Birth of the “Baby Tasters” and a Plan
Been a busy week. First, a big shout out to a group I’ve affectionately named my “Baby Tasters”. Before I bring the baby food to market, I want to gather feedback on taste, packaging, appeal, pricing, etc… so I have assembled a group of 15 parents (and their little ones) from all over the Bay Area that will help me do that. Looking forward to meeting all of you!
The first of my new cooking classes start this Saturday. From Apples to Beets: Making Your Own Organic Baby Food is the topic. This is the special “Guinea Pig” price of only $20.00, and the class is Saturday from 2:30-4:30pm in my Emeryville commercial kitchen. Email me ASAP if you’re interested in joining us. Two spots left.
Been spending a lot of time this week planning out the first baby food class. Trying not to stress out over it, mostly successful at that. As you know, I’m a “planner” so I have the flow and timing written out, but still have some items to buy before Saturday. Part of me knows it’s going to be completely fantastic, but there’s always that small part that fears people will look at me like I’m crazy and that it will fail miserably. I can’t believe I’m sharing all these crazy thoughts with the world, but I did say I was going to be honest…
The Rebirth of a Business Plan
So you guys who have been reading this from the beginning know that I’ve been struggling with my business plan for a while. Now that I’ve narrowed my focus to making baby food and teaching cooking classes, it was much easier to write, and I’ve made some great progress.
Why the sudden re-prioritization you ask?? I found a fantastic business coach who is an expert in the specialty food market that I really wanted to work with. When I applied to meet with her, they asked me “do you have a completed business plan” which is a requirement for coaching. I replied with an enthusiastic “of course” all the while wondering if my barely-two-page-rough-outline would qualify. I decided probably not and proceeded to cram for several hours in my favorite coffee shop resulting in a surprisingly good plan. My new coach is probably reading this blog right now – crap, I’m totally busted!!
Overall a great week. Tune in next week for a full report on the first of my many cooking classes. Hope you guys are enjoying reading the blog as much as I am writing it. As you know, you can follow Little City Kitchen Co. by selecting the “like” button on my Facebook page as well. Happy Friday!
Your coach loves what you are doing – go get ‘em!!
Thought you’d get a kick out of telling that story Anni – couldn’t resist! What can I say, sometimes you need a little fire under your butt to get things really moving. Thanks for being the spark.
Jill, if you have the opportunity, you should take a look at http://www.westonaprice.org. The organization is located in San Fran, and they have a HUGE interest in educating people about real food. I think that if you made contact, there would be some opportunities for you to get the word out about your classes. There are local chapters across the country, and coming from someone who has had to weed through all of the information and learning on her own, I think your classes could be a lifesaver for parents. Let me know if you have any questions!
Jill, I love reading about your progress and the way you express your inner thoughts; it reeks of success because you are so thorough and careful to do things well and right. I predict your blog will be a successful book someday on “How to Decide, Develop and Deploy” a successful business! Just keep your eye on the ball. Love you, Grammy
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