Thursday, September 4, 2008

"I could make people smile. All they had to do is eat the cookie. That was a magical thing."


...as said by Debbie Fields.  And yes, they did recently file for bankruptcy...so sad... but I just finished reading her book
One Smart Cookie and it's actually quite inspirational.  No great secrets to success exposed and when she started of course the economy and times were completely different, but I was able to identify with her in more ways than just cookies so to hear about the hurdles she encountered and overcame in building her cookie empire was actually quite encouraging.  Sometimes, I totally get discouraged and freaked out that I'm actually trying doing this so to know that just one housewife with only a cookie recipe was able to create, run and establish the Mrs. Fields empire, or how three academics who shared a love of coffee and tea could create a whole new way of experiencing coffee, or how a small town man cold sell a delicious secret doughnut receipe to a health crazed society and then to the world, actually comforts me.  For all you women foodprenuers I recommend picking it up.  As cheesy as it might be she offers five tips for success:

1: Make Your Critics Eat Their Words - 
“The greatest failure is not to try. Had I listened to all the people during the course of my life who said, “You can’t. You’ll fail. It won’t work. You don’t have…,” I wouldn’t be here today.”

2: Passion is the Key in a Successful Business Recipe 
“You have to have passion when you’re finding a recipe for a career. If you love what you are doing, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

3: Let Your Customers Try and Buy Your Product 
“I learned how important what I call ‘try and buy’ was. I didn’t want to advertise and say my cookies are the world’s best. It would be presumptuous of me to say that. Instead I wanted people to actually experience the product, try the product, and if they thought it was worthy, if they liked it, then they could buy it.”

4: Good Enough Never Is 
“Good enough never is. Set your standards so high that even the flaws are considered excellent.”

5: Stop Doing What is Not Working 
“I was a woman with a mission, I would stop people, even buses I would stop and say, ‘Here, you’ve got to taste these cookies. Just try them."

If you've got a success story to share - I'd LOVE to hear it!

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