Shownotes
Business Inspiration
A childhood love of baking [4:50] Ronda’s husband suggests she go from baking for friends to baking for business [7:22]Candle Flickering Moments
The difficult hunt for a location with a commercial kitchen and her creative solution in year one [16:03] Ronda’s continual struggle with balancing her day [22:22]Business Building Insight
Linking up for a Russell Stover apprenticeship [8:02] Searching for a business name [12:04] The importance of a retail location [19:05] The value in doing local events [26:45] Ronda’s approach to getting her customers [28:14] A successful and slightly different email approach [28:56]Success Trait
Ronda loves people and enjoys talking on a one-on-one basis. Her husband lovingly defines them as “The Chocolate Bartenders.”Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Recognizing the need for a supporter in her business, Ronda mentions several times throughout our talk how much her husband contributes to the success of the business.Valuable Book
So Long Insecurity: You’ve Been a Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore
Contact Links
Website Facebook LinkedIn The Cocoa Cabana, 651 S. 8th St., West Dundee, IL 847-851-8775If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 67.
Speaker:Actually the proof is in the chocolate.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:I asked whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell
Speaker:online or are just getting started.
Speaker:You'll discover a new insight to gain traction and to grow
Speaker:your business.
Speaker:And today I have joining us,
Speaker:Rhonda Prioleau.
Speaker:Rhonda is the owner of Coca cabana gourmet chocolates.
Speaker:She makes all her own chocolates in the store,
Speaker:including toffee caramel creams,
Speaker:marshmallow peanut butter cups budgies,
Speaker:which are turtles,
Speaker:and one of their biggest sellers,
Speaker:chocolate covered potato chips.
Speaker:The cocoa cabana is in its 10th year of business and
Speaker:have been in their current location for nine years.
Speaker:Rhonda is spreading the word that chocolate is not bad for
Speaker:you. It's just gotten a bad rap lately.
Speaker:Chocolate can actually be good for you and has health benefits
Speaker:as long as you eat good quality chocolate.
Speaker:That is the key.
Speaker:And I can't wait to hear more about chocolate and your
Speaker:business. Welcome to the show,
Speaker:Rhonda. Thank you.
Speaker:Would you add anything to the intro before we get started?
Speaker:No. I think that you covered everything pretty good.
Speaker:I like to kick off the interview by talking about a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:This gives us a little bit of a different feel for
Speaker:what you're all about.
Speaker:So if you were to create your very own perfect candle,
Speaker:what color would it be?
Speaker:And what would be the quote on that candle?
Speaker:The color of my candle would be Aqua or the color
Speaker:of the Caribbean sea.
Speaker:That's one of my favorite places to be.
Speaker:And the quote on there would be never give yourself the
Speaker:chance to say what if and what does that mean to
Speaker:you? Well,
Speaker:when I have big decisions to make or even small ones,
Speaker:and do I take this chance,
Speaker:do I go for it?
Speaker:Do I stay away from this challenge or opportunity?
Speaker:I always ask myself if I don't do this,
Speaker:will I regret it now?
Speaker:What if I would have tried it?
Speaker:Would it have been good for my business works both ways.
Speaker:Good and bad,
Speaker:but I don't ever want to go through my business and
Speaker:never give myself the chance to do things.
Speaker:So I say,
Speaker:never give yourself the chance to say what if That's a
Speaker:great message for our listeners too,
Speaker:because we have a lot of people who are just starting
Speaker:out, they're thinking,
Speaker:well, maybe I want to try and create my own business
Speaker:and that what if syndrome,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that syndrome like,
Speaker:well, am I good enough for,
Speaker:can I really do it?
Speaker:And all of that creeps up in all of us.
Speaker:Right? Sure.
Speaker:And virtual,
Speaker:your quote is saying,
Speaker:just do it.
Speaker:Yeah. There might be the what but overcome that.
Speaker:What if,
Speaker:because you're never going to know and no one's ever going
Speaker:to achieve success unless they try That's.
Speaker:Right. And I can think of a few things along the
Speaker:way that if I wouldn't have tried it,
Speaker:then I wouldn't know.
Speaker:In some cases I can say,
Speaker:I know that I should have done that,
Speaker:or I shouldn't have done it,
Speaker:but either way,
Speaker:I can't say what if anymore,
Speaker:right? You gave it a chance.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Some things aren't going to work out,
Speaker:but that's a learning then,
Speaker:and then you improvise or you change or you adjust.
Speaker:So I think the whole message just to wrap up this
Speaker:little portion right here is if you're listening right now and
Speaker:your thinking about starting a business,
Speaker:take some type of action.
Speaker:You're already taking action by listening to this podcast.
Speaker:So educate yourself a little more,
Speaker:learn a little more,
Speaker:know a little more,
Speaker:and then take the chance.
Speaker:And this doesn't mean you take a huge risk and quit
Speaker:your job tomorrow,
Speaker:necessarily just take the chance and see what comes of it,
Speaker:because you never want to live that life of regret wishing
Speaker:50 years down the road,
Speaker:or, you know,
Speaker:whatever that length is for you given your age right now
Speaker:that you say,
Speaker:gosh, if I would've just done it at that point in
Speaker:time, where could I possibly have been right now?
Speaker:That would be just the worst feeling.
Speaker:Yes, that's true.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So Rhonda and I met at the America's bacon and sweet
Speaker:show last November,
Speaker:I think is when the show is,
Speaker:and I have tried your English toffee and I have tried
Speaker:your biggest seller,
Speaker:those chocolate covered potato chips and Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Addicting, like crazy.
Speaker:They're delicious.
Speaker:So I know you have a very successful business.
Speaker:Talk to us,
Speaker:go back way back.
Speaker:So now we're talking 10 years ago.
Speaker:Okay. What was the point where you decided you were going
Speaker:to start a business?
Speaker:Tell us that whole story.
Speaker:It goes back to my childhood of the season of Christmas
Speaker:and baking with my mom.
Speaker:And we always made cookies and candy,
Speaker:lots and lots of plates that were passed out to people
Speaker:in the neighborhood and business and at church and took that
Speaker:love of doing that with me into my adulthood.
Speaker:And I think it was the year 2000.
Speaker:My daughter was a figure skater and she was on a
Speaker:competitive team that did a lot of traveling class,
Speaker:a lot of money,
Speaker:synchronized ice skating.
Speaker:It's very beautiful to watch,
Speaker:but very expensive.
Speaker:And at some of the events,
Speaker:I was trying to think of ways to make money.
Speaker:And I started making my toffee,
Speaker:hoping that might use it for a little bit of income
Speaker:for the travel and costumes and all.
Speaker:And I sold it at some of our events and some
Speaker:of the moms were saying,
Speaker:well, can you make this for me?
Speaker:Can you make this for me at Christmas to give to
Speaker:my family,
Speaker:can you make this for me at the end of school
Speaker:for teachers?
Speaker:So I started doing that and one of the moms was
Speaker:really ordering a lot me and she said,
Speaker:can you make anything else other than just tophi we'll share.
Speaker:So I started making my Carmel and I started making peanut
Speaker:butter cups for her and just kind of rolled into more
Speaker:and more of that.
Speaker:And I had a friend and it's kind of funny,
Speaker:but she gave me $50 and she said,
Speaker:I'd like you to use this to start your business Really
Speaker:enough. But It was like,
Speaker:Oh, well somebody believes in me.
Speaker:Oh, that had to make you feel so good.
Speaker:And so excited to,
Speaker:Yeah, she was ordering a lot too.
Speaker:She didn't have anything to do with the skating club,
Speaker:but she was ordering a lot and she was just passing
Speaker:it out to our neighbors at Christmas.
Speaker:You already had a business going that you didn't even know
Speaker:cause you were exchanging money for this when they were ordering
Speaker:clearly you were charging them because you're buying product and all
Speaker:of that,
Speaker:right? Yes.
Speaker:I was charging a minimal amount because at the time I
Speaker:really didn't even know how to charge for that.
Speaker:And I was just excited and happy to share the toffee
Speaker:with people.
Speaker:I love to feed people and see their joy when they
Speaker:eat something they like.
Speaker:And it really wasn't an official business yet either because you
Speaker:were cooking out of your kitchen at that time.
Speaker:Not yet,
Speaker:not at all.
Speaker:It was not a business that was just kind of like
Speaker:you baking cupcakes and taking them to your neighbor or your
Speaker:friends, you know?
Speaker:Right. But my husband and I used to go on dates
Speaker:and I re I say used to,
Speaker:because we're so busy with the business that we don't get
Speaker:to go out anymore,
Speaker:but we would go on a date to say a coffee
Speaker:shop or ice cream or wherever we were.
Speaker:And we were talking about doing a business and it came
Speaker:up repeatedly.
Speaker:And I was at the time I was working with my
Speaker:mother in her home doing daycare and she was going to
Speaker:retire at the end of 2005.
Speaker:She said,
Speaker:what do you want to do?
Speaker:You want to take over the daycare?
Speaker:You want to do something else that I want to make
Speaker:candy. She said,
Speaker:okay, how are you going to do this?
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:So on one of my dates with my husband,
Speaker:he said,
Speaker:let's go home,
Speaker:find out what we can find out on the internet,
Speaker:start looking for equipment,
Speaker:or let's just try and let's see what happens.
Speaker:So I went home that night.
Speaker:It was on the internet and I was looking for whatever.
Speaker:I could find that I could start gathering this information to
Speaker:make a good decision.
Speaker:And I found a place in elk Grove that sells candy
Speaker:equipment for small candy makers.
Speaker:And on their site,
Speaker:they had a link to a candy maker in Nebraska that
Speaker:had a school and I read their brochure and they had
Speaker:everything that I wanted to do.
Speaker:So I went and I told my mom,
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:I found a small school that I want to go to
Speaker:and learn.
Speaker:And she said,
Speaker:okay, I'll pay for it.
Speaker:So I went to Nebraska for several weeks and I worked
Speaker:one-on-one with this candy maker who was head at that time,
Speaker:had been in the business for 70 years.
Speaker:He had started working out at the age of 16 as
Speaker:a soda jerk with Mrs.
Speaker:Russell Stover's,
Speaker:candies, ice cream and desserts,
Speaker:I think was the name of it.
Speaker:And he actually lived with the Stovers for quite a while,
Speaker:and then worked for Mr.
Speaker:Stover for 36 years.
Speaker:So he knew a lot about the candy business and I
Speaker:learned so much and I came home and we just started
Speaker:collecting all the things that we needed.
Speaker:We began searching for a place for our store and how
Speaker:are we going to do this and working with the health
Speaker:department. And next thing I know I had a small store
Speaker:in Stratford square for six months,
Speaker:and now I'm in my other store for almost nine years
Speaker:in August.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So I have some questions,
Speaker:but before I just want to highlight a little bit of
Speaker:what you've talked about in terms of your story.
Speaker:And there are some things that I think are so great
Speaker:for our listeners to recognize as they're considering their journey.
Speaker:The first thing is that as you were cooking and baking
Speaker:for your friends,
Speaker:you were getting proof of concept that your product was something
Speaker:special because sure they could have gone out to a local
Speaker:bakery instead they were coming to you.
Speaker:So there was something in terms of the quality or the
Speaker:style or your presentation that people were feeling was very valuable.
Speaker:And Rhonda,
Speaker:it could have been just you as a personality to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the whole package you in complementing your product.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:the two together is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker:The second thing is that you had,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it was a situation with your mom,
Speaker:the daycare,
Speaker:making some type of transition.
Speaker:You recognizing that,
Speaker:that wasn't something that you wanted to necessarily take on that
Speaker:would fulfill you because that would have been super easy just
Speaker:to roll into that and more money and more money.
Speaker:Instead, you were looking at something that you really loved doing,
Speaker:which is a really big point gift businesses,
Speaker:because if you don't love your product or what you're getting
Speaker:into, it's going to be tough to sustain it for the
Speaker:long haul.
Speaker:But you also had a really supportive husband,
Speaker:but could be anybody.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:whether it's a friend member of your community,
Speaker:someone in your family,
Speaker:it's really important to have that support someone who's believing in
Speaker:you and backing you up on those days when you're just
Speaker:like, Oh my gosh,
Speaker:why did I get this started?
Speaker:Why did I do this?
Speaker:What am I doing?
Speaker:Just someone to help ground you as you're moving forward in
Speaker:your journey.
Speaker:And the third thing,
Speaker:Rhonda, that I really,
Speaker:really liked that you talked about is you didn't just open
Speaker:up shop right away.
Speaker:You went,
Speaker:you did research to see,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how do you open a business?
Speaker:What types of equipment,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:And then with the whole Russell Stover,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:what a stellar name to have in terms of education that
Speaker:you now have,
Speaker:that you can rely on.
Speaker:So all of that going and going and training,
Speaker:you really made a commitment in the value that you would
Speaker:be bringing into your business.
Speaker:So I see all three of those things.
Speaker:I didn't know any of that before really,
Speaker:really set a strong foundation for your business.
Speaker:So kudos to you on that.
Speaker:Obviously the proof is in the baking for how long you've
Speaker:been in business.
Speaker:Actually the proof Is in the chocolate Proof is in that
Speaker:chocolate. All right.
Speaker:How did you decide what you were going to name the
Speaker:shop or your business overall?
Speaker:I should say,
Speaker:Well, when I was trying to choose a name,
Speaker:I kept saying chocolate chocolate was the word that kept coming
Speaker:to mind.
Speaker:I wanted it to be something about chocolate back in the
Speaker:early days of when chocolate chips were starting,
Speaker:it was always somebody's name chocolates.
Speaker:And I just wanted a name that represented who I was
Speaker:and I wanted it to be chocolate,
Speaker:something. So I had some funny names like the chocolate mousse
Speaker:or the chocolate house or whatever,
Speaker:something, some kind of weird thing.
Speaker:Everybody kept turning their nose up at my ideas.
Speaker:So I thought,
Speaker:well, what's another word for chocolate.
Speaker:So I got out of Saurus and actually I didn't need
Speaker:a thesaurus for what's another word for chocolate because that's Coco.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:well, okay,
Speaker:the cocoa cocoa house,
Speaker:the Coco cabin,
Speaker:just any kind of something that had a nice little ring
Speaker:to it.
Speaker:So now I really get out my thesaurus and I looked
Speaker:up another word for house and there's all these little choices.
Speaker:And I thought I saw the word cabana and I said,
Speaker:Oh, the cocoa could be in it.
Speaker:Of course the song comes to mind.
Speaker:And I told that to a number of people in my
Speaker:family, couple of friends,
Speaker:everybody gave me the thumbs up,
Speaker:said, this is it.
Speaker:That's the name of your store?
Speaker:Absolutely. In fact,
Speaker:I had to practice your name a couple of times before
Speaker:we did the interview,
Speaker:because I keep wanting to say in Copa because of the
Speaker:song, right.
Speaker:Because how many times have I song that,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Sung it probably hundreds of times.
Speaker:I'm sure.
Speaker:I'm sure that's true.
Speaker:So a couple of things give business owners.
Speaker:Also, if you can make linkage with something that's already known,
Speaker:like Rhonda did super idea because nobody forgets your name,
Speaker:Rhonda. Once they hear it,
Speaker:I'm sure they get it.
Speaker:They might not be able to pronounce it right away.
Speaker:Cause they probably call you the Copa cabana sometimes.
Speaker:Yeah. Just like I was doing,
Speaker:but that's a great key and a tip as you're looking
Speaker:for names.
Speaker:The other thing I just want to bring up here round,
Speaker:and it doesn't sound like you were really looking at it,
Speaker:but you did touch on it.
Speaker:That a lot of people will use their name with chocolate.
Speaker:Rhonda could have named her store.
Speaker:Ronda's chocolates.
Speaker:One of the problems with doing that is if you establish
Speaker:a name for yourself and then you want to go sell
Speaker:the business.
Speaker:If you leave the company,
Speaker:the value of your business is going to be last because
Speaker:it's associated with you as a person versus what Rhonda has
Speaker:done her as a product.
Speaker:So think about that too.
Speaker:When you're considering names for your businesses,
Speaker:if you're a jewelry designer,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:and you are not going to sell your business because you're
Speaker:the one who creates the original art for your business.
Speaker:And once you ever decide you are going to be done,
Speaker:nobody thinks about that.
Speaker:These, you know,
Speaker:of course right now when you're just starting,
Speaker:but if you're not ever looking at selling and you're the
Speaker:one creating,
Speaker:then it makes total sense to your name for the business.
Speaker:But just adjust a couple of points as you're considering names
Speaker:or if you're restructuring different divisions,
Speaker:that type of thing.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's go on.
Speaker:So how did it come to pass that you pretty much
Speaker:right away jumped out of your house,
Speaker:making for neighbors.
Speaker:It was all in your kitchen,
Speaker:which I'm assuming was not a commercial kitchen,
Speaker:cause it was in your house.
Speaker:What was the decision and why did you right away go
Speaker:outside your house versus cooking in a commercial kitchen and just
Speaker:building your business that way.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:in the town that I lived in,
Speaker:you're not allowed to have any kind of commercial kitchen.
Speaker:They did not allow that per health standards.
Speaker:And if I wanted to grow the business and be legal,
Speaker:I had to move into a location where the health department
Speaker:could check it out and make sure that I had my
Speaker:license and that my kitchen was clean or up to their
Speaker:standards. So for me to stay in my home,
Speaker:I was not going to be able to progress any further
Speaker:in my business.
Speaker:That was a challenge for me because that's a big step
Speaker:to leave your home and go into a place and picking
Speaker:a location.
Speaker:And how is this all gonna work out?
Speaker:So the first thing that we decided to do was to
Speaker:find a commercial kitchen,
Speaker:where we could take a small spot,
Speaker:set it up for us.
Speaker:And the health department could come in and check out my
Speaker:area and I would be free to use it.
Speaker:We did that.
Speaker:It lasted about four weeks.
Speaker:Maybe it was a kitchen where they cooked food.
Speaker:So the temperature was too hot.
Speaker:It was not a good place for making chocolate.
Speaker:So we left there and ended up finding a place at
Speaker:Stratford mall that I could go to.
Speaker:It was an empty store,
Speaker:an old Panera store.
Speaker:And I was able to use a portion of that just
Speaker:for sales only because I didn't have the ability to change
Speaker:that Panera kitchen into a kitchen from making chocolate.
Speaker:So I was in that store while I rented a kitchen,
Speaker:a commercial kitchen on a farm.
Speaker:If you've ever heard of Go-Gurts farm out in Hampshire,
Speaker:we knew the people,
Speaker:the family that owns it.
Speaker:So we asked them about using their kitchen and they only
Speaker:use it for six weeks a year during their harvest season.
Speaker:And they let us come in at the end of October.
Speaker:And we were there from November to June.
Speaker:We would go out there,
Speaker:make our candy,
Speaker:package it up,
Speaker:bring it back to Stratford mall.
Speaker:And we knew that Stratford mall was going to be temporary.
Speaker:So we started looking for a permanent place where we could
Speaker:have the kitchen and the retail front together.
Speaker:Okay. So that was your intermediate to be able to get
Speaker:in business and get started in going Yes,
Speaker:but the health department was the biggest reason I had to
Speaker:be out of the house because I could not make candy
Speaker:in my house.
Speaker:And I really wanted to try this.
Speaker:I wanted to see how it was going to go and
Speaker:you can't go out and get accounts.
Speaker:And I did try to get accounts while I was in
Speaker:my home,
Speaker:but some of them are like,
Speaker:well, you're still in your home.
Speaker:I don't think so right now.
Speaker:So will you looking at this First year as a test?
Speaker:Cause it was clearly cumbersome to have to create everything in
Speaker:one place and then bring in everything into your mall location.
Speaker:So conceptually,
Speaker:where you saying this is a test of the concept or
Speaker:were you saying,
Speaker:okay, this is year one,
Speaker:we're going to have to change,
Speaker:but this is how we're starting.
Speaker:I guess I would say that I really didn't think of
Speaker:it like that.
Speaker:It's just kind of how it happened.
Speaker:I knew I was in my home and we had to
Speaker:start finding location.
Speaker:It was just getting everything all together and preparing and going
Speaker:places and making the decisions.
Speaker:It just kind of,
Speaker:it took me about a year to get into a place
Speaker:and I wasn't in the rush.
Speaker:I didn't know how it was going to go or how
Speaker:it was going to happen.
Speaker:I didn't even really have a clue of where I would
Speaker:go or where I was end up.
Speaker:I was just taking steps forward and seeing what would happen
Speaker:if doors would open or taking off Leap of faith and
Speaker:just seeing what happened from there.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So within a year you found a new location.
Speaker:So talk us through that a little bit.
Speaker:And also what types of considerations or what things you needed
Speaker:to look for,
Speaker:you would advise people if they are in the baking field,
Speaker:what types of things you need to look for as you're
Speaker:looking for a lease,
Speaker:The least to me was most important.
Speaker:I had to be able to afford it.
Speaker:You know how they say location is everything.
Speaker:And that is true.
Speaker:There were several places we looked at didn't like the location,
Speaker:or it was too expensive.
Speaker:And the place where I'm at now,
Speaker:I stumbled on because my son was working in that Plaza
Speaker:and he said,
Speaker:mom, try here.
Speaker:There's a place that's already got a kitchen in it and
Speaker:empty. So I did call the landlord.
Speaker:We met with him.
Speaker:He was really nice.
Speaker:He worked with us on the rent and it was a
Speaker:great opportunity.
Speaker:So I took it now,
Speaker:the location has not been as great for me as I
Speaker:would like it to be people don't always see me going
Speaker:South on the road I'm on,
Speaker:but they may see me going North.
Speaker:That's probably been another challenge that I've had trying to get
Speaker:people going by seeing,
Speaker:I think being in a location where you're visible,
Speaker:maybe with foot traffic is good or just in a place
Speaker:where there's a lot of retail business.
Speaker:I'm in a shopping center where it's a lot of business
Speaker:business. That's the same.
Speaker:People come to work every day.
Speaker:There's not much retail in there.
Speaker:And that's hard to The one thing that I hear you
Speaker:saying that was really good is you found a location that
Speaker:already had a kitchen.
Speaker:So since it already had a kitchen,
Speaker:you knew it met code in terms of structure with the
Speaker:building and the landlord was willing to negotiate with you probably
Speaker:to fill the spot.
Speaker:So you've negotiated and balanced that visibility factor with it being
Speaker:affordable. And then also you not having to build out a
Speaker:whole kitchen.
Speaker:Yes, that was big.
Speaker:We didn't have to build out this kitchen.
Speaker:It's a gorgeous spot.
Speaker:It's got nice tile floors that had the three sinks in
Speaker:the back already.
Speaker:It was just perfect.
Speaker:It wasn't a lot of places we looked at was just
Speaker:an empty shell.
Speaker:And so you had to try to visualize how you wanted
Speaker:it to be.
Speaker:And when the costs would come to mind,
Speaker:it became overwhelming.
Speaker:And I was discouraged.
Speaker:So this place encouraged me,
Speaker:but being there nine years,
Speaker:I can see now that a different location might be more
Speaker:beneficial to me.
Speaker:Do you think you'll stay there?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:We talk about it often and try to imagine how it
Speaker:would be what we would do.
Speaker:Where would we go?
Speaker:And those questions haven't really been answered yet.
Speaker:I would really need to know where we're going to go
Speaker:and have to try to visualize being there.
Speaker:The nice thing is you are open to the idea.
Speaker:You see that that could be another step for you.
Speaker:So who knows,
Speaker:if you find a space that is available,
Speaker:you've already been thinking about it.
Speaker:Do you might find another space with a kitchen in a
Speaker:better area in terms of visibility,
Speaker:Right? And it all goes back to my quote.
Speaker:Never give yourself the chance to say what if so if
Speaker:I was to close my business up and not try another
Speaker:location down the road,
Speaker:would I be saying to myself,
Speaker:what if I would have tried to another location?
Speaker:What if I would've done this?
Speaker:So that's kind of where I am at right now.
Speaker:Just that this crossroads of what am I going to do?
Speaker:Where am I going to move?
Speaker:Do I stay here and try to do more advertising or
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Can you bring us to a point a story that was
Speaker:really dramatic with the growth of your business,
Speaker:some problem or something where you thought like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:can I resolve this?
Speaker:Bring us to a point where there was a real serious
Speaker:issue that you had to overcome and then talk us through
Speaker:how you were able to do Well in my business,
Speaker:there's a lot of serious issues.
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:I see they have all these small challenges sometimes make the
Speaker:whole business,
Speaker:the challenge,
Speaker:but probably I'm an,
Speaker:I'm going to say it's an ongoing challenge.
Speaker:It's something that I haven't been able to really resolve yet
Speaker:because of the size of my business,
Speaker:because I'm still small and I don't have the sales to
Speaker:be able to employ a lot of people right now.
Speaker:So the challenge is that I really struggle with today is
Speaker:how am I going to plan my day?
Speaker:I need to go into my office and do some work
Speaker:on the computer,
Speaker:respond to emails.
Speaker:I need to order things.
Speaker:I need to go inventory this,
Speaker:Oh, there's a customer at the front door.
Speaker:I need to help them.
Speaker:And I need to get the chocolate going.
Speaker:I need to make this.
Speaker:I need to make that,
Speaker:Oh, there's another phone call.
Speaker:And so there's pull every day of what do I do
Speaker:first? How do I make something of priority?
Speaker:But then I get pulled in another direction.
Speaker:And when you own your own business,
Speaker:you have to do all the work.
Speaker:And if you don't have enough sales to hire anybody,
Speaker:then you're stuck with being pulled in many directions.
Speaker:And I think that's my biggest challenge.
Speaker:I hopefully with my sales get big enough and I can
Speaker:hire lots of people.
Speaker:That challenge will be overcome.
Speaker:That's what I hope for.
Speaker:And that's really probably the thing I struggled with the most.
Speaker:So you struggle because you have to figure out how to
Speaker:get it all done.
Speaker:Number one,
Speaker:and then number two,
Speaker:you may have a project that you want to do,
Speaker:but you can't under prioritize.
Speaker:A customer wants is coming in to buy something.
Speaker:I mean that obviously,
Speaker:no matter what you're doing,
Speaker:if someone walks in the store has to rise to the
Speaker:top of the list of your priority.
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:There's many times.
Speaker:If I'm in the store by myself,
Speaker:you're just ready to pour a mold and your chocolates they're
Speaker:ready to be used or you put chocolate on or centers,
Speaker:caramels or chips or toffee,
Speaker:whatever on your chocolate and rubber.
Speaker:And do you have them coming off the other end of
Speaker:the belt and you got to take them off and the
Speaker:doorbell rings and you're like,
Speaker:I'll be with you in just a minute.
Speaker:Or you have to let your chocolate sit because you have
Speaker:to go help a customer or the phone rings.
Speaker:And there's just that ongoing challenge.
Speaker:Right. But I get through every day.
Speaker:Well, that's good.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:Give biz listeners.
Speaker:We talked about this in an episode,
Speaker:a couple of episodes ago,
Speaker:not too long ago,
Speaker:it was with Carl Benson cooks of Crocus Hill.
Speaker:And he was talking about the other side of this.
Speaker:So this is very compatible and Randell kind of fill you
Speaker:in. We'll use talking about,
Speaker:they have a bacon supply shop up in Minneapolis and he
Speaker:was talking about the fact that individual store owners like you
Speaker:Rhonda have the challenges,
Speaker:but they want to stay the masters of their store.
Speaker:They want to stay only in the one store.
Speaker:And they cooks has elected to now have multiple stores.
Speaker:And the challenges change because the business owners management of their
Speaker:day changes because now they have to manage employees versus the
Speaker:other things that Rhonda is talking about.
Speaker:And some people don't want to do that,
Speaker:right? They want to stay closely connected,
Speaker:baking their products,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:So it's a,
Speaker:at that point,
Speaker:when you start adding employees or start growing,
Speaker:it's a real changing point in terms of really self inflection
Speaker:of what do I really want to be doing?
Speaker:What do I really love in the business?
Speaker:I just bring it up for you to consider if you
Speaker:are an established company and you're thinking you always have to
Speaker:grow, that's not the case because you may grow out of
Speaker:exactly what you love to do.
Speaker:So, and I don't know for you,
Speaker:Rhonda, I mean,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:bringing in staff,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:as you grow like that,
Speaker:it solves some problems,
Speaker:but it brings up a whole nother set of problems.
Speaker:That's true too.
Speaker:And let's face it.
Speaker:Having businesses is a journey.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you start one place just like Rhonda has been talking about
Speaker:out of her house first,
Speaker:then her year one,
Speaker:where she was using the kitchen on a farm,
Speaker:great option,
Speaker:by the way,
Speaker:I think that's fabulous.
Speaker:And so creative and perfect.
Speaker:Now she's been in our shop for nine years and POS
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:possibly stay in,
Speaker:possibly moving.
Speaker:It's a journey.
Speaker:We need to enjoy each step along the way and appreciate
Speaker:it for what it is,
Speaker:because it's always like when you get to this destination,
Speaker:the dream that you were searching for,
Speaker:you're already ready to go.
Speaker:Another step.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:Yeah. So Rhonda,
Speaker:what types of things do you find really work in terms
Speaker:of bringing business,
Speaker:either into the store or people ordering online from you?
Speaker:What are you finding is working best for you these days?
Speaker:Actually, the,
Speaker:what I find works the best for me,
Speaker:as far as bringing business into the story is doing local
Speaker:events, small,
Speaker:local events.
Speaker:I've tried doing big events,
Speaker:big chocolate festivals or an a woman's expo.
Speaker:They don't work for me because there's so many people in
Speaker:there and they come from so many vendors in there and
Speaker:they come from so many different places and the people that
Speaker:are attending come from all over.
Speaker:So they're not going to buy a box of my candy,
Speaker:go home and like it and come to my store.
Speaker:If they live way South or way North,
Speaker:they're not going to drive an hour.
Speaker:And they say,
Speaker:they're going to order online,
Speaker:but they don't.
Speaker:So for me doing a local events that are within a
Speaker:certain distance of my store,
Speaker:I have the most luck because those people live close by
Speaker:and they'll say,
Speaker:Oh, you're local.
Speaker:I'll come into your store.
Speaker:And you do see some of them come in.
Speaker:So for me,
Speaker:it's the local events that are small and there's not a
Speaker:lot of competition.
Speaker:And just,
Speaker:or you're the only person at the event or whatever it
Speaker:is. But the local things are best For me.
Speaker:And I think people love supporting local businesses too.
Speaker:So when you talk about having a little bit of a
Speaker:visibility issue,
Speaker:then going to local events,
Speaker:you're upping your visibility and you're connecting with the community and
Speaker:they know then you're right in the area.
Speaker:So then that starts to be ingrained that,
Speaker:Oh, she's right here.
Speaker:So even if you can't see or they know you're there,
Speaker:right. And what do you do on the customer service and
Speaker:to make people feel appreciated and valued?
Speaker:Well, When customers come in the door,
Speaker:the first thing I do is I go out to the
Speaker:front and I'll say,
Speaker:hi, how are you today?
Speaker:And sometimes you get a,
Speaker:Oh, I'm just fine.
Speaker:And I'm a happy person at the time to get a
Speaker:grunt. But either way,
Speaker:I try to engage the person and ask them,
Speaker:this is their first time here.
Speaker:If it is the first time,
Speaker:how did they find out about us?
Speaker:What is it that they're looking for?
Speaker:If they need help,
Speaker:I can make suggestions,
Speaker:just trying to not really get personal with them,
Speaker:but just engage with them and make them feel really welcome.
Speaker:You don't get that a lot of stores because it just
Speaker:doesn't happen a lot.
Speaker:Do you have a customer list that you keep in communication
Speaker:via email or any of that type of thing?
Speaker:Set up?
Speaker:I have an email sign up sheet by our cash register
Speaker:and we do send out emails here and there.
Speaker:I don't do a lot of emailing because I know people
Speaker:are bombarded with emails,
Speaker:but I do like to send out something special.
Speaker:Like if we're doing something at Valentine's day or when the
Speaker:holidays are coming around or just,
Speaker:if there's something I feel,
Speaker:if I'm going to be an event,
Speaker:I would like them to know about it.
Speaker:Just little things like that.
Speaker:I don't send something out weekly.
Speaker:Some people feel like there needs to be a structure,
Speaker:but what your talking about here is you make sure that
Speaker:your emails are a value to people.
Speaker:So even though it might not be on a consistent basis,
Speaker:they know if they're getting an email from you,
Speaker:you have something to say that you think that they should
Speaker:know. It's not just a method of getting your name in
Speaker:front of their face all the time.
Speaker:Well, when you get emails On a weekly basis or every
Speaker:day, even you tend to just delete them because it's the
Speaker:same thing.
Speaker:If you start looking at your daily emails from another type
Speaker:of store or something,
Speaker:it's the same thing.
Speaker:They're just reminding you we're having the sale or having the
Speaker:fail and you just start deleting.
Speaker:But if you get an email from somebody that,
Speaker:Oh, wait,
Speaker:I remember signing up for them and I,
Speaker:what are they saying?
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:So you do stuff to look at what they might be
Speaker:saying because you don't get something from them every day.
Speaker:Right? Yeah.
Speaker:So it's valuable information versus just in your face,
Speaker:Sally. And that's for sure.
Speaker:We hope it's valuable.
Speaker:That's a turnoff,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:So, all right,
Speaker:Rhonda, I want to roll now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you and how you're managing your
Speaker:day, what you feel from way back when has made you
Speaker:successful. So if you think about a trait that you naturally
Speaker:have, that just is Rhonda,
Speaker:what would it be?
Speaker:What is the trait you call upon to be successful?
Speaker:I love people.
Speaker:I like to watch people.
Speaker:I like to interact with people,
Speaker:but I'd like to do that more on a one-to-one basis
Speaker:or face-to-face,
Speaker:I'm not great in front of a group or anything,
Speaker:or, but I like to just know people.
Speaker:And I like to hear those stories.
Speaker:And my husband laughs and says that we're,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:like the chocolate bartenders,
Speaker:because we listen and talk to people so much and they
Speaker:start to open up and tell you their stories and then
Speaker:you're going,
Speaker:no, I got work to do,
Speaker:please leave.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:The chocolate bartenders.
Speaker:That's funny.
Speaker:I just think that I really like people.
Speaker:I think that I'm a friendly person and I just like
Speaker:to get to know them.
Speaker:And I think that's really,
Speaker:what's helped our business.
Speaker:People come in and treat them well.
Speaker:And people over the years have been coming back since the
Speaker:beginning, we know that we've seen their families grow up.
Speaker:We've maybe gone through like a wedding or a baby or
Speaker:even a death.
Speaker:And you just get to know those people.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:what you're doing,
Speaker:we were talking about that as you talk about how you
Speaker:greet people in the store.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:what you're doing is making somebody feel special,
Speaker:special, and uniquely to them.
Speaker:It's because you know about them.
Speaker:You're learning about them.
Speaker:You're talking with them.
Speaker:So the experience in the store makes them feel good.
Speaker:And naturally they're going to want to come back.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:What tool do you use?
Speaker:You've been talking about how your day,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:everything you get pulled off tasks frequently throughout the day.
Speaker:I think a lot of us can relate to that,
Speaker:but is there a tool or something that you use to
Speaker:help you either keep productive or to create balance in your
Speaker:life? Well,
Speaker:my husband tries to keep me balanced.
Speaker:And how does he do that?
Speaker:Good at calming me down thing.
Speaker:Don't worry.
Speaker:We're going to get it done.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:No, one's going to come in here and yell at us
Speaker:because we're running a little late or this is behind.
Speaker:So he really does a good job at thing,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just relax,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:because I do tend to get anxious because I do have
Speaker:so many different things pulling me in different directions and he's
Speaker:a really,
Speaker:really positive part of our business.
Speaker:He's able to show you the other side to put things
Speaker:in perspective for you.
Speaker:Yeah. He's a very positive,
Speaker:optimistic person and I can tend to be the other way,
Speaker:very negative and critical of myself because I want to be
Speaker:a perfectionist.
Speaker:Then he tries to bring me back to it's.
Speaker:Okay. You know,
Speaker:it's not going to be perfect.
Speaker:And if people are late or people are,
Speaker:I don't know what the word is I'm looking for,
Speaker:but people are going to be perfect and they don't expect
Speaker:you to be perfect.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:remember that the person that you're working with doesn't know what
Speaker:you're going through and just,
Speaker:he just helps balance me,
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:And he's,
Speaker:he's a huge part of keeping me thing.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:we're all our own worst critics,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we know that,
Speaker:but you're right.
Speaker:I like what you're talking about.
Speaker:I I'm challenged with that myself because I know what I
Speaker:want to be doing next in a way.
Speaker:It's good.
Speaker:Because then you are pushing yourself forward.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you have goals.
Speaker:You're not just procrastinating,
Speaker:but when you know what you want to do next,
Speaker:it causes so much stress that you're putting on yourself.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:And nobody else Knows what's in your mind of what you
Speaker:are planning to do.
Speaker:So I love the fact that you're using your husband as
Speaker:the one that you go to,
Speaker:to help balance you out because your drive to move forward
Speaker:and his balance to keep you with reality.
Speaker:And that everything is fine is a great mix.
Speaker:And he's been your support from the very beginning,
Speaker:which is It's super cool.
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:And sometimes I tell him that this business is his fault
Speaker:because he's the one that said,
Speaker:let's go home and see what we can find out on
Speaker:the internet.
Speaker:Do you know what date that was?
Speaker:You should have that date marked down.
Speaker:I don't have a date and I have looked back and
Speaker:wish that I knew,
Speaker:but I know it was probably sometime in 2005.
Speaker:Have you read a book lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find?
Speaker:I don't get a lot of time to read.
Speaker:I do love books and I have my favorites and I
Speaker:do have a book that a girlfriend and I read together
Speaker:maybe two or three summers ago.
Speaker:And it's called so long insecurity.
Speaker:You've been a bad friend to us and it's by Beth
Speaker:Moore. And it just kind of talking about how we're insecure
Speaker:about everything from our looks to our worth as women.
Speaker:And we're insecure about our relationships and our future and everything
Speaker:else in between and you name it.
Speaker:We're probably insecure about it.
Speaker:So insecurity makes us miserable and just makes us feel worthless.
Speaker:So I kind of learned through reading the book that when
Speaker:I would say something negative,
Speaker:I had to stop and ask myself,
Speaker:am I telling myself a story?
Speaker:Is this really how people are perceiving me?
Speaker:Is this really true?
Speaker:And if I stop and ask myself that I'm saying,
Speaker:wait a minute,
Speaker:that person doesn't know me.
Speaker:They're not thinking that of me.
Speaker:They're not probably thinking anything of me.
Speaker:And so it just kind of helped me realize that it's
Speaker:me and the voices and me talking to me,
Speaker:it was insecurity.
Speaker:And so I had to learn a way to overcome a
Speaker:lot of that.
Speaker:I'm going to check out that book because I think it
Speaker:could be worthwhile for so many people.
Speaker:The majority of our listeners and the people that I work
Speaker:with are women.
Speaker:I'd say probably 90%.
Speaker:We have more of an issue with this then men do.
Speaker:I don't know about this book.
Speaker:I'm very interested to check it out.
Speaker:Self-talk can be terrible for us,
Speaker:How it can be very defeating gift Biz listeners,
Speaker:just as you are listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible.
Speaker:And if you haven't already,
Speaker:you can go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com, make a selection and get an audio book for free.
Speaker:You can find that again at gift biz,
Speaker:book.com. Okay.
Speaker:Rhonda, I would like now to invite you to dare to
Speaker:dream, I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:I'm inside.
Speaker:My box is going to be two compartments.
Speaker:One is going to be related to my business.
Speaker:And one is related to my family because being a small
Speaker:business owner,
Speaker:they're both intertwined in my business.
Speaker:My idea of unlimited dreams would be to have maybe four
Speaker:or five stores and have people that I could trust running
Speaker:them and working them.
Speaker:But yet give me the ability to kind of leave and
Speaker:go do what I want to do.
Speaker:And B if I want to go to my grandson's baseball
Speaker:game or my granddaughter ballet recital,
Speaker:I can do that without having to close my store and
Speaker:know that I have people I can trust.
Speaker:And the other compartment would be my family because my family
Speaker:is extremely important to me.
Speaker:And I want those opportunities to build into my children,
Speaker:my grandchildren,
Speaker:and to be with them.
Speaker:And I want us to be able to take vacations together
Speaker:and spend time together and not have the business side,
Speaker:keeping me from that.
Speaker:So for me,
Speaker:my biggest dream would be just to have a business that
Speaker:could operate on its own.
Speaker:So I could spend time with my family.
Speaker:That's a fabulous dream because I think all of us start
Speaker:our business for what freedom,
Speaker:financial freedom and time,
Speaker:freedom. And often it doesn't work out that way.
Speaker:Well, my family Is very important to me and I never
Speaker:want my family to become less important than my business.
Speaker:And if I'm always saying no to my family,
Speaker:because I'm saying yes to my business makes me very unhappy.
Speaker:And so I w in order to say yes to my
Speaker:family and I have to get my business going and get
Speaker:it to be,
Speaker:or I can leave when I want to,
Speaker:For sure,
Speaker:on the show notes page,
Speaker:we're going to have all the links that you had provided
Speaker:me earlier,
Speaker:like all your social media and all that.
Speaker:But if there was one place for the people who are
Speaker:listening and not at the show notes page right now,
Speaker:where would be the best place for people to connect with
Speaker:you and your business?
Speaker:Well, probably the best place to connect would be the website.
Speaker:You can see our products and the different things that we
Speaker:do with our business,
Speaker:and that would be the best place.
Speaker:Okay. And that be@thecococabana.com.
Speaker:That's correct.
Speaker:And give biz listeners,
Speaker:all of the links,
Speaker:again, are over on the show notes page.
Speaker:If you happen to be in the Chicago area,
Speaker:we'll have Ronda's shop address there as well,
Speaker:because you can only see it coming from the North side,
Speaker:not the South.
Speaker:Is that right?
Speaker:Or is it the other way around going South is not
Speaker:easy. You can't see it going North to Kim.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Super well,
Speaker:Rhonda, thank you so much.
Speaker:I really,
Speaker:really appreciate your sharing.
Speaker:The story.
Speaker:The development of the business is really interesting.
Speaker:You've given us a lot of insight and a lot of
Speaker:help for people who are just starting out.
Speaker:And that is the whole goal of the podcast here.
Speaker:So my wish for you for the future is that you
Speaker:continue to be able to release yourself from your business.
Speaker:So you have more time to spend with your family and
Speaker:may your candle always burn bright.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:and life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrap.com/tools. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever Grande your products of
Speaker:your logo or print a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica ribbon,
Speaker:to add to a gift,
Speaker:right? A checkout it's all done right in your shop or
Speaker:cross studio in seconds.
Speaker:Check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:and review by subscribing rating and reviewing you help to increase
Speaker:the visibility of gift biz on ramp.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,
