This story is part of our 1,000+ Stories campaign. What’s your story?
Name: Pam Baker
Business: Windswept Acres
Location: Chino Valley, Arizona, U.S.
Industry: Food & Beverage
Reason for starting? I lost my job and was looking for a new job. At the time there was not much available. I was looking at a $9-12 per hour job. I had been selling pickled eggs and other items to friends and family for some time, so I decided to try and see if I could sell to other people. My products were a huge hit, so I decided to go through the steps to get my business legal and get serious about it. Currently I have my products in a few local stores and I sell at local farmers markets and other events, but I am looking to figure out a way to produce more so that I can expand even more.
Related: Read about another Food & Beverage entrepreneur here.
How do you define success? Success to me is being able to pay my bills and be happy doing what I am doing. Success to me is also making my customers happy.
Biggest success: My business is fairly new, but I would have to say that my biggest success is that I have people coming to me to ask to sell my products in their stores because of all the positive things they have heard about my products.
What is your top challenge and how you have addressed it? My top challenge has been starting this business from scratch with no business know-how beforehand. There are not really any businesses in the area like mine, so trying to figure out what steps to take and where to begin was daunting! No one was really sure what I needed to do, what the rules and regulations were, or how to get my products approved to sell in stores. Every time I talked to a different person it seems like the regulations changed, and the rules were different. Eventually I realized that I just needed to find one person and talk to only them, and keep in constant contact with them. It can still be a challenge making sure we have everything necessary to get a new product on the shelf, but it gets a little bit easier every time.
Related: How Starting Without all the Answers is a Smart Move
Who is your most important role model? Currently my role model is Jenny Fulton of Miss Jenny’s Pickles. I admire how she became who she is today and how far she has come with her pickling business.
[box_light]Facebook www.facebook.com/windsweptacreschino[/box_light]
Tell us your story!
Read about another entrepreneur here.
Edited by The Story Exchange