Shownotes
The Story Behind Dr. Ray’s Toffee
From the beginning, there was toffee! [3:06] Here’s what Dr. Ray enjoys most about the production side of making toffee. [5:12] Naming the company. [14:02] Logo creation and Dr. Ray’s unique font style. [15:08] The growth strategy. [30:39]Candle Flickering Moments
Dr. Ray’s experience with Facebook ads. [9:36] There’s a big difference between making a single batch and producing toffee in large quantities. Hint: It has to do with the stirring. Hear how Dr. Ray overcame the problem. [18:36]Business Building Insights
The details and added bonus of working from a commercial kitchen. [12:05] Two strategies that consistently bring in business. [23:00] Another way to think about live events like trade shows and craft fairs. [25:01] The power of a story. [27:03]Success Trait
Dr. Ray learned this in the early years when teaching a difficult student. Never give up! [34:58]Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Fast Company Magazine INC MagazineRecommended Reading and Listening
Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi
Contact Links
Website Facebook LinkedInIf 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
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker:This is gift biz on rapt episode number 86.
Speaker:People need to taste it and when they taste it,
Speaker:they buy it.
Speaker:Hi John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift bears on rapt,
Speaker:your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop and
Speaker: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:Whether you own a brick and mortar store sell online or
Speaker: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 Dr.
Speaker:Ray, he's the owner and founder of Dr.
Speaker:Ray's topic.
Speaker:He's also the business manager of the main wood Melrose park
Speaker:Broadview school district number 89 and perform storytelling and stand up
Speaker:comedy in Chicago and Rio de Janeiro Brazil.
Speaker:Ray holds three degrees,
Speaker:a PhD in educational administration,
Speaker:an MBA and a master's in elementary education.
Speaker:He's an adjunct professor of educational finance at the university of
Speaker:Illinois Concordia university and the college of new Jersey's international master's
Speaker:program in Bangkok,
Speaker:Thailand. He surrogates around often.
Speaker:Great. Also has completed six Chicago marathons and is registered for
Speaker:the 2017 marathon as well.
Speaker:All my gosh.
Speaker:Where in the world do you have time to make the
Speaker:tophi welcome to the show Dr.
Speaker:Ray? Yeah,
Speaker:it's sometimes a challenge,
Speaker:especially around the holidays.
Speaker:It's finding the time,
Speaker:but with the little planning,
Speaker:it all seems to work out.
Speaker:I'm just curious,
Speaker:how many frequent flyer miles you have?
Speaker:Well, not that many.
Speaker:I used to work for GE and got to travel all
Speaker:the time,
Speaker:but I've lost that status.
Speaker:It certainly sounds like you've seen the world some parts of
Speaker:it to start off the show.
Speaker:We'd like to get to know you in a little bit
Speaker:of a different way.
Speaker:And that's by having you describe what your ideal motivational candle
Speaker:would look like.
Speaker:So if you were to select a color and a quote,
Speaker:what would your motivational candle be?
Speaker:Sure the color would be blue and the quote would be
Speaker:from Senator Ted Kennedy.
Speaker:I think the first time he spoke,
Speaker:this was at one of the democratic national conventions.
Speaker:And his quote is that the work goes on the cause
Speaker:of doors.
Speaker:The hope still lives,
Speaker:and the dream shall never die.
Speaker:I've worked in usually high poverty schools,
Speaker:most of my career.
Speaker:And so I just find that to be a very meaningful
Speaker:quote for the work that I do.
Speaker:I am going to jump right away into tophi because you
Speaker:are such an educated man.
Speaker:There's so much here in The intro and I am so
Speaker:curious. How did you get to where you are now with
Speaker:your toffee company?
Speaker:Well, it was really a series of fortunate coincidental events.
Speaker:I was student teaching in Boulder,
Speaker:Colorado. I was a senior at the university of Colorado and
Speaker:the supervising teacher that I worked under in his sixth grade
Speaker:classroom. He's probably 70 years old.
Speaker:And he told me when I walked in that he was
Speaker:going to teach me how to teach or how to make
Speaker:toffee. And he did both.
Speaker:And so I'd been making toffee really literally since 1980,
Speaker:mostly for family and friends at the holidays.
Speaker:And then probably six years ago,
Speaker:seven years ago,
Speaker:I started doing corporate gifts,
Speaker:just gift bags of tophi for my brother who gave those
Speaker:to his landscaping company clients.
Speaker:And so I would end up with them 101 pound bags,
Speaker:every Christmas season that I was doing and did that for
Speaker:a few years,
Speaker:just kind of low key,
Speaker:not as a business,
Speaker:just as a side thing.
Speaker:And then about three years ago,
Speaker:I was leaving my last school district and looking for the
Speaker:next job and thinking,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:besides looking for another job in schools,
Speaker:which I was doing,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:well, what can I do?
Speaker:Because what if I didn't get another job?
Speaker:So I thought,
Speaker:well, maybe it's time to start the tophi business and go
Speaker:into it full full-time if I needed to or as a
Speaker:side. So I started the business about two and a half
Speaker:years ago.
Speaker:Then I did get another job in schools,
Speaker:my current full-time job.
Speaker:And I've been doing it as a side business ever since.
Speaker:And it's been a great way to start a business when
Speaker:you don't have to rely on that income to pay the
Speaker:mortgage and then pay the bills and I could grow it
Speaker:organically and incrementally and not be crazy about anything.
Speaker:Right. Well,
Speaker:I have a couple of questions for you.
Speaker:How did you initially,
Speaker:what is it that you love about tophi?
Speaker:Because if you're thinking of possibly doing this more,
Speaker:as you were,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when you started into the corporate gifts,
Speaker:what is it you love about making toffee?
Speaker:Well, I guess there's a couple of things.
Speaker:When I go into the kitchen and I rent a shared
Speaker:use kitchen,
Speaker:it was just great for people starting up a food business
Speaker:because, you know,
Speaker:you've got to have a commercial license kitchen.
Speaker:And so I go in there after work and where,
Speaker:so much of my day job involves face-to-face contact with people
Speaker:and we're solving big problems for education and finance.
Speaker:And then I go into the kitchen oftentimes by myself and
Speaker:I'm making the toffee and it's just sort of this quiet
Speaker:solitary activity.
Speaker:And I think there's something just calming about that.
Speaker:The other thing that is gratifying is the response I get
Speaker:from people,
Speaker:because I'll tell you after 36 years of baking and tastings
Speaker:of tophi,
Speaker:I'm kind of it.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I taste the toffee when I'm cooking it,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:for quality,
Speaker:but it's not something I crave anymore.
Speaker:So when people taste it for the first time,
Speaker:then I get a very positive response and they just love
Speaker:it. And they go on and on.
Speaker:It's kind of gratifying that the work that I do,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in the kitchen,
Speaker:people enjoy it.
Speaker:People appreciate people like to give that gift to others,
Speaker:to show their appreciation for something that they've done.
Speaker:And so it's just gratifying.
Speaker:Sure. So I wanted to get to this because it seems
Speaker:so different from what you're normally doing,
Speaker:but just the idea of it's a place of solace and
Speaker:kind of inner reflection while you're making the toffee.
Speaker:I find really interesting.
Speaker:And then it's also,
Speaker:as you say,
Speaker:so satisfying because of the response that you're getting.
Speaker:Yeah. And honestly,
Speaker:what mean,
Speaker:one of the things that really gave me pause going into
Speaker:this was,
Speaker:but in public education,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:literally I had been an 18 year old school board member
Speaker:in Illinois.
Speaker:And so I've been doing public education a lot time and
Speaker:the thought of actually shutting it off and walking away from
Speaker:it gave me some something to think about.
Speaker:And did I really want to do that and make that
Speaker:clear choice and leave it?
Speaker:So this is a way I'm able to balance still being
Speaker:in public education and being an entrepreneur,
Speaker:which I also love so much because it's so different than
Speaker:public education as an entrepreneur,
Speaker:you can be so much more creative it's frankly,
Speaker:just more thought,
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Well, and you're running the ship too then that's correct.
Speaker:Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker:So, Dr.
Speaker:Ray, we have a lot of people on the show who
Speaker:are just thinking now of starting a business.
Speaker:They might be in the sweets industry,
Speaker:they might be jewelry makers,
Speaker:or they might be knitters or all different types of people.
Speaker:And they listen because they're trying to understand what those first
Speaker:steps are.
Speaker:They have this idea just like you did,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:well, maybe I'll just go ahead and start doing this.
Speaker:What are the first steps that you took to actually formalize
Speaker:and get started in a real business?
Speaker:So let's make the assumption that you already have figured out
Speaker:what you're really good at.
Speaker:It's gotta be something that you're really good at.
Speaker:So once you've got that figured out,
Speaker:you just kind of jump in.
Speaker:I figured out that need to be registered with the state
Speaker:of Illinois for sales tax purposes.
Speaker:You have to have your federal employer,
Speaker:the employer identification number,
Speaker:and incorporated as I did an LLC and I just use
Speaker:legal zoom.
Speaker:So really I did it very low budget,
Speaker:very low budget.
Speaker:I needed a website and I went to Squarespace for that.
Speaker:It's a very user-friendly site that you can build on your
Speaker:own. I had a friend who's tech savvy helped me,
Speaker:but it is easily done by an amateur without a tech
Speaker:background. And so then you've got your website up,
Speaker:you've got online shopping store set and ready to go.
Speaker:You're set up as a legal structure.
Speaker:You file your sales tax reports and you're basically ready to
Speaker:go and you've got to keep good records.
Speaker:And I will admit,
Speaker:I have a box that has all my receipts and expenses
Speaker:in and at the end of the year,
Speaker:I camp out for several days and organize it.
Speaker:So the advice,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:do, as I say,
Speaker:not as I do stay organized,
Speaker:and then you can save yourself a lot of time at
Speaker:the end of the year,
Speaker:have a good accountant So that you can focus on your
Speaker:product. That's right.
Speaker:And figure out your marketing,
Speaker:get your Facebook page.
Speaker:I also did Facebook ads that were not successful for me.
Speaker:I don't think I got any business from Facebook ads,
Speaker:even having tried it and boosted the ad and all that
Speaker:stuff. Any kind of Facebook business that comes through it is
Speaker:a result of Facebook friends and just staying in front of
Speaker:their eyes.
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:those Facebook ads were a waste of money.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:a lot of people,
Speaker:Facebook is a whole other topic,
Speaker:but I have also heard and just give biz listeners as
Speaker:you're listening.
Speaker:And Ray is pretty much underlying here.
Speaker:Boosting of Facebook ads does not seem to be the way
Speaker:to go.
Speaker:If you start targeting specifically.
Speaker:I know a lot of people who have used Facebook ads
Speaker:successfully, but doing the boost from what I'm hearing and,
Speaker:and Ray is saying just isn't the way to go necessarily
Speaker:if you're looking to get business.
Speaker:Yeah. I guess it depends on the product service and your
Speaker:skill and targeting,
Speaker:but for me it just wasn't worth it.
Speaker:What you did was boost your Facebook posts.
Speaker:That's what you did,
Speaker:right. Created,
Speaker:well, I did that as well.
Speaker:That's that's a good point.
Speaker:I did that as well.
Speaker:Okay. Okay.
Speaker:At what point in the business cycle,
Speaker:did you do that right when you were just getting started
Speaker:or recently,
Speaker:or When I first got started and into the first year,
Speaker:year and a half,
Speaker:I'd say it would be periodic and I,
Speaker:I haven't done it in a while.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I'm going to get back to this in a second,
Speaker:the whole advertising and getting in business.
Speaker:But I just want to summarize what you talked about again,
Speaker:for people who are just getting started.
Speaker:Dr. Ray's talking about the first thing you should do is
Speaker:take care of all your legal stuff.
Speaker:Get registered,
Speaker:make sure that you structure yourself as a legal business,
Speaker:be collecting receipts,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:And then also put up your website right away.
Speaker:Because even if you are a local business home-based,
Speaker:or let's say you start directly into a brick and mortar,
Speaker:whatever, you still want to have a website associated with your
Speaker:business. And then also marketing you can't just assume that because
Speaker:you have a website or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you're up for business that people are going to know about
Speaker:you, you have to bring people and attract people towards you.
Speaker:And that is by reaching out to them so that they
Speaker:know you're there.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:So people who are in consumables may have some questions for
Speaker:you also about your commercial space.
Speaker:How did you go about identifying what was going to work
Speaker:for you and talk through that a little bit for us?
Speaker:Well, like I say,
Speaker:to be legit,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:food service business,
Speaker:you have to have a commercial licensed kitchen,
Speaker:but for a beginner,
Speaker:someone's just starting out.
Speaker:That's a huge investment to do that.
Speaker:And there's a whole community of shared use kitchens everywhere because
Speaker:it's very popular because a lot of people want to start
Speaker:a business and be entrepreneurs and follow their dreams.
Speaker:So I started visiting some of the shared use kitchens in
Speaker:and around Chicago,
Speaker:but I don't live in the city.
Speaker:So that wasn't particularly convenient nor economical with some of the
Speaker:prices. And then I found United kitchen,
Speaker:which is in the Grange,
Speaker:which is like eight minutes from my house.
Speaker:So it was,
Speaker:yeah, it was could not be more convenient and very economical,
Speaker:very reasonably priced.
Speaker:And so I rent the kitchen by the hour.
Speaker:There's a nice community,
Speaker:Bridget Conlin.
Speaker:Who's the relatively new owners she's had this store for over
Speaker:a year now has done a great job of building this
Speaker:community among them cooks.
Speaker:So every now and then we have meetings where we get
Speaker:to meet each other and really share ideas.
Speaker:And sometimes they're common topics.
Speaker:That's the focus of the meeting because otherwise you rarely cross
Speaker:other vendors unless you're crossing time in the kitchen.
Speaker:Right. So the shared use kitchen has been the way to
Speaker:go to get started.
Speaker:Yeah. So it sounds like not only you're renting.
Speaker:Yes. But there are other opportunities in terms of business growth
Speaker:and knowledge that you're getting from that association.
Speaker:I've learned so much from some of the other vendors,
Speaker:the other cooks in there who have more experience than I
Speaker:do in some of the aspects of the food business,
Speaker:because I don't have the formal training and food science or
Speaker:culinary school.
Speaker:I just know one,
Speaker:one thing.
Speaker:And that's tophi.
Speaker:Did you go about the name of your product is your
Speaker:name, but how did you go about deciding on some of
Speaker:that in terms of what the product name was going to
Speaker:be, what your logo was going to look like?
Speaker:That kind of thing.
Speaker:I figured if I was going to leave public education,
Speaker:I could still use my degree.
Speaker:The name.
Speaker:Absolutely. It's funny because when I do these markets,
Speaker:I'm, face-to-face with customers.
Speaker:They see,
Speaker:Oh, Dr.
Speaker:Is tophi and they ask,
Speaker:what kind of doctor are you?
Speaker:Or are you a real?
Speaker:Oh, right.
Speaker:And so of course they're assuming some kind of like physician
Speaker:kind of doctor.
Speaker:So the joke is that it's it's,
Speaker:I only do it with some people who look like they
Speaker:want to play because I'll say,
Speaker:well, if you want to tell me what hurts I'll listen,
Speaker:if you want to show me something,
Speaker:I'll look and not judge,
Speaker:but in the end,
Speaker:you'll be just fine.
Speaker:You talk,
Speaker:You'll be fine to me when I met you.
Speaker:Yeah. That's funny.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:So your logo in your name,
Speaker:you just did.
Speaker:Did you have,
Speaker:did you have someone created for you?
Speaker:Did you like in terms of the artwork and all of
Speaker:that, or how did you go about getting that taken care
Speaker:of? Yeah,
Speaker:that's a good point.
Speaker:I completely glossed over there.
Speaker:I missed that part about the getting started because that's an
Speaker:important point.
Speaker:And I had a designer that I had worked with in
Speaker:the past and some other projects.
Speaker:I came up with the name because we wanted to use
Speaker:the doctor raised coffee,
Speaker:but then I worked with a designer,
Speaker:gave her some concepts,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the kind of look and feel that I was after that
Speaker:I liked.
Speaker:And then she took it from there.
Speaker:She came back with a variety of ideas.
Speaker:We went back and forth on some iterations until I really
Speaker:found the one that I liked.
Speaker:And I think that's an important one because you really need
Speaker:to like you,
Speaker:no, you need to love your logo because once you settle
Speaker:on it,
Speaker:you're going to live with it because it becomes your brand.
Speaker:What, how people identify you and you can find people fairly
Speaker:reasonably, you can look locally or overseas and you find those
Speaker:people doing freelance projects.
Speaker:So getting a professional design,
Speaker:isn't terribly expensive.
Speaker:And you also want to do it for publication and also
Speaker:for internet quality for your website too,
Speaker:because they're not always the same.
Speaker:And so you need someone who has some knowledge about it,
Speaker:Good point.
Speaker:So you take the same logo and then you get different
Speaker:versions of it.
Speaker:So a website logo is a lot lighter of a file
Speaker:if you will,
Speaker:because you want that.
Speaker:So that it loads,
Speaker:pages really easily.
Speaker:So really important.
Speaker:So gift biz listeners,
Speaker:I want to stress this with the logo.
Speaker:And I love what Dr.
Speaker:Ray is saying,
Speaker:because I cringe when I see people who use stock photography
Speaker:as their logo,
Speaker:because you're not separating yourself.
Speaker:You're not really customizing it to be your business.
Speaker:Stock photos are so easy to see.
Speaker:So you're talking about how it can be really easy right
Speaker:in your neighborhood.
Speaker:Or you can find somebody online.
Speaker:It doesn't need to be a major investment,
Speaker:but you absolutely should make a logo that's yours.
Speaker:And that resonates with you.
Speaker:That is colors that you like or colors that are appropriate
Speaker:to your brand.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:your product,
Speaker:whatever you're doing,
Speaker:Dr. Ray's logo is no surprise colors of English,
Speaker:toppy, but you know,
Speaker:in terms of even like the font styles,
Speaker:all of that type of thing,
Speaker:you really want to customize and make your own.
Speaker:And also when you get some samples,
Speaker:when it gets some ideas,
Speaker:some concepts back show people,
Speaker:show your family,
Speaker:show your friends and you don't,
Speaker:they don't get to vote.
Speaker:You're the only one who gets to vote,
Speaker:but it's good to get feedback because they may see something
Speaker:that you don't see.
Speaker:They may feel something that you don't feel it's good to
Speaker:get that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:little focus group response with my logo.
Speaker:My designer actually took some of my handwriting where I wrote
Speaker:out Dr.
Speaker:Ray's toffee.
Speaker:Then she combined it and integrated it with some letters.
Speaker:So that's what I'm looking at your logo right now.
Speaker:So that's what the tophi is.
Speaker:Is your own handwriting.
Speaker:That's correct.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:Very interesting.
Speaker:Kind of breaks up instead of just having block letters,
Speaker:it breaks up the logo and I think it makes it
Speaker:a little more eye catching that way.
Speaker:It absolutely does.
Speaker:So. Okay.
Speaker:So Dr.
Speaker:Ray, you have been making toffee almost.
Speaker:Let's just call it forever.
Speaker:Right? And so you really had the skill down,
Speaker:Pat. You knew how to make the product,
Speaker:maybe not in mass like you're doing now,
Speaker:but it's just been recently that you've turned it into a
Speaker:business. Is there some struggle or something that you weren't anticipating
Speaker:that challenged you as you were getting started with the company
Speaker:that you could share?
Speaker:This was just taking it from an individual,
Speaker:doing a five courts pot and going to some kind of
Speaker:a semi mass production,
Speaker:because the key with tophi is constant stirring.
Speaker:You have to stir constantly and just do a,
Speaker:like a Dutch oven type pot.
Speaker:It would require about an hour of stirring for every single
Speaker:batch of toffee.
Speaker:And that just took forever.
Speaker:When I was doing my brother's orders at Christmas,
Speaker:it would be weeks because I can only last so long
Speaker:during, before my arm gives out and Massage appointments or something
Speaker:Just insanity,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:And then I considered,
Speaker:well, what if I hire people just to stand there and
Speaker:stir? And that wasn't very economical,
Speaker:especially in the early starting stages.
Speaker:And then I found this professional tophi making machinery,
Speaker:and while that's fine,
Speaker:except it cost $10,000
Speaker:again, ridiculously out of price.
Speaker:And then I found automatic stirs from Norway that costs like
Speaker:$60 shipped.
Speaker:It's this sort of thing that has a bracket and arm
Speaker:that sits on top of the pot.
Speaker:It's adjustable.
Speaker:I was able to triple the size of my pot,
Speaker:get a bigger pot because it needed to be deeper.
Speaker:So my quantity also was tripled instantly.
Speaker:I found this online,
Speaker:I didn't know,
Speaker:coming from Europe,
Speaker:whether I'd ever actually see it.
Speaker:So I ordered one and figured if I never see it,
Speaker:then, you know,
Speaker:it was a $60 investment that just didn't pan off,
Speaker:but it arrived promptly and it works great.
Speaker:I, of course I had to get electrical adapter because it
Speaker:has one of those outlets for they use in Europe to
Speaker:recharge the batteries.
Speaker:So I got that.
Speaker:And then I immediately turned around in order like six more,
Speaker:because that is the only way that I'd be able to
Speaker:create this much volume of tophi in a short period of
Speaker:time. And now what would take me,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it would take,
Speaker:gosh, it might,
Speaker:might've taken me a week or longer to do a hundred
Speaker:pounds of toffee.
Speaker:I can do that at a night.
Speaker:You discover these techniques,
Speaker:the strategies that will help you increase and overcome these obstacles
Speaker:and really increase your output.
Speaker:And that's the fun thing about being an entrepreneur.
Speaker:You come across these little challenges and then you're being creative
Speaker:in terms of how you're going to solve these problems.
Speaker:That's the thing that I love about being an entrepreneur and
Speaker:being around other entrepreneurs.
Speaker:There's just this eternal optimism.
Speaker:There is no problem that we can't solve.
Speaker:Don't only see that frankly,
Speaker:when I'm working in schools.
Speaker:Oh, interesting.
Speaker:Yeah. That's why It's so refreshing being an entrepreneur.
Speaker:And that's another thing too,
Speaker:that I would suggest to people when you're getting started in
Speaker:a business,
Speaker:there are all sorts of entrepreneurial groups.
Speaker:There are meetup groups that are there everywhere,
Speaker:find them and connect with them because there's a lot of
Speaker:sharing within this entrepreneurial community.
Speaker:There's a lot of just good,
Speaker:positive energy in that community.
Speaker:I love that you put words to it because as I
Speaker:was listening to you,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you used the power of the internet.
Speaker:I don't know what terms you Googled,
Speaker:but you found the solution to your problem.
Speaker:And I often say the most important thing that an entrepreneur
Speaker:needs is resourcefulness not going and saying,
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:stopping you in your tracks because this is a problem.
Speaker:Like what if you got in huge orders and there is
Speaker:no way you could fulfill everything you anticipated that you found
Speaker:a solution.
Speaker:And then you take pride in the fact that look,
Speaker:I didn't have to buy this $10,000
Speaker:machine, 60 bucks,
Speaker:yes. From Europe,
Speaker:but I've got my solution.
Speaker:And it's those types of things.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:those challenges when you overcome those,
Speaker:those are hurdles that where a lot of people fall off,
Speaker:they get to the point and they say like,
Speaker:I can't do it.
Speaker:I can't possibly produce this much.
Speaker:And then they're done the business closes or they limit themselves.
Speaker:And your story is a perfect example of how you can
Speaker:be successful because you overcome these challenges,
Speaker:figure it out,
Speaker:you figure it out.
Speaker:Okay. We were talking about Facebook and that it was less
Speaker:than what you had anticipated.
Speaker:Let's put it that way.
Speaker:What are you doing now that is helping you bring in
Speaker:business? Two things,
Speaker:two strategies that have worked well,
Speaker:I do a number of events where I give the toffee
Speaker:away. And I did that,
Speaker:especially at the beginning stages.
Speaker:So donating to charitable organizations when they're having raffles and things
Speaker:like that,
Speaker:stopping by businesses and dropping off samples,
Speaker:I gave away a ton of samples,
Speaker:but really the thing.
Speaker:So the thing with,
Speaker:with tophi,
Speaker:and maybe it's true with just any kind of food item
Speaker:is people need to taste it.
Speaker:And when they taste it,
Speaker:they buy it.
Speaker:So that's maybe why the Facebook advertising wasn't really working out
Speaker:too well because I do so well at face-to-face events.
Speaker:So I do a lot of markets.
Speaker:One of the most successful that's got me going and really
Speaker:launched me forward quickly was doing the Williams-Sonoma artists and markets
Speaker:in Oak Brook,
Speaker:Illinois. I heard about it.
Speaker:I was invited to participate there and it's been probably a
Speaker:good 18 months that I've been coming every month.
Speaker:Now they invite local vendors in,
Speaker:and a lot of the Williams Sonoma's do that.
Speaker:They invite local vendors to come in and do a sampling,
Speaker:sell their product there.
Speaker:And so is that right in their store?
Speaker:Yup. Right in their story.
Speaker:And it's something that many of the Williams Sonoma's do.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you just have to go in and talk to the manager
Speaker:and see if they're doing it and how you can get
Speaker:involved in that.
Speaker:And it's a great way because it creates sort of a
Speaker:buzz for them in the store,
Speaker:keeps people in the store.
Speaker:And it's a great opportunity for us as a local vendor.
Speaker:And then when I'm there every single month,
Speaker:people come back looking for it,
Speaker:looking for me,
Speaker:looking for it.
Speaker:Sure. So I saw you,
Speaker:like I had said earlier at the America's bacon and sweet
Speaker:show and people were buying the toffee.
Speaker:No question about it.
Speaker:So I know that it was happening there.
Speaker:I got to add one thing because before we get off
Speaker:that topic,
Speaker:because that also is another key learning for me is that
Speaker:you may be at certain events that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:regardless of whatever the event is,
Speaker:you never know where it's going to lead to because it
Speaker:only takes one person with the right connection to open up
Speaker:other doors.
Speaker:And so,
Speaker:yeah, you know,
Speaker:we, we go to these markets and we sell the tophi,
Speaker:but get one person who walks up to you and says,
Speaker:Hmm, this is good.
Speaker:I'm a buyer for X,
Speaker:Y, Z store.
Speaker:And that leads now is,
Speaker:is leading to very likely being in hurt chain of 10
Speaker:stores in Chicago,
Speaker:that I didn't even know that she had 10.
Speaker:I thought she had one,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just one thing leads to another.
Speaker:And that's just the thing you never know.
Speaker:Who's gonna walk into your business,
Speaker:who's going to walk into your life like that.
Speaker:And it could really change things.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:You talk about that with the shows.
Speaker:It also shows how you want to make sure that you're
Speaker:talking and treating every single person.
Speaker:If you're at a show,
Speaker:as you would want to be treated,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:don't ever discount anybody.
Speaker:I've heard stories before of someone who will come to me
Speaker:later and talk about,
Speaker:Oh yeah,
Speaker:I went up to that booth and you know,
Speaker:they didn't have the time of day for me,
Speaker:something like that.
Speaker:And they could have missed a great opportunity such as the
Speaker:one that you clearly have encountered.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:The poor people who are in the booths next to me,
Speaker:like I do Randolph street market every month in Chicago.
Speaker:They've heard my pitch thousands of times.
Speaker:And each time you got to try to make it fresh
Speaker:and unique for the person standing in front of you.
Speaker:So it's not that you're,
Speaker:you're not on a loop where you just keep repeating,
Speaker:repeating, repeating,
Speaker:but trying to treat that customer as this is the first
Speaker:time you're ever telling this story,
Speaker:The, your excitement will equate and transfer over to them.
Speaker:Being excited Earlier about what do people need to do to
Speaker:get started in the business.
Speaker:I keep thinking of these other ideas.
Speaker:And the other thing that's really important is understand your story,
Speaker:have your story,
Speaker:to tell people,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in talking about an elevator pitches and all that.
Speaker:And that's true,
Speaker:but I understand why you're doing it and what it's all
Speaker:about. Because when I tell the story about the tophi,
Speaker:it's not just,
Speaker:here's some coffee,
Speaker:eat it.
Speaker:Do you like it?
Speaker:Buy it.
Speaker:And sometimes they specifically come up and say,
Speaker:so what's your story.
Speaker:So why is this better?
Speaker:Why is it different?
Speaker:That's all part of your story.
Speaker:It's your brand.
Speaker:And you just need to be prepared to answer that question.
Speaker:And so how do you answer that question?
Speaker:I Tell them that I've been making this toffee for 36
Speaker:years tends to be thinner and softer than a lot of
Speaker:the others.
Speaker:And so people who like their teeth as well as their
Speaker:tophi like this,
Speaker:and that's of course that cuts across every demographic because it's
Speaker:not just the seniors,
Speaker:it's everyone kind of cause they lost a lot of times,
Speaker:people walk up and they see tophi and they're afraid of
Speaker:it because it has a reputation of being rock hard.
Speaker:And the other reason too,
Speaker:that I say that is because the big name and toffee
Speaker:in Chicago,
Speaker:the competition,
Speaker:the one who owns the toffee market in Chicago,
Speaker:he has like 30 different varieties.
Speaker:And it's very thick,
Speaker:typically hard like that.
Speaker:And so I'm pointing out the distinction of how mine is
Speaker:different. And I also say,
Speaker:I only do one flavor of the traditional almonds.
Speaker:This is really important too,
Speaker:because you are niche down.
Speaker:Your product is it's still taught you.
Speaker:So it's in the same category,
Speaker:but you are different.
Speaker:And there are going to be loyalists to you just because
Speaker:of what you do.
Speaker:And I point this out that more,
Speaker:isn't always better,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:more choices to people isn't always better.
Speaker:People sometimes really struggled making choices.
Speaker:So in that way,
Speaker:that could lead really well to your advantage.
Speaker:And the other thing that stands out that makes people,
Speaker:some people make the decision to buy is that they like
Speaker:seeing the face of the business.
Speaker:And so I said,
Speaker:I've been making this toffee for 36 years and they say,
Speaker:Oh, you've you make the toffee?
Speaker:And I say,
Speaker:yes, I do all the cooking.
Speaker:I've got some help with the packaging.
Speaker:I've gotten away from some of that part.
Speaker:I'm the only one that does the cooking and people like
Speaker:that interaction with a person behind the brand.
Speaker:Okay. This brings up two questions that I have to ask
Speaker:you first off,
Speaker:just more from a business standpoint,
Speaker:again, you're talking about the fact that you've given samples away.
Speaker:Not only it shows,
Speaker:but it would walk into some businesses and give samples.
Speaker:Did you see that that did transition into sales for you?
Speaker:Yeah. It's not an overnight process by any means,
Speaker:but it is a slow and gradual process as part of
Speaker:the process of just getting out there.
Speaker:So you'll see your business grow exponentially.
Speaker:Once you start getting out there.
Speaker:I mean my biggest customer now,
Speaker:my biggest Christmas order of 120 pounds of toffee came from
Speaker:the recipient of one of my brothers client gifts.
Speaker:So my brother gave this client of his toffee and he
Speaker:liked it so much that client now turns around and gives
Speaker:it to his clients and is like I say,
Speaker:it's an even bigger order than,
Speaker:than my brother's original order.
Speaker:So it just tends to grow exponentially.
Speaker:Exactly. Exactly.
Speaker:Okay. And so since you are the single manufacturer of your
Speaker:tophi, what's the growth plan?
Speaker:Well, that's an interesting question because there's two other aspects of
Speaker:growing the business that I've kind of been dragging my feet
Speaker:on. Moving ahead.
Speaker:Now slowly you need your UPC codes,
Speaker:the bar codes,
Speaker:if you're going to be in any kind of a large
Speaker:store and you also need the nutritional analysis for a food
Speaker:product, which I have those,
Speaker:but most of my stores I'm in about a dozen stores
Speaker:are relatively small neighborhood specialty stores.
Speaker:So they haven't required.
Speaker:They don't have their,
Speaker:they're not so large that they need the UPC codes and
Speaker:all that.
Speaker:But now the example that I gave you of the individual
Speaker:who has really 10 stores that may very well be carrying
Speaker:the talkie next needs the nutritional analysis and the UPC codes.
Speaker:And so I'm in the process now of taking that next
Speaker:step. And actually when I do that,
Speaker:then I will be able to make my pitch to a
Speaker:Mariano's or to a Juul or to any other larger store
Speaker:that requires that if I get to that point,
Speaker:that means I'm going to have to spend some more time
Speaker:doing the cooking or cooking a whole lot more.
Speaker:And that's when I'll have to make the decision of,
Speaker:do I make that jump on my able to make a
Speaker:jump and do full-time at some point in the near future?
Speaker:Or do I bring in people and train people to do
Speaker:the cooking,
Speaker:frankly, that's one of the things that I'm not comfortable with.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I have wonderful people,
Speaker:but the whole issue of trade secrets and how I make
Speaker:that toffee is all I've got.
Speaker:And so if someone's able to replicate it and do it
Speaker:all other than theirs,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what's the difference.
Speaker:Then you get into confidentiality agreements and they all,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you'd have to,
Speaker:that's a whole thing,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:and nothing says that so many people think success is you
Speaker:just get bigger and you get bigger and you get bigger.
Speaker:That doesn't need to be the sign of success either.
Speaker:Maybe you decide,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this is what I want.
Speaker:I'm going to stay smaller.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I'm not going to go through those chains.
Speaker:And nothing says that you're not as successful a business.
Speaker:If you decide that that's not what you want.
Speaker:Yes. With growth comes new challenges.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:a great example of that is when I was having one
Speaker:of those flights of fantasy and calling Costco,
Speaker:cause everyone wants,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:everyone wants to be in Pasco,
Speaker:probably TRIBE.
Speaker:Right? Well,
Speaker:this is how I was thinking.
Speaker:And I was talking to the buyer for candies and she
Speaker:listed some of the requirements that they have,
Speaker:which are just enormous requirements.
Speaker:And she said,
Speaker:besides that you don't want to be at Costco.
Speaker:She said,
Speaker:we at the stage that I'm at,
Speaker:she said we would bankrupt you just because of all the
Speaker:requirements that,
Speaker:that they place,
Speaker:you really have to be bigger.
Speaker:So you're right.
Speaker:Going big.
Speaker:Isn't always the panacea.
Speaker:That's the dream.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:it sounds good.
Speaker:And it's nice to say,
Speaker:but then the reality of having to actually do it,
Speaker:it's a whole different ball game in terms of how you're
Speaker:conducting your business,
Speaker:your ability to be part of the business.
Speaker:And if you were really enjoying what we talked about in
Speaker:the very beginning,
Speaker:being able to produce the tophi in a quiet environment,
Speaker:it's peaceful.
Speaker:It's probably a little meditational.
Speaker:If you will,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you would lose touch with that.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:And so many people say,
Speaker:Oh, are you ready to go on shark tank and get
Speaker:all that publicity?
Speaker:And I say,
Speaker:no, no.
Speaker:That would be the last thing I'd want.
Speaker:I do like watching that show.
Speaker:That's actually,
Speaker:there's another piece of advice to people.
Speaker:Watch the show because if you listen to the questions,
Speaker:those are important questions that every entrepreneur should be able to
Speaker:answer for themselves.
Speaker:The numbers,
Speaker:the accounting,
Speaker:the business,
Speaker:all that.
Speaker:But a,
Speaker:I wouldn't want somebody else because if you want to shark
Speaker:tank, they take a piece of the action.
Speaker:Right. They buy into it,
Speaker:but they take a piece of the action.
Speaker:It's my action.
Speaker:I don't want to share my action just yet or at
Speaker:all. And to be taking orders from someone else.
Speaker:That's why I'm being an entrepreneur.
Speaker:Absolutely agree.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Dr. Ray,
Speaker:we're going to move now into the reflection section.
Speaker:And these are just some short answers from you as to
Speaker:other things about you that have helped you to be successful.
Speaker:Okay. Is there a natural trait that you call upon regularly?
Speaker:That's helped you to succeed?
Speaker:I think as an entrepreneur,
Speaker:it's actually a lesson that I learned as a first year
Speaker:teacher when I was teaching in Kingsville school district in Illinois,
Speaker:in Roselle,
Speaker:Maxine, G Martin was my reading specialist,
Speaker:the reading director and come to her and say,
Speaker:well, there's this,
Speaker:kid's not reading.
Speaker:And she'd say,
Speaker:well, what have you tried?
Speaker:And what have you tried next?
Speaker:Plenty. Have you tried after that?
Speaker:And so the point was,
Speaker:you just never give up ever.
Speaker:You just keep,
Speaker:if you've got,
Speaker:when you've got a challenge or problem,
Speaker:you figure out a solution.
Speaker:And if it takes a hundred efforts and those hundred aren't
Speaker:successful, you just keep at it,
Speaker:that's it.
Speaker:And so just learning,
Speaker:never give up just Like with your mixer,
Speaker:right? You figure it out,
Speaker:figure it out,
Speaker:you figure it out.
Speaker:What tool do you use regularly to help you keep productive?
Speaker:I would recommend to their sister publications,
Speaker:fast company magazine,
Speaker:which is an amazing magazine for entrepreneurs,
Speaker:kind of gives a,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the social entrepreneurship,
Speaker:the visionary aspects of entrepreneurship.
Speaker:I find it very inspirational.
Speaker:And it's sister publication,
Speaker:Inc magazine,
Speaker:Inc, which is more the nuts and bolts of running a
Speaker:business, the accounting,
Speaker:the marketing,
Speaker:very hands-on kinds of things.
Speaker:So those two publications,
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:are some of the best tools that I've got.
Speaker:Perfect and continuing on with education and keeping us informed.
Speaker:Have you read a book lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find value in The book that I always recommend?
Speaker:I've given this book away to friends.
Speaker:It's never eat alone.
Speaker:That's by Keith Ferazi and it's basically a book about networking
Speaker:and getting out there Beautiful and give his listeners.
Speaker:Since you're listening to this podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease,
Speaker:and I know that never eat alone has been out for
Speaker:awhile. So it's possible that it is an audio book already,
Speaker:but I've teamed up with audible.
Speaker:And if you haven't already taken me up on this offer,
Speaker:you can get a free audible book on me.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:Okay. Dr.
Speaker:Ray, I want to invite you now to my favorite part
Speaker:of the podcast,
Speaker:and that is for you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights
Speaker:that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Okay. The dream that I've had is that I want to
Speaker:get to the point where I can retire from public education,
Speaker:which is between now and three years probably,
Speaker:but have a thriving toffee business and a thriving speaking business
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:Because I also do speaking on the side on entrepreneurship and
Speaker:educational topics too,
Speaker:and live in Chicago because Chicago is one of the most
Speaker:beautiful cities in the world.
Speaker:Live in Chicago from roughly May 1st through Christmas because it's,
Speaker:I knew the snow.
Speaker:I knew it.
Speaker:I knew this was coming December 26th.
Speaker:I fly to Rio de Janeiro and spend that time from,
Speaker:from December 26th through April in Rio,
Speaker:because I'm a permanent resident of Brazil.
Speaker:So I do go back frequently,
Speaker:but I would love to spend my time split my time,
Speaker:that way and come back forth to do speeches because I
Speaker:just love doing that part too.
Speaker:And then of course I will have trained someone to make
Speaker:the toffee.
Speaker:Obviously I was just going to do that,
Speaker:figured that out.
Speaker:I love your answer because it's so detailed and you know,
Speaker:so often we'll go and just carry on and live our
Speaker:day and live our day and not really think about and
Speaker:define what the future is.
Speaker:And you've got a plan.
Speaker:So I think this is easily going to be achieved for
Speaker:you in a few years.
Speaker:Not right away,
Speaker:Right. There are a few things that have to fall into
Speaker:place, but we'll,
Speaker:we'll figure it out Right.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:If our listeners are out and about right now and not
Speaker:near a computer,
Speaker:because everyone,
Speaker:you all know,
Speaker:there's a show notes page where you'll be able to see
Speaker:all of Dr.
Speaker:Ray's information websites,
Speaker:social media sites,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:But if someone's out and about just listening to this,
Speaker:is there a single place you would direct them to to
Speaker:get more information about you and your product?
Speaker:Sure. Thank you.
Speaker:Go to the website,
Speaker:which is Dr.
Speaker:Ray's tophi.com.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Dr. Ray.
Speaker:I really appreciate all the information that you've given us.
Speaker:I love the structure,
Speaker:no surprise with all your degrees,
Speaker:that you're very structured and organized,
Speaker:but in terms of all the information of how to start
Speaker:a business,
Speaker:really great information on ways you're able to capture customers and
Speaker:bring them in your plan for growth.
Speaker:All of that has been so informative.
Speaker:I so appreciate your spending the time in sharing all that
Speaker:you have and may your candles,
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business,
Speaker:and you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash a gift biz quiz or from your phone like texting
Speaker:gift biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. 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,
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