What Snack Are You Eating While SCANNING THIS Column?
ByBusiness
— — Posted inWhat treat are you eating while reading this column? Like Brad Pitt eating in films always, you will most likely see me keeping some type or kind of food–and a lot of the time, it’s Stacy’s Pita Chips. I never put thought into the question: Who is Stacy? Madison doesn’t often speak publicly about her story, but she and I recently were able to chat.
She’s stepping from behalf of an application supporting women business owners called the Stacy’s Rise Project, and we discussed her history and dreams for all women business owners. Madison’s career started as a social worker at a home for pregnant women with drug addiction issues. 22, a year 000, she says–after which she still left Boston for Hawaii for her first foray into a restaurant startup.
Promised a bonus after a few months of hard work, she was instead terminated to avoid settlement. 65 million in annual revenue. Coming home from Hawaii in 1997, Madison and her business partner Mark Andrus wished to enter the restaurant business. 5,000 into a food cart, enrollment, signage, and supplies. Her success, though, wasn’t in the sandwiches she served. It had been, well, in the garbage.
At the finish of every day, she says, she cut up pita bread that would normally have been trashed, cooked it, and handed it out to the long line of waiting customers for free. Bread was the most crucial ingredient to have in stock for sandwiches, so there is extra-always. Chips didn’t factor into Madison’s business plan–but, she says, she was shopping for new opportunities always. Customers went crazy for these pita chips, so she and Andrus started selling them for a dollar a bag.
This reminded me–as it should you–that even if you are hyper-passionate about your service or product, you always need to pay attention to your customers. They might be letting you know to go into another direction. Still, there was a problem: Can you envisage running a food cart in the middle of winter in Boston?
As a remedy, she began wholesaling her luggage through Stacy’s Pita Chip Company, departing that cart in the back of. I asked her if she acquired the cart still. She said she sold it to a youngster and exhaled a huge sigh of relief as she watched him roll it down the driveway.
Madison says that if she’d built the business with the intention to sell, she’d have been constantly sidetracked from actually running the business. 50 million of annual income did companies knock at her door. That dovetails with my own experiences: Personally, I get tired of every founder informing me their acquisition plans rather than their programs to grow their customer foundation.
- Discounts on company products
- Mention two causes of variations in cash publication and pass publication balances
- They could offer two buses, one for blacks and another for everybody else
- Giving employees practical experience in marketing communications
- Sale of Furniture
- Believe it’s important to rejuvenate and offer a “take what you need” vacation plan
- B (or 8.25GB) = ₦2,400
The last mentioned seems obviously more important if you ask me than the previous. The attention prompted self-reflection, Madison says, and made her realize that her most significant focus at that time was her twin daughters. Selling would provide stability, so she and Andrus made a decision to shop the selecting the team of bankers company–carefully, lawyers, and accounting companies that could guide the process. They decided Frito-Lay (PepsiCo), which obtained Stacy’s Pita Chips for an undisclosed amount in 2005. Interestingly, Madison says it wasn’t their highest offer–but the one which best fit her business and team.
It’s always hard to consider beliefs over money, but in the end what will achieve your personal goals–being proud or being just a little bit more wealthy? Madison is still an entrepreneur–now owning Stacy’s Juice Bar and become Bold Bars–but says the Stacy’s Rise Project is her primary focus right now.