Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Susie Allport, Founder of Susie's Smart Cookie, located in Pound Ridge, NY, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Susie's Smart Cookie creates delicious Breakfast Cookies and Bites with two grams of vegetarian Omega-3s and a healthy balance of Omega-3s and Omega-6s. These tasty breakfasts to go -- or anytime snacks -- are a satisfying and sustainable way for people to boost their Omega-3s, fats that are essential for a healthy diet. We think of our Breakfast Cookies as being just sweet enough for kids but not too sweet for adults, so our customers run the gamut from commuters and travelers to athletes and students to busy moms and children -- just about everyone. Some customers call our Breakfast Cookies the SAT cookie because of how focused they make you feel. Others say they would never fly without one.
Tell us about yourself
For most of my adult life, I was a science writer, writing books about science and nature. After publishing a book on the history of Omega-3s, essential fats that are concentrated in our brains and other fast-acting tissues (The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s were removed from the Western Diet and what we can do to replace them. the University of California Press, 2006), I began fooling around with our favorite family recipes in order to add Omega-3s. Most Americans don't get enough Omega-3s in their diet (and they consume far too much of a competing fat: Omega-6s). My Breakfast Cookies are an extremely effective way of boosting the Omega-3s in an individual's tissues, which is like giving that individual a shot of WD-40. That is extremely gratifying and makes me happy to be doing what I am doing.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Creating the recipes for these Breakfast Cookies and transitioning from being a science writer to a baker. In business, fires that need tending pop up every day. I had to learn to take these in stride.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Keeping your eye upon the future -- and the present -- at the same time.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
If you want to create and sell a product, make sure you have your pricing right from the very start. Find good employees and compensate them well. If you believe in your product, as much as I do my high Omega-3 Breakfast Cookies, selling them is no problem.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.susiesmartcookie.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusieAllport/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susiesmartcookie/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-allport-a667967/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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