244 – What If Your Product Category is Already Taken with Sam Holmes of Holmes Sweet Home

Sam Holmes of Holmes Sweet HomeHolmes Sweet Home is a confections company that crafts gourmet nut brittles and caramel sauces.

Sam started experimenting with sugar cooking in her 5th grade science class. Enamored by how simple table sugar can be transformed into so many treats, she continued to hone her skills over the next 25 years.

After leading sales teams in a Fortune 1000 company, she combined what she learned in Corporate America with lessons gleaned at her grandmother’s hip to create a very special business.

Today you can find Holmes Sweet Home products in bakeries, coffee shops, candy stores, specialty gift stores and coming soon, wineries!

Business Building Insights

  • In entrepreneurial life there are myriad of opportunities that come your way. Focus on what’s going well despite the challenges.
  • Explore ideas and let them unfold as you create your business.
  • Never structure your business as a hobby. Take steps to make sure it will have longevity and room to grow.
  • Believe in your product and identify what way(s) it’s different and better than others in the same category. Then you’ll always have a market for what you offer.
  • At farmer’s markets or trade shows, be approachable so people want to talk to you about your product.
  • Taking steps to followup after product delivery allows you to confirm satisfaction and get invaluable feedback that will turn first-timers into long term customers.

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Thank so much! Sue

 

Transcript
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Gift biz unwrapped episode 244 I feel now more than ever

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that everything that I dreamed of plus more for this business

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as possible.

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Attention gifters,

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bakers, crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

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Whether you have an established business or looking to start one

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now you are in the right place.

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This is gift to biz unwrapped,

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helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

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Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

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resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

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Here is your host gift biz gal,

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Sue moon Heights.

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Hi there,

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it's And I'm so happy that we're back together again today.

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If you're brand new to the show,

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then welcome and for my regular listeners,

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I want to tell you again how much I appreciate you

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and I'm always interested in your feedback.

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If you'd like to reach out to me,

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you can always do so at SU at gift biz,

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on ramped.com

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thoughts show ideas,

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any input is always great.

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Now onto this week's past guest spotlight today I have an

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update for you from Regina of D alchemy.

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They make organic natural products such as skincare,

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body care and dietary supplements.

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Can't believe it's been this long,

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but we first talked back in December of 2016 so that

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was episode number 87 I comment in that show that we

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have a lot to watch for with Regina and she does

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not disappoint.

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Back then,

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she was closing down her retail shop in exchange for a

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larger warehouse space.

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Now she's getting ready for another move.

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They just signed a lease for a new 9,000

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square foot facility.

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They recently launched a new CBD lotion and completed a repackaging

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relabeling project for all 300 skews.

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What an undertaking.

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That must have been RD.

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Alchemy is a perfect example of how a business grows and

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develops over time.

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A brick and mortar shop worked in the beginning.

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Then Regina decided that the focus and strategic direction of her

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company required a different physical setup and now they continue to

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grow and grow.

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I want you to think about this for your business too.

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It's an evolution and it takes turns and changes over time.

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The trick is to get started.

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Regina may or may not have had a large production and

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testing facility on her dream board when she started and she

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definitely didn't jump right into that as a brand new business.

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It's a journey and sometimes we forget about that.

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So I'm here to remind you.

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Let's talk about this week's shadowy.

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I have the feeling that Sam's business,

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although a different industry entirely is going to see the growth

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that we just talked about with Regina.

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Can I just say to meet this woman is to love

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her like immediately.

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It's a perfect interview to be bringing you during the holiday

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season. So as IQ,

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the intro,

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I want you to think about twinkling lights and everything that's

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glittery and gold that Sam Today I am so excited to

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introduce you to Sam Holmes.

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She's the owner of home sweet home,

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which is a confections company that crafts gourmet nut brittles and

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caramel sauces.

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Sam started experimenting with sugar cooking in her fifth grade science

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class enamored by how simple table sugar can be transformed into

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so many treats.

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She continued to hone her skills over the next 25 years

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after leading sales teams.

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In a fortune 1000 company.

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She combined what she learned in corporate America with lessons gleaned

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at her grandmother's hip to create a very special business.

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Today you can find home sweet home products in bakeries,

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coffee shops,

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candy stores,

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specialty gift stores,

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and coming soon wineries.

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Well, that's going to be exciting for all of us to

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find out about.

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Sam, welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.

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Thank you so much too.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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I am thrilled that you are here and you know,

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I know that you are super fancy and we're going to

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get into a lot of that.

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But before we do,

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I'd like for you to share with our listeners about you

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in a little bit of a different way.

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And that's through a motivational candle.

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So if you were to describe a candle that's all you,

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what color would it be and what would be a quote

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that could go on that candle?

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Well, my candor would definitely be pink.

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I have always been attracted to it as a color.

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It's a path for me.

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I feel super confident when I wear pink clothes or have

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pink nails.

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So my candle is pink and like a peony pink,

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not just any field like hot pink or anything like that,

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but the beautiful pink that you see on peonies.

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And in terms of what it would say,

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I think my candle would say reach for the best feeling

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thought you have access to.

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For me,

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I believe that what you focus on grows,

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whether that's good or bad,

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and in entrepreneurial life there are a myriad of opportunities and

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challenges that come your way,

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sometimes moment to moment and at times there can seem to

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be more challenges or uphill battles and there are opportunities.

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So it's important to focus on what's going well,

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but to also be realistic.

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For me,

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if I just burned 10 pounds of sugar while I'm in

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the kitchen,

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it's literally impossible for me to look at that situation and

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flip directly over to joy.

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You get there.

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From there.

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I can move up the emotional scale from this feeling of

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powerlessness to maybe anger where there's a little bit more control

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of my emotions and then from there I can get to

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frustration or contentment and then hopefulness and so I focusing on

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the best feeling thought that I can grasp,

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I can do the work of pulling my focus forward.

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Oh my gosh,

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that is such a powerful idea and just being intentional with

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your thoughts and your feelings and taking control over them instead

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of it reversing it.

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Taking control over you.

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Exactly. You know,

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I also think we always are optimistic in that there's never

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going to be anything wrong.

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When the opposite of that is also true.

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There's always going to be something that happens that's wrong.

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It's part of business,

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you know,

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whether it's with product production,

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there is something with a customer,

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delivery goes wrong.

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That's part of the gig and I think that's a great

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thing that we just kind of walked ourselves into here.

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Just the understanding that that's the way it is.

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That's part of it.

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So you have to get comfortable with that,

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but it's how you respond to it.

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To your point,

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that's the most important It is.

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And so many times in my business,

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I had a plan and I didn't account for things going

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left and when they did go left,

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it's like,

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okay, well what now?

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You know?

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And so I've learned over time that you can have the

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perfect plan,

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but people aren't perfect.

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So you gotta have a plan B,

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C, D,

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E and F.

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Wait, are you telling me we're not perfect.

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Okay. I just wanted to make sure I understood.

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All right.

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So let's talk a little bit,

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a Bit about your past and the Avenue that brought you

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to where you are here today.

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Sure. So starting this business is literally a combination of a

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lifetime of experiences.

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As you referenced in the intro,

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I started my work with sugar when I was in fifth

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grade, but what led me to the point that I am

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today is I made a pretty major life change in 2017

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I had just left a fortune 1000 specialty technology company that

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I've worked for for 10 years and taken on a full

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time position as COO of a sports tech startup in Greenville,

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South Carolina where I live.

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And so startup life is such a departure from the rigidity

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of most corporate structures.

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And so along with being more creative in that role,

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I also sort of gave myself license to be creative at

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home and in my free time.

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And so that summer my sister and I went on a

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cross country road trip.

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I ended up writing a patent and I ultimately started what

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is now home sweet home candy company.

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Initially I named it as Ella's kitchen after my great grandmother,

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but that was a big bust because there's already a baby

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food company named Ellis kitchen.

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So my good friend and founder of the sports tech startup,

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Harold suggested,

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he said,

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you know what about home sweet home?

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And I loved it immediately.

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So thankfully I was able to register that with the patent

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and trademark office,

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which further sort of cemented the idea that that was the

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right name for the business.

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And at the time I only had one product.

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I had my sweet cream caramel sauce.

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And at this point my mom had been telling me almost

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on a weekly basis I needed to consider jarring my caramel

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sauce recipe.

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I've been making it for about seven years as a part

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of diverts and other sweet things because I love to make

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desserts and I'm kind of convinced that that's genetic because my

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great grandma,

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my grandma and my mom all have furious free tubes and

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they're who I draw a lot of my inspiration from when

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it comes to the company and flavors and things like that.

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So my caramel sauce was so special because of the depth

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of flavor really.

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And the simplicity and the recipe.

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There were only four ingredients in the recipe,

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which was a stark contrast to caramel sauces that you'll see

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in grocery stores today,

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whether it's a brand name that you know,

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or even a gourmet sauce.

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There's typically about 10 ingredients in that jar.

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It was also during this time that I was refining my

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brittle recipe in January of the same year that I sort

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of took that leap of faith and started to work for

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this startup.

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My grandmother had passed away and she was famous for her

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peanut brittle recipe and every Christmas,

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all the kids would get together and take a big picture

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with a spoon cracking the peanut brittle.

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It just so happened that I got the news about her

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passing while I was on vacation and this resort gave you

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a little jar of spiced pecans as the welcome amenities.

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And so when I got home from that trip,

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we all went to her home to sort of come together

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as a family and I thought about what I would bring

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as a food item.

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And so I decided to combine the idea of the sweet

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and spicy pecans that I love so much from that vacation,

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along with what I learned from her about making brittle and

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that began the recipe for my cinnamon sugar pecan brittle.

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Oh my gosh.

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So steeped in tradition and family.

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I love that.

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Yeah. It's kind of a two part story.

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There's the caramel side and then there's the brittle side.

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Yeah, so,

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well, and I have to say I'm really glad the first

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name was taken because home sweet home,

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like really it sounds so warm and comforting and aligned with

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your product way better.

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Absolutely. Yes.

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Yes. And then to hear your story about it all leading

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from the family story,

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that also goes back to like the idea of home sweet

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home. That's right.

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So perfect.

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It was meant to be that way for sure.

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It was So on that ride that you were on with

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your sister,

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when you decided that you were going to start the business,

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were you submitting for patents for the recipes or trademarks?

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When you say patent and were you trademarking the name or

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what were you doing at that time?

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At that time I was trademarking the name home sweet home

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patent that I was writing was completely separate.

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I'd had this idea for a wide organizer as well that

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summer, and so I went through the process of what it

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would take to write a patent.

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I was inspired by Sarah Blakely because she wrote her own

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patent for Spanx and on that road trip,

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and we're listening to a lot of podcasts,

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a lot of how I built this podcast,

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and that would happen to be one of the episodes.

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And so that's sort of what inspired me to get involved

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with the us patent and trademark office from that perspective.

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But then it also educated me on how I could protect

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the name of my company with a trademark for HomeFree home.

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Got it.

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Okay. So you had at that point then said,

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all right,

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I'm going to do something on my own.

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And you had two different avenues then that you could go

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down. Absolutely.

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I mean I was really exploring everything that was sort of

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pent up that I had thought about over the past 10

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years working for corporate America,

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but never really given any credence or audience to,

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this was my time to kind of let all of those

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ideas unfold and then see what the picture looked like.

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But at the end of the summer,

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at the end of the day,

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and was also on this trip where I came up with

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the other flavors for the brittle with my sister,

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we said that we were in the car driving through Florida

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thinking like,

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well, what things do we like to eat with friends?

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We like banana nut bread.

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We like pineapple,

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we like cranberry almond,

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let's figure out how to make those into a brittle.

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Okay, so this is interesting.

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So at what point did you decide to go down the

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sweet route versus another product?

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It was encouragement from my mom.

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She had called me one afternoon and said,

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I'm tired of telling you to drive this caramel sauce.

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You need to do it.

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And I said,

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mom, I'll tell you,

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love me.

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And that's why you're saying this,

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but the world really looking for caramel sauce.

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We ended the conversation and I went to the grocery store

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that afternoon and I turned the corner and right on the

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end cap was all of these local products at eye level

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was a caramel sauce from a family owned company in North

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Carolina. So I bought their caramel,

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took it home,

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I tasted it,

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it was great.

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It had a very distinct molasses flavor that I wasn't such

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a fan of and I thought,

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well Jesus,

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these people are out here selling caramel sauce.

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Certainly I should be able to sell my recipe,

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which no shade to them I think is way,

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way better.

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So I want to say that next week that I went

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down to the tax office to register my home as a

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business, looked into what the D heck certifications that were needed

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were registering with the department of agriculture and getting water and

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pH testing for the caramel sauce done and then also finding

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a commercial kitchen.

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South Carolina is one of the States that has a cottage

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law program where you can cook from home up to a

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certain revenue amount,

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but I knew that this business was going to be way

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bigger than that from the very beginning,

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just based on the feedback that I'd gotten from sharing the

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sauce with friends.

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I had already had these grand ideas for product placement in

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terms of where the caramel sauce would be,

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even from the very beginning.

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So I never structured the business to be sort of a

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hobby. I always took steps to make sure that the business

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would have longevity,

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if that makes sense,

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and had the room and the space to grow.

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I didn't want to be hindered by not being able to

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participate in an opportunity or work with someone because I didn't

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have the right certifications.

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So I did all of those things upfront and so they

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took about eight months to get everything sort of under control

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from the tax perspective,

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the product testing back from Clemson university,

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the RVC license from the department of agriculture and getting set

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up in a commercial kitchen.

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Okay. I have one minor question and one major question here

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before we go on.

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The minor question is while you were doing all of this,

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were you also still working for that sports tech startup?

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Yes. Yes I was.

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I got multiple projects at one time.

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Okay. You know,

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I was just curious if you were ramping that up and

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still had something on the side.

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I was just curious about that,

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but my major question is this,

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and you are such a rock star Sam,

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because I know for a fact that a lot of people,

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after you got off the phone with your mom and you

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went into the store and you saw another local caramel company,

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I know for a fact a lot of people would say,

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Oh my gosh,

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it's already being done and let the idea just fade away

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because they feel like there's no room in the market for

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them because someone else is already doing it.

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Not just making caramel but is a local caramel maker.

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Right. Why did your mind not go that way and why

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were you so confident and saw very optimistically that there was

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space for you,

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even with a very direct competitor if you will right there

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in the market?

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What was your thinking?

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Because I tasted their product and I knew that I had

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a better product and again that is not a slight to

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the other company.

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My grandmother,

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great grandmother and mother all cooked from scratch so I know

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what real food tastes like.

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I know what chemicals in food taste like.

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I know what artificial flavors in food tastes like and so

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when I had those other products in my mind it wasn't

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even a competition.

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It was hands down.

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This is the best caramel thought I have ever had and

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I know based on whatever else is out there in the

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market, this is going to be the best caramel sauce that

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anyone else has had.

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And the basis of that really is holing gradients.

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A lot of people like to use corn syrup or inverted

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cane syrup in their caramel sauces because it's cheaper than sugar,

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but it also doesn't taste good.

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Corn syrup doesn't lose its sweetness the longer that you cook

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it. So you then have to account for that by adding

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artificial flavors to get that robust caramelization that you do.

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A sugar in.

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Very cane syrup has a very strong molasses flavor and that's

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great if you like molasses.

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But I only like molasses and Jude or snaps than anything

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else. And so when I tasted their caramel sauce,

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it didn't taste like caramel to me.

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It tasted like molasses candy.

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And so from that moment I was just sort of very

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sure and confident in my own recipe in that I know

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that for me my product is better and I have to

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believe that there's a certain percentage of America that also has

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that belief.

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Right. Well,

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you know,

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you already said that there's wasn't bad.

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It's just a different take on caramel,

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I guess I would say.

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Right. That's great.

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Absolutely. You saw an opportunity to bring in your product that

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is different and too many people it is going to be

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better because of all that you just said.

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Right. And so there wasn't an opening.

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And I think this is such an important point and give

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his listeners,

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please hear this if you have in your heart a product

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that you want to start cupcakes,

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jewelry, but whatever,

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there is going to be someone else out in that category.

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I mean there are very few products that are totally reinvented

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and nothing like it ever,

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right? Right.

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But it's the difference that you bring to the table in

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the product,

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whether it's ingredients,

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styling, any of that,

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that will make the difference.

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So just like Sam did where she found an opportunity because

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her product was different and I'm sure that you talk about

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your product in that way too,

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right? I mean four ingredients versus 10 the sugar versus other

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ingredients, all of that.

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So it's all part of your big story and that's the

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important thing for everybody to remember is that's what you have

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to find.

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You don't want to repeat and do what everyone else is

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doing and just put your name on it because then you're

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in a head to head competition,

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then you are a competitor.

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But when you can make a tweak and it's something a

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little bit different,

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that's when you can win in your category and guess what

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they can win too.

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You're attracting different people.

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Absolutely. And to that point,

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the department of agriculture in South Carolina requires you to write

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a business plan and explain what differentiates your product from every

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other product that exists in your same category.

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So again,

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from the very beginning,

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I had to be cognizant of who were my competitors in

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this space and why was my product different and why should

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they allow me this license to enter into this category in

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the food space.

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Perfect. Okay.

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Love it.

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This is all such great information,

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Sam. Okay,

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so you have your products now figured out,

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love the stories behind how both of those came to be.

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You got all your ducks in a row in terms of

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the trademarks,

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the patents,

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making sure that you're in alignment with the cottage food laws.

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How then did you start getting customers or bringing your product

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to market?

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In the very beginning,

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I'm wanting to direct this conversation to someone who's thinking of

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starting out themselves.

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So the very beginning steps.

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I actually got connected with the local farmer's market from the

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owners of my commercial kitchen.

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They are a great team and they actually,

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when someone signs up new and they're in their kitchen,

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they give you a list of local farmer's markets and a

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list of local specialty food stores that you can then go

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and approach if you want to sell retail or sign up

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for these different farmer's markets if you want to go direct

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to consumer.

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So I signed up for my very first market that was

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hosted indoors,

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which was great because it was the winter at a brewery

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in South Carolina and I brought out my jars and caramel

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sauce. I had little plastic spoons and a giant squeeze bottle

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of the caramel so that I could sample with folks and

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the reaction was phenomenal.

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I sold out of caramel that day.

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And so I've walked into that space with a certain amount

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of confidence in my product,

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but I also had in the back of my head like

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who wakes up in the morning thinking I need to go

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to the farmer's market and get care of bill?

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Probably not many people,

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but what I realized very quickly was that someone doesn't have

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to wake up in the morning wanting your product.

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You have to be approachable enough for them to want to

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talk to you about your product and to try it.

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And from there,

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if the product is good to them,

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they will buy it.

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Right? So I had to sort of let that self limiting

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thought of who's going to come.

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I had to let that go away.

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The people were already going to come because it was the

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farmer's market.

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It was my job to then be warm and friendly and

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inviting enough to interest them in my table and then also

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in my product.

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Okay. Well we're just going to jump right to that now.

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Share with us what your first display looked like.

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Oh goodness.

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Okay. Was it kind of bare bones or like what was

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it, the very first one,

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where are you sold out of product?

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I might want to remind everybody.

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Yes. I practiced my display on my coffee table at home

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first. And so I actually got just a white tablecloth along

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white rectangular table cost.

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I got a runner that was made out of burlap and

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then I got apples,

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brownies, croissants,

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a little cup of coffee.

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Just different things that you would use the caramel sauce on

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or in to sort of inspire people's ideas about where they,

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to use it.

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Because the first thing I would imagine someone saying,

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Oh, you just put this on ice cream,

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right? And it's like,

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well, sure you could put it on ice cream,

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but you could also put it in a barbecue sauce recipe

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to sweeten that up.

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You could put it on croissants for brunch.

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You can add it to coffee.

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So the tablescape was very reminiscent of,

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uh, Sandra Lee from semi-homemade where she has all these different

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knickknacks or things that sort of tie into the recipe itself.

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So that felt like you were walking up to someone's Thanksgiving

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table and the caramel sauce was the highlight.

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It was stacked up in these beautiful glass jars with gold

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lids, some of them and pyramid style one jar ahead know

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opened and have a big spoon in the jar that was

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kind of spilling over so that people could see the consistency

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of the product as well.

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So I tried my best to make the table look like

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the place that you wanted to be in the market And

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note that it wasn't expensive,

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elaborate signage or anything like that.

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I guess that's my point is a lot of people will

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hesitate to do it because they don't have everything buttoned down

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or the display.

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But quite honestly,

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Sam, from what you described,

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that's a good display for moving forward too,

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because to your point it's a tablescape and for all the

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reasons you just said,

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I don't have to repeat it.

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It's perfect.

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Okay, so that's part of a show is just the display.

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And this was a farmer's market.

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So people were buying right then and there?

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Correct. What types of systems did you have for checkout?

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Did everything run smoothly at the show in that manner or

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talk us through that a little bit.

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Sure. Interestingly enough,

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the industry I come from is the point of sale industry,

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so I was already prepared with my square reader,

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you know that you attach to your cell phone and then

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I also had a cash box because most of the folks

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at the farmer's market didn't accept credit card and I thought,

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man, that's wild.

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Like who has cash these days?

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Only my dad has cash.

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So I decided to bring a cash box.

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But then I also had the square reader attached to my

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cell phone so that I could accept credit and debit payments

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at the show.

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And I still use that same methodology today except that it's

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got my cell phone.

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I now use an iPad mini so that tons of people

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aren't touching my phone that I put on my face Point.

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That is a good point there.

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And did you have enough product for that show or once

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you were sold out,

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were there people still wanting the product?

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There were still people wanting the product.

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I did not have enough for the show.

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And that was again because I didn't really have an idea

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of how many people were going to be at this show.

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There were a lot of things I learned at the end

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about what kinds of questions I should ask the show organizer,

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like how many people tend to come out to the show.

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Is it sort of a front end or back end heavy

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audience that shows up in terms of attendance.

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So I did not have enough product,

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but that was also sort of very inspiring because what I

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did is the folks that came to the table tasted the

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product, liked it,

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but weren't able to purchase.

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I actually got their contact information and I sent them a

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sample jars for free.

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So they were smaller,

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right? They weren't the full sized jar,

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but it was enough to sort of keep them interested so

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that when they came back out to the market the next

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week, then they would purchase.

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Well that's brilliant.

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And it's also a thank you for being here and being

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interested. And I'm sorry that I didn't have it for you

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almost. Right.

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And so how did that first season,

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it sounds like you did several of the farmer's markets,

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maybe weekly,

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and you can share that with us,

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but how did you feel overall about your experience then at

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the farmer's market for that first season?

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Well, Here's Sam's response to this question right after a quick

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word from our sponsor.

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You know,

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I actually only did that one farmer's market that season.

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I didn't realize that there were multiple farmer's markets happening throughout

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the week.

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I've never been to a farmer's market first of all,

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before I went to this one.

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So I fought all of the markets happened on Saturday morning

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in this window and it was at the seasons end.

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In speaking with some of the other vendors that I realized

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we committed,

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there's a market on Wednesday,

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Thursday and Tuesday.

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And so that first sort of winter and spring I had

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only done one market and I thought that I was like

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on a roll and it was at the end of that

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that I realized,

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man, there's a much greater opportunity for getting my product in

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front of folks at other markets.

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And so it was in that late spring,

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early summer when I actually signed up for my first vegan

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festival, which completely transformed where the business was going and did

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several other markets and realized there's a much better way to

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sort of capitalize on the opportunity in front of me as

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well as use these markets as a litmus test for,

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or what recipes worked really well,

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which recipes people are like,

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no, this is gross.

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Don't ever make it again.

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And things like that.

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What do you mean that there was a much better way?

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What does that mean?

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Well, again,

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I thought that there was only one channel to get my

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product out to focus up that I could only do one

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market at the time.

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I see,

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okay. So I didn't realize that I could be at a

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market on Tuesday,

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Thursday and Saturday getting feedback and making sales versus just the

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one day on Saturday.

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Right. I'm a big advocate of using the person to person,

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whether it's farmer's markets,

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craft shows,

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more formal trade shows for not just selling,

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which is obviously what people go there to do primarily,

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but getting that feedback,

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seeing the response to not just all the products that are

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selling, but the sizes in your case that jars,

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all different types of things like that.

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Do you have a formal system of documenting what you're hearing

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and what you're seeing or you just keep it in the

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back of your mind?

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I actually am very old school and I still have an

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agenda planner that I carry around with me.

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Good. I love that.

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And so even when someone comes up to the table and

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they say,

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Oh no,

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I don't like caramel,

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or I don't like pecans,

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or I don't like cashews,

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I still ask them to try it to say,

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okay, you're going to be my most critical case tester.

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So I would appreciate it if you don't have a food

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allergy. Don't make me use my business insurance.

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Oh seriously.

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And give me some feedback.

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And so on each Saturday day,

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I have a running list of notes on that day and

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my agenda planner,

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sort of what people said,

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how willing people to buy the half pound bag versus the

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quarter pound bag of brittle,

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how responsive or receptive they were to X amount of dollars

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for a caramel sauce jar versus another.

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So it was really,

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really a good opportunity too that my own ideas about the

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business, the flavors,

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the price points without the pressure of it being sort of

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this, you know,

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large retailer.

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These were my neighbors essentially.

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Oh right.

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And did you see a different show by show?

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So audience by audience?

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Yes, absolutely.

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So in the shows where there's a lot greater attendance,

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there's a lot less price sensitivity and then the smaller markets

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there's a greater price sensitivity.

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So that was what sort of encouraged me to create the

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quarter pound brittle bag versus the half pound because I was

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at a market and I noticed that a lot of the

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folks were actually coming in with buy vouchers.

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And so the voucher system allows you to buy fruits and

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vegetables and things at the farmer's market without using cash.

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And so a lot of times that can be indicative of

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expecting a lower price point,

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right? If somebody is getting something for free and then you

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have something on your table for $10 there's a disparity there.

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Right. And so at the markets with vouchers,

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we also bring out quarter pound bags and eventually we just

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decided that any market with vouchers,

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we're going to do the quarter pound bag and we actually

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sell more when we do that.

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Because again,

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that barrier to entry is not so high.

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Yeah. I'm also thinking those smaller bags,

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there's potential that people want to buy it to consume it

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there and they see how much they like it so they

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come back to buy a bigger bag to take home.

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Exactly. That's happened several times.

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Oh my gosh.

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All right.

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I'm just staying on the craft show really heavily here because

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it's a great way for people who are just starting out

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to really understand the receptivity of their product.

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Now there's another thing that you do so well and none

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of us can see you,

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but I might make you blush here.

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Sam, I'm not sure,

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but I met you at the Philadelphia candy show just a

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couple of months ago and you were in the first aisle

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there, but I just have to say this was the first

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time you were a vendor at that show,

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right? First time you're exhibiting there,

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there was like stars coming from your booth because of the

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energy and you were there with your mom.

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Right? You are both such jovial,

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happy, engaging women that I swear to God it was like

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there were stars coming through and everybody else in the aisle

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except for Amy who had the very first booth,

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so outside,

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cause she's kind of goofy,

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crazy like that too.

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But like there was almost nobody else in the aisle.

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But you because of the energy that you brought to the

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show and coming up to you guys.

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I mean it just seems so natural for you guys,

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you and your mom.

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Is that just how you are?

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It is,

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you know,

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my mom is such a cornerstone of for my whole entire

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life now that I'm 35 and I don't have children.

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I think about the fact that I was 10 she was

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35 I'm like,

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how did she do this?

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She went to job,

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her work all day.

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She came home and made sure I did my homework.

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She had a husband,

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which you know,

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I hear it's tough.

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She's like a superstar.

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She literally pretty super woman to me and she's always such

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a great supporter.

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She's my number one fan and again was the person who

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was encouraging me weekly about making this a real business and

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she also loves sweets and so we were both like kids

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in the candy store at this silly candy show and I'd

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never done any trade show before.

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So not only was this my first Philly candy show,

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it was my first candy show of any kind and I

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was beyond excited to be there.

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I wrote myself a giant focus wheel earlier that morning about

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all the good things that were going to happen and so

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we were just there in complete gratitude and appreciation and thankful

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for every person that came by the booth or try our

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product. It was so gratifying to hear people in the candy

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industry give feedback because up to that point again,

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everyone that was telling us that it was so yummy and

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so amazing.

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These were our neighbors.

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These were people that were not necessarily experts in this field.

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It was an amazing experience and so we had nothing but

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goodbyes to give you.

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It's not going to be any drama.

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We had a great time.

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We did a nine hour road trip up to her sheet

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from South Carolina.

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So yeah,

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it was a great time.

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It was a ball.

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Yes. I speak to this because of the point that you

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have to bring your personality and who you are to your

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book because it really does separate you from other people and

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not everyone.

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I mean,

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you can't fake being you like I don't know many people

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who could be you and your mom,

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Sam. It's just the way it is.

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Right? It would look silly if you tried because for you

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guys it's just who you are.

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But I bring it up again because people who are doing

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craft shows and trade shows,

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you know,

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whatever level of show,

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face to face,

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you need to show your personality and who you are and

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engage with everybody.

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Not just offer samples and say nothing,

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but chat with them.

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Get into conversations,

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share things,

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ask questions,

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observe. All of that.

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Makes your brand stand out just because of who you are

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as the maker and the owner behind the business.

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Yes, and I learned those skills from my mom when I

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was really little.

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I remember that she would decorate these dolls and she would

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fill the clothes for the dogs and sell them at the

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local farmer's market and she was so engaging.

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She would ask people,

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you know,

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well, are you from here?

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What brought you out to the market today?

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Oh, I really liked your blouse or your earring.

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So finding a way to genuinely connect with someone that's going

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to share their time with you was always something that she

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focused on.

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And I learned that from her.

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And that's exactly what happened with the show.

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We were so excited to be there and to meet everyone,

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but we also wanted to know about them as much as

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we wanted them to know about us.

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Yeah, give and take for sure.

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And so this was your first trade show.

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So give his listeners what we're talking about here is initially

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when you're at craft shows or farmer's markets,

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most of the time you're selling to a consumer direct to

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consumer. There are also trade shows that sell direct to consumer.

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This was a business to business show.

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So the people who were walking the aisles are people who

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own shops possibly make candy.

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So they're looking for different elements to include new flavors,

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et cetera.

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So you're selling business to business now.

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And so I just wanted to preface that,

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Sam, what types of learnings did you have?

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How is that type of a show different from the shows

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you were doing already and what type of advice would you

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have for people who are listening who are thinking of getting

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into a trade show and doing that in addition to craft

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shows or farmer's markets?

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I think that the trade show is really the way to

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elevate your business,

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right? You're getting less purchase orders,

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but they're larger.

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So selling one bag of brittle or one jar of caramel

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sauce at a time is exhausting.

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You're giving up every weekend to be at the farmer's markets

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a lot of nights during the week and it's you,

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you know,

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you have to be on.

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People are buying the product as much as they are buying

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the experiences,

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speaking with you.

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And so at the trade show you can do that,

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but then you also gain a repeat customer,

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you be a lifelong customer and that order is going to

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be 10 15 X would,

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it would have been at a farmer's market.

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And so for me,

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I knew that having the direct to consumer sales was important.

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It was a great way to sort of,

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like I said,

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litmus test the recipes,

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the consistency and all of those things.

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But ultimately my goal was to get more B2B opportunities in

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front of me because that would allow us to scale the

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business a lot faster than selling one bag at a time.

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And so I was actually at a trade show for receipt

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printers and I was kinda gamed off into the calls.

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And I thought,

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man, if I'm at a trade show for repeat renters,

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there's got to be a trade show for candy.

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And so I Googled candy trade show September and the Philly

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candy show popped up.

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It was about four weeks away.

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And so I said,

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this is it.

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This is the moment I was supposed to think about this

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this day and Google this.

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And I found it and it was a great opportunity to

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get in front of business owners because cold calling on a

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candy store is really difficult.

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10 times out of 10 the owner's not in the store,

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they've got someone else working the registers for them and dipping

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and things like that.

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And so these events are where the business decision makers are

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and they are buying candy for the next maybe fiscal year

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or making relationships for the next fiscal year.

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And so this industry B to B event was something that

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really sort of elevated our business in a different way.

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People were talking about us in the industry in a way

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that would have been really to come by if we had

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not attended the show.

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Yeah. And you know,

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you're putting yourself in front of people who are in the

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mindset differently because if you're walking into someone's store,

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the owner,

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even if they're there,

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their mindset is selling product,

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managing the floor,

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helping employees,

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you know that kind of mindset versus when people are coming

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to a trade show,

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they are walking into exactly what you're wanting.

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Right. Identifying new products,

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speaking with owners,

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making deals,

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et cetera.

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So that's different.

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So at the consumer shows you're pricing your product one way,

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now you go to a trade show.

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How did the presentation and offering of your products change?

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What did you need to do in a short time?

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You said four weeks.

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So what did you have to do within just a few

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weeks to re present your product so that it could be

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for a trade show?

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Sure. So I had already worked out what my wholesale pricing

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would be.

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So I was selling at full retail at my local shows,

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which was say goodness that I did that because I run

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into so many small business owners who are selling at wholesale

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at their markets and then they go to an industry event

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and they don't feel confident in their pricing And there's nowhere

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to go then either.

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That's right.

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Exactly. You can't go anywhere.

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And so I had already worked out my wholesale pricing,

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but one thing that I did learn at the show was

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about Keystone pricing.

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I had literally never been,

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I've heard of them Before in my life.

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Even though in first grade I was a Keystone cop for

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Halloween, My mom,

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I went in the contest.

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Yeah. So Keystone pricing is essentially,

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you know,

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whatever their wholesale cost is,

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you double that and that's what they would resell it for

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in their store.

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And they like to see that as a listed MSRP.

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And so I learned that at the show.

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The other thing I learned was that retail pricing varies drastically

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depending on where you live in the United States.

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So I live in a fairly small town in South Carolina,

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so someone's,

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what they're willing to pay for candy is different than say

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in New York city or Los Angeles or Philadelphia.

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And so a lot of the folks that were coming up,

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because this was the Philadelphia candy show,

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were from these parts of the country where things just cost

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more in general.

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So they were less price sensitive when it came to retail

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pricing. And so I learned that depending on where I'm selling

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into, the business owner may have a preference for a higher

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or lower retail price.

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But that should not impact my wholesale price,

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right? My wholesale price should remain constant based on what our

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profit margins need to be and what our business goals are.

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But the business can change.

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It's just a suggested retail price,

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right? It's like a car sticker suggested retail price.

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So those were two pretty big pricing takeaways that I learned

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from Michelle.

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You had information prepared for how many pieces would be in

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a case and what the price of a case was.

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Did you have minimum order there?

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I did not have minimum order quantities per se,

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a minimum order quantity with one case.

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And I actually got advice on how to build a case

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and price a case from another business owner,

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a lady named Mimi who owns Mimi's mountain mixes.

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She suggested having smaller case quantities because as a business that's

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trying out your product for the first time,

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they're not really sure how it's going to sell.

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So rather than having a case of 50 bags of bread

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in one,

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maybe doing an introductory case of five bags,

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right? So they could try it out,

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they could buy a bag for samples to test them,

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their store.

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And then based on how well those smaller cases go by

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flavor, then they could jump to a larger case quantity.

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So that was something that we did at the show.

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It was one of our show specials that we considered for

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the scattered case of brittle is 30 bags for all of

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the show attendees we did a case is five bags.

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And so that was a really good way to get people

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at least interested enough to make that first purchase and have

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it in their stores and then see how those five bags

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sold. And so we've had a couple of customers that have

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already filled out and it's placed three orders.

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So it was really smart idea that we got from TB.

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That's perfect.

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Okay. And so how did auto fulfillment go after the show?

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Cause this is the first time you're doing it.

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So you come back then with all these orders?

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Well I was so excited and then I realized,

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Oh my goodness,

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where am I going to get all the bags and the

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jars? Everything because I don't know,

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a small part of me didn't really click in that people

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would be ordering at the show because every other trade show

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that I had attended,

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people just came up and saw where you had,

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they weren't really buying things right now,

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this is also technology,

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so it just didn't Dawn on me that people would actually

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want to place orders at the show.

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So my mom actually had to run down to the concierge

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lounge and print off order forms because I forgot about that

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part. But then I also got myself into a bit of

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a tough position because I kept saying,

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okay, I agree your order will ship Monday,

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Oops. But you're like,

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wait a minute,

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we get home on Wednesday.

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I have a department of ag review on Thursday,

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Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the commercial kitchen to make all

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of this.

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And Oh,

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by the way,

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you don't have any more half pound bags or you only

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have half the number of glass jars that you need.

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So thankfully,

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thanks fully aligned.

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It's a great company for one of my vendors and they

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have something called we'll call pickup.

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And so I was able to drive to browse in Georgia,

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which is about an hour and a half away,

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not very far,

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and pick up everything that I needed to actually pack and

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fulfill the orders.

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I was able to get my boxes there.

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Um, and so it was probably the most frantic three days

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of my life because I didn't even think about what I

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was saying.

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I just was like,

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Oh, your order will ship Monday.

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And I kept saying it and probably around the second day

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I was like,

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man, that's a lot of things<inaudible> It's all going to happen.

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Yeah. I don't think I slept more than four or five

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hours over that weekend,

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but I did get every single order packed and shipped and

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out of the door.

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Good for you.

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That's fabulous,

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Sam. Yeah.

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Now we did run into some issues with,

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one of the things was I was also shipping gallons of

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caramel sauce and so you know,

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that's a liquid.

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I was really concerned about how that would make it to

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the destination.

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Would it explode in the box?

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What would happen?

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I had one customer that bought seven gallons of caramel,

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which was really heavy and so we did have some issues

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around product arriving damaged with one of our customers,

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and this is sort of where all those years of customer

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service kicked in because we had decided that we would call

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everyone the day after delivery to make sure that the delivery

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was successful.

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And in those conversations we found out so many things.

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We found out one partner preferred ups because FedEx delivered too

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early, so we were able to add that to their account.

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We found out that one of the gallons of caramel had

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burst open and the partner was gracious enough to send us

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pictures so that we actually determined,

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well, why did this happen?

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How do we need to pack it differently?

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And she says,

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you know,

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I was going to call you and I thought to myself,

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well sure you were going to call me,

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but were you going to call me today?

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And everything that you didn't call,

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that dissatisfaction with our business would just kind of grow larger

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and larger.

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Right, Right.

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Or the alternative is that you don't call and we never

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hear from you again.

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So it was really a good idea for us to make

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those followup calls.

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And so from that point on we were just like,

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well it doesn't matter if it's a sample box or a

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full on order,

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everyone gets a call the day after delivery to make sure

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it was successful and ask them what could we have done

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better differently,

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things like that.

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I love the fact that you were too to your word

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and you got it out,

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although I bet you after that last one shipped out,

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you were home in bed trying to recover either that or

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toasting with a glass of wine.

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I'm not sure.

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For sure.

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Totally works for me.

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So what's your stand now on farmer's markets versus trade shows?

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Are you now out of the direct to consumer or where

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do you think you're headed with that now?

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Well, the holiday season is really,

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really busy for us,

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so we're definitely not out of the wind in terms of

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farmer's markets in that regard from about October until January,

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I think we'll always have a presence at farmer's markets because

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our products are very seasonal in that regard.

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People are always looking caramel for apples this time of year

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and brittle is a great gift for folks,

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so I think we'll maintain our presence at the markets in

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that time of year.

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But specifically in the spring,

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the summer,

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the early fall,

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our focus will only be on trade shows or festivals,

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things that sort of scale that business up in a much

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greater way.

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And then we're also launching this fall,

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our 10 raising program,

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which I'm really excited about because then I can have 20

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to 30 kids out there selling on our behalf and then

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we get to focus our attention elsewhere while they're out.

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Also making the sale.

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Give us a little more detail on that program.

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What are you doing?

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Sure, so I was inspired by the girl Scouts.

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One of my coworkers,

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her daughter was a girl scout and I never bought the

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cookies for myself,

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but I always bought them for the truth.

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And so in the beginning of this business I also thought

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about, well,

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who's going to acquire a home sweet home with today?

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What are the major candy players that are out there?

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And in that research I found out that world fund chocolate

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is churning like a hundred plus million in revenue per year.

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It would be $1 candy bars.

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And I thought,

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gosh, they have got something here.

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So I really need to consider having a fundraising program as

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another stream of revenue.

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And so I worked with the boy Scouts in the upstate

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of South Carolina to get more information about what they look

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for in a fundraising partner,

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how long they typically run their fundraisers for.

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And so this fall we're actually launching a fundraising program with

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one of the attendees that we met at the Philly candy

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show and they were attending specifically looking for candy companies that

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had fund raising programs.

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Interesting. I might have to have you circle back and talk

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to us about that after you've gone through one.

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Okay, sure.

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Fundraising isn't something that is a complete structure versus donating a

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portion of a sale.

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Fundraising isn't something we've ever talked about.

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Okay. Absolutely.

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Once you've got that button down and have gone through it,

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I think that would be very interesting to share if you're

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willing to share on the show.

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Absolutely. So GIF is listeners,

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stay tuned for that.

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I see that our time is starting to wind down,

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but I wanted to touch very briefly on your website.

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Do you have ordering capabilities for people also through your website?

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I do.

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We actually relaunching ordering capabilities on our website today for folks

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for a little while.

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We actually took that function down and we took it down

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because we were investigating better freight options.

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As a small business,

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it can be difficult because you don't have the luxury of

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large amounts of freight going out the door,

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so your rates are way higher than say Amazon,

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right? You can sit for free or very close to free.

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And so ultimately what it came down to is we just

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had to say,

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you know what guys?

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Our rates are what they are and we will either have

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those sales online or we'll just have to put more effort

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into growing our business so that people won't have to ask.

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Someone says,

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Oh, well,

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where can I get your product?

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I won't have to ask them where they live or direct

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them to a specific state.

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Soon we'll have distribution across the United States.

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But for right now our,

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at the time we were kind of hesitant about those online

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sales that we said,

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do you know what?

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If people really want our product,

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then freight will have to be a part of the equation

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for now.

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And then we always list where we traveled to for our

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different festivals and markets and things like that.

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So hopefully we'll be in an area where they can come

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and pick up a bag without having to pay for it.

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Beautiful. Okay,

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perfect. And what is the name of your website?

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It is homes suites.

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Two S's in the middle.com

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Give his listeners,

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as you know,

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everything will be over on the show notes page so you

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can always go in and access there,

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see what she's up to,

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see the shows that she's at,

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et cetera,

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et cetera.

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So that's perfect.

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Okay, so we'll,

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you've already talked about what some of the future holds,

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you know the fundraising going to more trade shows is still

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doing craft shows,

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farmer's markets specifically,

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I guess it is for you.

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Where do you see the business going in like five years?

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Oh goodness.

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In five years we'll have national distribution.

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We'll have,

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in my mind,

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I envision sort of a multilevel marketing platform form.

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Oh, nice.

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Yeah, I think it's interesting what Mary Kay has done in

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that regard and I think about the idea of candies,

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gourmet foods and things like that in a catalog where someone

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can host a party and have people come out.

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Maybe someone is getting married and they want to talk about

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wedding favors.

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Maybe someone's having a baby shower and they're looking for favorites

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for that,

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or it's just holiday season.

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That was actually inspired by a friend of my mom's.

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My mom sent her a bag of brittle,

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she had her girlfriends come over for a sewing club and

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they all loved it and wanted to buy it and ms

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Shirley wanted to know if she could then also be a

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part of a revenue stream on that.

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And I thought well why not,

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you know,

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how difficult would it be to investigate having a 10 99

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employee and then creating the structure where when you're available or

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when you want to,

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you can host this party and share these candies with friends

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and then make some money from that.

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So I think that's something that we'll have sort of the

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lights turned on in that office for definitely the fundraising will

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be a major revenue stream for us by that point and

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I'm sure that at that point we'll also have some regional

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distribution in retail stores.

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Beautiful. I want to make note for everyone listening.

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How old is your business right now?

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Two years old.

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I just had to ground everybody with that.

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But this is the exciting thing,

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Sam, is you are taking a lot of knowledge and experience

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that you've had unrelated fields,

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right? Completely.

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Yes. But what you were learning does overlap in what you're

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doing now and the ability to take something from the star

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if you're committed and if you're willing to take the moves.

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And if you're not afraid of someone who's making a similar

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product to,

Speaker:

albeit not as good to your point and you're ready to

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take action.

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These are the types of things that can happen.

Speaker:

So it's so exciting.

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It's so inspiring.

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And plus,

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you know,

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I love you and your mom so much.

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I wish I was your next door neighbor or maybe not.

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It would be crazy.

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It might be a little bit crazy.

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My neighbor loves me because she's my official taste tester and

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so every new flavor of anything,

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I'm like,

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Hey Sherry,

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can you come over and try this out and see if

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it's good?

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Okay, well I might just have to come and claim a

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bed for a night or two when you're sampling.

Speaker:

I don't know.

Speaker:

In any case.

Speaker:

You know,

Speaker:

Sam, this has been a wonderful demonstration of how you can

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take a concept and a thought and so quickly develop it,

Speaker:

but the thing that I keep hearing from you is how

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intentional it is,

Speaker:

how you have a plan and you're thinking forward already and

Speaker:

that's why you've made so much progress.

Speaker:

You haven't been just all over the place.

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You're very intentional.

Speaker:

You're listening in a direct contact with your customers so they

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help guide you to what the next steps should be.

Speaker:

You're always open to learning and testing and trying and look

Speaker:

at the results you've had already.

Speaker:

I'm so excited to watch.

Speaker:

As you continue on,

Speaker:

it's just you get chills and excitement when you think of

Speaker:

how far you've progressed.

Speaker:

I do.

Speaker:

I just had a conversation with my mom yesterday about that

Speaker:

because it's like I said,

Speaker:

it's a combination of a lot of different things really falling

Speaker:

into place.

Speaker:

There were decisions that I made very early on in the

Speaker:

business that from the outside looking in,

Speaker:

it's like,

Speaker:

well, why are you investing your time there?

Speaker:

That doesn't make sense here.

Speaker:

But now as I see things really sort of clicking in,

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it does give me chills and I feel now more than

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ever that everything that I dreamed of plus more for this

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business as possible,

Speaker:

I believe it with every fiber of my being.

Speaker:

And I think that the only way that it will happen

Speaker:

is if I stop.

Speaker:

So as long as I'm still here,

Speaker:

I know that it's going to unfold in this amazing and

Speaker:

magnificent way and I just cannot wait to see how everything

Speaker:

continues to fall into place.

Speaker:

I cannot wait to watch it either.

Speaker:

It is amazing.

Speaker:

And I don't think for one second you'll get in your

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own way because you haven't to this point.

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So I don't see that happening.

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Well, continued success to you.

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We've already laid the groundwork that you're going to have to

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come back and talk about fundraising with us later,

Speaker:

sometime in the next year.

Speaker:

So much success this holiday season.

Speaker:

Maybe I'll see you at a show you just never know

Speaker:

before the year's out.

Speaker:

Maybe the ultimate secret show.

Speaker:

Yeah. Are you going?

Speaker:

Oh yes,

Speaker:

absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker:

Okay. So I think that will have come and passed by

Speaker:

the time this show airs,

Speaker:

but great cause I'm going to see you there.

Speaker:

So yay to that.

Speaker:

All right,

Speaker:

well then I will see you soon.

Speaker:

Say hi to your mom for me and once again,

Speaker:

thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Speaker:

Thank you so much too.

Speaker:

Isn't it exciting to hear the progress Sam's made so far

Speaker:

and I want to talk to those of you who are

Speaker:

just starting out like Sam was just a year ago.

Speaker:

Take notice of the fact that she's not the only one

Speaker:

in her industry who makes brittle and Carmel,

Speaker:

but she's rocking it.

Speaker:

Please don't ever feel like there's not room for you with

Speaker:

whatever your handmade product is.

Speaker:

There is a space for you and it's up to you

Speaker:

to go and claim it.

Speaker:

Now, I didn't really time it this way,

Speaker:

but it worked out perfectly.

Speaker:

If you're just starting out in business or you're considering right

Speaker:

now turning your handmade product into a business,

Speaker:

but you just aren't sure yet,

Speaker:

you can see that everybody else is doing it.

Speaker:

But for yourself and your product,

Speaker:

you just have some questions yet.

Speaker:

Well, I've recently released a brand new program called start with

Speaker:

confidence. Now this is a pre business program that helps you

Speaker:

ensure that your product has a market and that your product

Speaker:

will sell at a price where you can make money and

Speaker:

you can build a business.

Speaker:

If you want to check that out.

Speaker:

Go to gift biz,

Speaker:

unwrapped.com forward slash start are you curious about what's going on

Speaker:

next week?

Speaker:

Well, we're going to be talking about happiness and gratitude and

Speaker:

how that applies as a woman business owner.

Speaker:

I'm going to kick it off right now by encouraging you

Speaker:

to take a few minutes each day between all the hecticness

Speaker:

of the holidays.

Speaker:

Breathe deep and take in and experience the beauty of the

Speaker:

season, even if it's just for a short time.

Speaker:

And with that,

Speaker:

I look forward to all of us being together again next

Speaker:

week. Bye for now.

Speaker:

I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

Speaker:

group called gift is free.

Speaker:

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

Speaker:

support each other.

Speaker:

We've got a really fun post in there.

Speaker:

That's my favorite of the week,

Speaker:

I have to say where I invite all of you to

Speaker:

share what you're doing,

Speaker:

to show pictures of your product,

Speaker:

to show them what you're working on for the week,

Speaker:

to get reaction from other people and just for fun because

Speaker:

we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in

Speaker:

the community is making.

Speaker:

My favorite post every single week without doubt,

Speaker:

wait, what aren't you part of the group already?

Speaker:

If not,

Speaker:

make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

Speaker:

group gift biz breeze.

Speaker:

Don't delay.

1 Comment

  1. Patrice Holmes on December 9, 2019 at 8:16 pm

    There is no joy bigger than a mother watching her child having a dream and seeing it flurish and come to life. I could not have expressed Sammie’s dream and her adventure any better. I truly enjoyed the pod cast and the questions presented by both the host and the guest. It was so up lifting and encouraging. Thank you Sue for the wounderful job you did with Sammie in this pod cast.

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