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6 months growing my business challenge

Franci

By Franci
in Restaurant Life

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Franci

Franci

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Here I am, back with a full list of tasks ahead of me! 

 

New employee started last week, she needs a little bit of time to get familiar with the recipes. On Friday I went around in Manhattan with samples of cakes and  I was especially curious about the feedback on the new product. I brought it to a Italian friend of mine, he is a chef, working around  the East village and he loved it.  And I acquired one new customer on Friday. 

 

The videos are taking a lot of my time. My husband warned me. It's very slow to build followers and for now I've not had a great result also as traffic on the website. I feel all this requires either a big investment in terms of money or in terms of time. 

 

I also have a couple weeks time to write all I need for the ecommerce: product descriptions, shipping policy, terms and conditions...Ah,ah, the more I write down what need to be done, the more I am panicking  xD but really if I don't write it down it will take me months! 

  • Like 13

eG Foodblog: Franci (2012) From heirloom tomatoes to zucchini blossoms

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

thank you for taking the time to allow us to follow along

 

we ll, mostly Me !

 

suprise.gif.1dad7eb0a6e0b7827d612cc794c6e2d6.gif

 

I know that you will be very successful at some point.

  • Like 4
Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

Posted
Posted

Some of you eG members who would like to help Franci and are members of Facebook, Pinterest or some of the other sites that allow you to share her videos, may want to go to her videos on YouTube. They are autofeeding now, so it would be easy to like them and share them with sites where you are a member. Just a suggestion, of course, but I feel that I'm not the only one who wishes our own Franci much success. These things start slowly, but once they take off on the web, it can become big quickly. We can help.

 

When I liked her video on YouTube a whole bar of different sites I could share it came up. Unfortunately, I'm not a member of any of them, but some people here that I think might want to help her are. :) 

  • Like 4

> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

  • 4 weeks later...
Franci

Franci

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Update on what happened this month. The new person that I just hired in August resigned  by email with no notice. A lot of my time is devoted to bake in the kitchen until I find a replacement. So grateful I still have one guy with me that is really great. 

I’ve also spent a lot of time on the new product. Thank to @Kerry Beal that helped me to acquire a used Thermomix, I feel my new product on the production is easily repeatable, which was not the case before the machine...I am just waiting for the wrap, which has been printing in Italy to introduce it to the market.I’ll tell you more about this in the next couple weeks. 

I am also having second thoughts on starting the ecommerce. I feel at this stage the appearance of the cakes will suffer too much and also it will require too much of my time on packaging and shipping. I want to try to get more wholesale business. But that’s also though. Maybe I will need a brainstorming session with you guys xD

  • Like 7

eG Foodblog: Franci (2012) From heirloom tomatoes to zucchini blossoms

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted

@FranciSorry to hear about the issues with your employee... unfortunately, that type of thing is all too common.  I can understand your feelings about ecommerce.  I'm a manufacturer (of electrical products, not food) and we are mostly wholesale, but a do a small amount of online retail. While the overall margin is greater with retail, when you take all the aspects into account (shipping and handling time, order processing, answering questions/emails, etc.) I still find it more profitable to sell wholesale... and it is a lot easier and less taxing on sales pressures.  The only issue is that when you have some large accounts, you need to constantly make sure that they are happy with quality/service because they represent a larger portion of revenue, proportionally than any single retail sale could ever be.

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  • 1 month later...
Franci

Franci

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)

Hi guys. I’ve just started selling my new product this week, I’ve delivered the first 3 cases. I finally received the wrap from Italy. It is a patented paper, love the way it looks. And I am heat sealing it. 

 

D5BE671F-500A-4763-AC91-E8D08F3BF7C6.thumb.jpeg.4d23457a12afba5b2d93223c916529e6.jpeg

 

And here is the new product. A classic Italian: chocolate salami. I thought it was a classic but still I get a lot of funny faces, people thinking of a salami with meat. 

The actual salami is the one on the right, with Valrhona cocoa powder (the salami on the left was made with a different cocoa for comparison)

2691FFC0-FF9B-4221-80BA-C90B40E30B44.thumb.png.60c1abff92b80ff8f8e91dc078056fd2.png

 

 

I was thinking for tying them like a real salami but it was suicide! I think it’s highly addictive and delicious. Hopefully I can start selling it online in November. 

 

956FB593-B7BA-43C4-8D67-B012BF6509EA.thumb.jpeg.a8f29f73f7703daaaa971e2c5e5c7d10.jpeg

 

 

8AD8B8DD-3D3B-4E68-9382-746E702FCA7D.thumb.jpeg.b38517a9e2631e3ab00df836b795e489.jpeg

 

Edited by Franci (log)
  • Like 19

eG Foodblog: Franci (2012) From heirloom tomatoes to zucchini blossoms

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted

Those look good enough to eat. Will they be in any of the retail shops that sell your baked goods?

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

Franci

Franci

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, cakewalk said:

They are beautiful!

Thank you

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

@Franci wow... That looks great. I would love it! Once the wrapper is opened, how long does it last?

 

For now I put an expiration date of 6 weeks. I need to make a longer lab test analysis. But I personally had some that were 2 months old. 

 

 

19 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Franci, I am so happy for you!!!!! 

 

Thanks Shelby :) 

11 minutes ago, Alex said:

Those look good enough to eat. Will they be in any of the retail shops that sell your baked goods?

 

For now I only delivered to Fleisher’s Craft Butchery in the UES in Manhattan, Dellapietras butcher in Brooklyn and Caputo’s Fine Foods in Brooklyn. But I think these salamis can be easily be shipped anywhere. I am going to start to contact places all over to see to place them. 

Edited by Franci (log)
  • Like 3

eG Foodblog: Franci (2012) From heirloom tomatoes to zucchini blossoms

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'm so excited for you Franci!

Me too!  

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Franci said:

@Kerry Beal the Thermomix was essential! Thanks so much :) 

@Anna N I hoping it does well! Timing is good. Not too far away from Thanksgiving. 

 

Franci, the timing really does look good.  I can see these being featured at some Christmas and New Year's parties.  They look beautiful and tempting - both wrapped and unwrapped!

  • Like 1

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

quiet1

quiet1

Posted
Posted (edited)

My mother actually NEEDS one of those for her birthday (in December) as long as there isn't too much sodium. Where can I find the nutritional information (she's on a low sodium diet :( ) and any idea who might be able to ship one to me? It doesn't look like you're doing mail order from your website. But it would be a super gift for her as she likes fancy chocolates and she loves charcuterie but with the sodium restrictions most tasty preserved meats are really not in her diet.

 

ETA: I'm picturing this for a party as part of a dessert 'cheese' plate which has items similar to what you'd find on a cheese/charcuterie plate but with a dessert spin, so not as heavy on the savory flavors. I think it'd be quite fun and a good conversation piece.

Edited by quiet1 (log)
Franci

Franci

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
On 10/27/2017 at 11:46 PM, quiet1 said:

My mother actually NEEDS one of those for her birthday (in December) as long as there isn't too much sodium. Where can I find the nutritional information (she's on a low sodium diet :( ) and any idea who might be able to ship one to me? It doesn't look like you're doing mail order from your website. But it would be a super gift for her as she likes fancy chocolates and she loves charcuterie but with the sodium restrictions most tasty preserved meats are really not in her diet.

 

ETA: I'm picturing this for a party as part of a dessert 'cheese' plate which has items similar to what you'd find on a cheese/charcuterie plate but with a dessert spin, so not as heavy on the savory flavors. I think it'd be quite fun and a good conversation piece.

 

 

Sorry @quiet1 for the late response. 

 

Here is the nutritional info 

 

CC798514-F1E6-4451-AB4B-28A8DA134B0B.thumb.png.afb486c2f6e7f0f671b8e32651629fdd.png

 

I hope I’ll be able to start selling online by the of November. But in case email and I’ll happy to arrange. 

 

  • Like 6

eG Foodblog: Franci (2012) From heirloom tomatoes to zucchini blossoms

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  • 1 month later...
Steve R.

Steve R.

Posted
Posted

We had friends coming over for a holiday dinner last night, so we went to our usual neighborhood butcher, Della Pietra.   While there, we picked up a limoncello cake for dessert.  Everyone loved it.

 I just figured that this would be a good time to let you know that, whenever we’ve been in there, the guys at Della Pietra have regularly been overheard recommending your baked goods.

Sorry you’re leaving Brooklyn.  Best wishes in Florida.

  • Like 5
Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Steve R. said:

We had friends coming over for a holiday dinner last night, so we went to our usual neighborhood butcher, Della Pietra.   While there, we picked up a limoncello cake for dessert.  Everyone loved it.

 I just figured that this would be a good time to let you know that, whenever we’ve been in there, the guys at Della Pietra have regularly been overheard recommending your baked goods.

Sorry you’re leaving Brooklyn.  Best wishes in Florida.

 

Florida?

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Alex said:

 

Florida?

 

Miami, Florida.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

Miami, Florida.

 

Ah, thank you. I'll be in NYC in March, so perhaps I'll have an opportunity to enjoy Franci's cakes in person, so to speak.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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