Keep It Sweet Desserts, What’s Next?

This was a very difficult post for me to write… namely because putting something down in writing always makes it real.

Many people have asked me how I’m going to deal with Keep It Sweet Desserts when I have the baby.  About a year ago, I had it all planned out in my head.  I’d get pregnant in the late summer or early fall, have a baby in the Spring or Summer when work is usually more quiet, and bounce back in time for the holiday rush.  But guess what? Life doesn’t always go as planned.  I got pregnant mid-winter and now have a baby due mid-October.  That is just a couple of weeks before things get very busy and only 6 weeks before the work-around-the-clock holiday rush kicks in.  Granted, 6 weeks is a normal maternity leave for some women.  And theoretically I could have a sort-of maternity leave and then get back to work fully after that, but the idea of pretty much ditching my newborn child for a month just doesn’t appeal to me.

I’ve gone through the options in my head: Hire more people and take a step back for a few months; Shut down the business temporarily and then get back to it January 1st; Limit holiday business so that it isn’t crazy.  While that might work for some people, none of these options really appealed to me.  I started Keep it Sweet Desserts with a few goals in mind: 

1)  Make desserts that are truly worth it and make people happy

2)  Build a brand name that becomes recognized nationally in a positive way

3)  Grow a very successful business that makes money

I have achieved each of these goals in varying levels.  Number three is obviously the most challenging and while the business DOES make money, I had big dreams and goals for the long-term.  2014 was going to be the year of making progress to achieve those goals.  But then I got pregnant and exhausted and realized that instantly my priorities changed.  Keep it Sweet Desserts truly is my first baby, but it is time for me to let the business go, sort of.

I won’t go into all of the details in how I made the personal decision for my family, but I’m now moving towards two options for Keep It Sweet Desserts:

1) Find an interested party to take on the Keep It Sweet Desserts business.  It is an established brand with procedures, recipes, packaging solutions, logistics, supply chain and most importantly the e-commerce infrastructure.  I’m looking for a motivated entrepreneur who is interested in owning an online food business.  Many people dream of running their own food businesses, but there are a lot of hoops to go through and challenges to get it going.  We’ve done all of the hard work for someone else.  The great thing about the online world is that this person can be in NYC, California, Florida, Indiana… anywhere in the US.  I’d likely start a new blog.

2)  Sell my e-commerce site to any business looking to begin selling online.  The beauty of this is that an interested party could use ANY domain and have the e-commerce structure ready to go (which is no easy feat).  If this is the case, I’ll be able to keep the site for blogging.

The past two and a half years have been extremely rewarding in so many ways.  I never imagined I’d be able to build Keep It Sweet Desserts so quickly.  My blondies were on the TODAY Show, my Matzo Crack was on RealSimple.com and my desserts have been eaten by some of the best pastry chefs in the country.  Every day I get a kind email from a customer and there are regularly new opportunities to build and expand.  As difficult as it will be to walk away, I know that I have to do what feels right for us at this point in time.

If you’ve thought about running an internet business and you don’t know how to start it, this might be for you.  Even if you’re not sure how it would work financially, contact me and we can talk through some of the details.  I’m happy to discuss all of the options!  If someone else that you know is looking to run a food business or needs help building their online sales structure, please send them my way!  Email: info@keepitsweetdesserts.com