What are the biggest challenges you face in your business?
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Since chocolate is a rather seasonal product (typically summer is considered "slow" due to the heat and lack of chocolate-festive holidays), I would say the biggest challenge would be constantly securing customers each month. As a chocolatier, the bulk of your income comes during the holiday season (October-May), and in the slower months, you finally get a chance to slow down and breathe, however, business sales tend to drop as well. So there is that matter of being able to make sure that you can survive during the slower months and what else can you do to bring in more business.
In addition, since we are a relatively new company, and since we also offer mentorship, for us, the challenge is simply the patience game of growing slowly and getting our brand recognized more, and therefore bringing in more eyes, students, audience, etc.
And then last big challenge, though I consider this one more of a blessing, is handling all the growth. More growth=more work (initially), and just navigating all of that.
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What limitations would you have if you wanted to design a new service in your retail space?
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We are an e-commerce store so we don't have any limitations, per se.
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What metrics do you use to measure success in your business other than revenue and profit?
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For me, it's truly, how are we making an impact in the chocolate world. Am I happy doing what I'm doing day to day...with what I'm creating and building...and then seeing others' reactions to that, receiving positive feedback from customers and fellow chefs alike is pretty cool. But ultimately, success to me is measured in my ability to do what I love and live off of that.
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What were the biggest challenges in opening a chocolate store and keeping it running?
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Oh so many! Lol. First off, opening up a chocolate store (whether e-commerce or an actual brick and mortar) requires a lot of investment. A lot of patience. First and foremost, making sure you have your vision down pat, to avoid costly changes in the future. Having a well thought-out idea of what types of products you'll be offering, the look of your brand, the location (if you're brick and mortar), and then handling all the other ends of business besides the creative such as marketing, finance, etc. Especially in today's day and age, if you are a chocolate entrepreneur, you are a content creator as well. You need to be confident in yourself and hold conviction in your dream because just like any huge venture, it's not for the weak of heart or spirit and you will be tested. And you need to be able to dig deep and know why you're spending all the money, time, and energy on this dream and believe that you can push through and will do whatever it takes to do so.
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What emotions do you aim to evoke in your customers?
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Happiness. Happy dancing. I don't know the word, but when someone tells me that what we make is the best chocolate of their life...THAT.
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Could you share what priorities shaped the way you designed your store?
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Our brand is a blend of us both (my husband and I). It was important to us that it was aesthetically beautiful, of course. It was important to include a bit of each of our backgrounds into our products, and tell a story within our products. I wanted the customer to know that everything in our brand has intention from the colors to the flavors to the design to just everything. It truly is a brand that was made with a lot of love, passion, and professionialism.
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What has surprised you in what customers find valuable in the experience of purchasing chocolate or visiting your store?
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I think that when customers tell us that they feel like they know us before they've already bought from us is always a nice surprise. We make it a point to build solid relationships with each customer and try to provide a "above and beyond" customer experience. So just receiving recognition for that and hearing that on top of the lovely chocolates, the experience of purchasing from us itself is something customers really enjoyed is always awesome.
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