What's your personal background? What motivated you to start your own company?

This isn't my first rodeo.  I had an eco-friendly clothing line for many years... most recently I was developing a mixed-use coworking space while working nights at a restaurant.  When the pandemic hit and I found myself unemployed, I started ding-dong-ditching all of my friends with chocolate chip cookies to spread a little joy around.  After about a month of friends asking to buy them, I set up shop with not much expectation that it would turn into an actual business.  This business was created to spread cookie love around, they're just so likeable and a great gift!  

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What no code tools did you use to build The Very Best Cookie In The Whole Wide World and what purpose did each play in the final product?  

The site is built on Shopify, I use Klaviyo for email marketing, and Airtable (which is very much a WIP) I'll use to track open orders and calendar them out.

What were the initial costs to get The Very Best Cookie In The Whole Wide World off the ground?

Start-up costs were very manageable, comparatively.  $1000 or so on LLC, $300 for business insurance, maybe $300 more for website and all the apps I use, a few hundred dollars on packaging, and the cost of ingredients to make a few batches!  

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What was the process of building your product from idea to launching?

Errrr, process?  Round 1 of my site probably took 3 hours to create, but I have a small product offering so there wasn't a lot to build out.  There were a few features that I really needed (allowing delivery date, shipping AND local delivery, etc.) so I first went to my Trends group on FB to see if they had suggestions, researched, and installed.  I had to play around with them to see which ones worked best, and it's still not perfect, but it does the job.

How do you attract customers?

I give them cookies ;)  I haven't done any paid ads yet, so it's been a few good mentions on social and sending cookies to everyone I know.  The name is also catchy, so people are curious.  Gotta see what the fuss is about.

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What are the biggest challenges you've overcome building The Very Best Cookie In The Whole Wide World?

Oh gosh, this business is so new I think I'm still in the middle of tackling my biggest challenge, which is getting the cookies in people's hands. Initially I was doing everything from my home kitchen.  I moved into a commercial kitchen part-time and it was a total game-changer.  I can now produce in 4 hours what used to take me 20.  Which means more time for the other parts of the business!

What's your advice for non-technical people who want to start a company?

Surround yourself with smart people.  Ask all the questions.  Do the research.  You can learn a LOT on Udemy.  Don't let the tech be what stops you, there are a lot of good workarounds now to get started easily and affordably.

What are your future plans for The Very Best Cookie In The Whole Wide World?

Only time will tell!  I've been thinking about a way to fuze a direct sales with a franchise model to get other home bakers selling cookies across the country.  The way the site is set up I could do this very easily, it's more the logistics of getting the product to the bakers that poses the problem.  

How do you think the rise of no code tools will impact entrepreneurship?

It lowers the barrier to entry, both economically and skill-wise.  It's great, I love it!  Once you start to understand some basics, things begin to click and your options open up.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Don't get discouraged, you'll always have bad days/weeks/months.  And be scrappy, there's not one way to do things.  If something isn't working, scrap it and figure out another way.  Be resourceful!

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