We’re excited to see that Ladies Who Launch, a group that supports women entrepreneurs, published a great case study about how Pati Drumm Grady started and has found success with Cooperstown Cookies in the hometown of baseball – Cooperstown. Congrats to Pati, one of our great cookie producers!

Pati is a great example of taking an idea from conception to the “majors.”  It’s a useful read for the many people who also have a dream of starting a food business. Getting support from groups like Ladies Who Launch, food entrepreneurship centers, friends and family, and companies like Foodzie who want to help you expand your presence are all key to building a business. (Here are some resources to get your food business started.)

We’re often approached by cookie makers in different stages, with different business strategies. Some want to stay small and cook out of home (if the state allows a home kitchen) or in a local kitchen. Others start small then as they grow end up working with a “co-packer” who manufactures the cookies with oversight by the company owner.

Success with a food business follows the same general rules as other entrepreneurial endeavors:

• -know your goals, which may be to stay small or hit the big time
• -have a strategy and twist that will make you irresistible to your target market, like Pati does
• -go with the flow as far as opportunities that open up

And – to continue the metaphor – if you strike out, nowadays it’s easy and often affordable to regroup and prepare for the next great season, with an all new strategy!