Behind the scenes of a food business: Sweet & Simple

Michelle Jaffee has joined us today to share a behind the scenes insight into how she started up her food business Sweet & Simple. It is clear running a food or baking business is a lot of hard work (which business isn’t?) but one thing that stands out for me is how much fun Michelle is having in the process!

Hi Michelle, welcome to The Academy! Why did you start Sweet and Simple?

I started Sweet & Simple because I love to bake. I was a stay-at-home-mom, baking all the time and enjoying it very much, and thought I might try selling my baked goods at a neighborhood farmers’ market on Saturday mornings.

To my surprise, it turned out that in Connecticut you need a licensed commercial kitchen and health department permits to sell at any farmers’ market. The amount of time expended on paperwork and filing of forms to start the smallest baking business ever was, in a word, nuts.

Then a friend helped with my logo, another took pictures for my website and still another friend referred me to a website designer. I researched packaging and labeling requirements online. I researched trademarks online. And I had to take a food safety course (another whole day).

The list of tasks accomplished was soon longer than the to-do list – but the process was not easy or without frustration and minor setbacks. I tell you all this because all that stuff had to be done before I could start baking. But, because I love to bake and I was excited about my products, I was willing to give it a shot.

This may sound crazy, but I was having the time of my life. I was having fun! Every task accomplished felt like a small victory!

How did you come up with the name? I love it!

I spent hours researching online possible names for my baking biz. Every clever or fun name I thought of was being used by one or more other baking businesses. I wasn’t giving up, but I was running out of those “clever” ideas in a hurry.

I had tried business names using ingredients (brown sugar and vanilla are two favorite ingredients), business names using methods (such as sift) and even considered using my own first name as part of the biz name.

Nothing was working, sounded good or felt right. So, I started thinking about how best to describe my baked goods and “sweet and simple” immediately came to mind. It is now trademarked along with the stylized daisy and heart and the words “baked with love” as my logo.

I love your About page and your story about your Mom and Grandma being bakers. Do you think telling your story helps people connect with you? If so, why?

I think it’s super important to tell your customers something about yourself, it put’s a face on what might be just another small baking business. When you tell something about yourself you start a conversation and make a connection possible.

By sharing my family baking history, I hope my customers will feel free to share with me their baking histories and stories on Facebook and/or Twitter. Stories, like baked goods, are better when shared.

What has been the hardest thing you have had to deal with when starting your food business?

The hardest thing in the beginning was finding commercial kitchen space. It seemed like an insurmountable obstacle! I found a small kitchen and took the available shift – 8pm to midnight. I had no choice but to make it work!

Each time I add a customer and “scale up” a bit I have growing pains, so the challenges of having a small food biz are ongoing.

Do you think being a local business (ie. not selling online) has helped or hindered your business?

I was not prepared to launch an e-commerce site when I started Sweet & Simple. There are so many things you have to do when you start a food business…I was plenty busy applying for an LLC, trademark, health department permits, getting the website up, making sales calls, etc. Not to mention the actual baking!! The thought of working on an e-commerce site simultaneously was overwhelming. Because I am a company with one employee – me! – and I was doing everything and learning on the job, I needed to focus on doing the basic business very well.

Having said all that, and knowing it was the right choice for me at the time, I would tell anyone else to launch the e-commerce site at the same time. The number one question people ask me is, “Can I buy online?”

We connected through Twitter! How are you using social media to promote your business and connect with your target audience?

Facebook and Twitter are truly amazing! For me Facebook, and more recently Twitter, has been an incredible platform to connect with others and share my story.

I envisioned my Facebook page as a place to exchange information, links and recipes – and it’s just that! I’m able to talk about my own business, yes, but at the same time communicate with the best online community of home bakers and cooks as well as professional bakers and bloggers.

Twitter is certainly a less formal conversation and a place for more personal interaction. Twitter is where you will experience the online baking/foodie community at its’ generous and supportive best – and there’s always room for more! I’m blown away by the wonderful people I’ve met on Twitter over the last 3 months.

If you could start up again would you change anything?

I would have launched an e-commerce site and outsourced the management of it. Without a doubt. I also would have launched a recipe blog combined with stories about starting a food business. It was a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience and I wish I had kept notes. Also wish I had purchased a decent camera on day one and kept a photo journal.

What advice would you give to others wishing to start a food business?

Only do it if you are truly in love with and wildly enthusiastic about your product(s)! Enthusiasm is contagious, but so is indifference. Start small. Have a business plan. Listen to your customers. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Be authentic. Be optimistic. Have fun! No, really, have fun!!

What are your plans for the future?

I’m launching an e-commerce site this fall. Also planning to increase distribution and expand my product line next year by working with a co-packer.

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Thank you so much Michelle, for sharing your insights into starting a food business. I know they’ll be very helpful to a lot of people.

If you want to start your own food business I hope this interview has given you some starting points. Each country has it’s own regulations so I’d advise you to check with the Food Standards Agency if you are in the UK and your State or local authority if you are based in the US or elsewhere worldwide.

To connect with Michelle you can visit her on Facebook // Twitter // Website