, but the fact that they top the list of small business failures is a little eye-opening! Top Business Degrees has put together a great infographic on the most tried and failed mom & pop businesses including information on what you can do to make sure your small business doesn’t end up in this category. Read more
Mar 28
When you get a tweeet from a company called Secret Squirrel Cold Brew Coffee there’s no way you can’t respond. What exactly is cold brew coffee? How’d this business get started? Not to mention, what about the name (and really eye catching logo!)?
The tweet I’d received invited me to come taste their coffee at the Fancy Food Show so I made sure to stop by (see, Twitter does work! And yes, their coffee is extraordinarly good – and that’s coming from someone who lives in Seattle, the land of all things coffee). While at the show I had the chance to meet Trevor Smith (one half of the brains behind the business), admist a frenzy of buyers and he suggested I contact his wife, Rebecca – the other half of Team Secret Squirrel – to learn more about this 18-month old small food business.
Theme: Linen by The Theme Foundry
