Print Email RSS DIGG del.icio.us Stumble It!

Modern Mompreneur: Karen Staitman of Good Fortunes Cookie Company Shares Her Recipe for Success

So Karen launched Good Fortunes and has been on the lucky side of mompreneurship ever since. The Canoga Park, California-based company has grown to a multi-million dollar establishment producing a range of customized baked goodies. The business has been featured on Food Network and in InStyle, People, US and Better Homes and Gardens magazines. And its corporate clientele includes Ford Motor Corp., AT&T, Microsoft, Mastercard and the Gap. When Karen, who calls herself “Chief Cookie Counselor,” launched her business she had no idea she’d also be baking for such illustrious taste buds as those of Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Trisha Yearwood, Denzel Washington, Johnny Depp and Julia Roberts, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. “We are on the forefront of edible personalization,” she says. I asked this mother of three to give us some insight on her entrepreneurial journey.

How do you describe your business when people ask, "What's Good Fortunes?"

Good Fortunes is a gigantic fortune cookie company. Each cookie includes your own one-foot long personalized message inside. They’re decorated for every special occasion and holiday and they are like a gift and greeting card all in one. Everything we now make is custom made especially for you, from picture party favors, to dipped and decorated Oreos or graham crackers to gigantic corporate logo cookies. We also hold licenses with a couple of the top stationary artists to create cookies that look like you and we also hold licenses with the United State Post Office and their library of stamps and with PBS.

What made you believe you could make money with the idea?

I had no idea I would make money with it. It was just something that happened. People were asking me for the product, so I knew I was on to something. But turning an idea into a business – that took work. Then when we got picked up by a national magazine, the phones would not stop ringing. That's when we knew we could make money with this idea.

Everyone says you should have business plan when you start a business. Did you have a business plan and how did you come up with it?

I wish I had had a business plan. It would have helped me immensely. Instead it took us 13 years to become an overnight success! If I had known now, what I was completely oblivious to then, I would have made a lot of different choices. But as they say, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger! Money is always an issue – account payables, account receivables. Be very diligent and learn how accounting really works. Know your cost of goods or services, overhead and how much profit you will really make and how long it will take you to make it. Forecast and plan and have goals.

If you know how much everything costs with labor, and overhead figured into it, then you can know how much you have to sell to be profitable. Revisit the plan often and adjust it. However, far be it for me to follow my own advice. I built this company flying by the seat of my pants! However, a business plan would have kept me on track and made me see my business clearer, faster. I would have known what was working and what wasn’t working sooner. But a business plan is just that--a plan, and you can’t plan for everything. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

What was your initial investment and how did you finance the business?

My initial investment was about 20k, which was all of my savings at that time. Over the first few years I borrowed another 20k from friends and family. And over the years I had to do what I had to do to finance the business, which was use credit cards, lines of credit, etc.

What are your revenues now?

Without being specific, Good Fortunes’s revenues now are several million dollars a year and we're looking forward to a banner year - even with the recession.

How did you market your product in the beginning? What were your big breaks?

The most effective marketing/PR for my business was having the good fortune of being featured on the Food Network twice! These segments were and continue to be a tremendous boost to our business. Public relations is the key to getting Good Fortunes out in front of potential customers. We’ve been very lucky over the years and hundreds of magazines have picked up our story or products over the years.

One method that I’ve found that works is to contact the writers in the publications that fit your demographics. Buy the magazine and peruse the stories. Find the writers and call them. When you talk to them, you will likely have less than 30 seconds to make your pitch and get them interested. Have your spiel down pat. Also, have a press release ready about your products with pictures and send samples when requested. Your product is your best sales tool.

After years of word-of-mouth marketing, we recently began to place ads in popular magazines. Of course editorial is more cost effective, but we do place strategic ads several times a year. We actually tried commercials in our demographics (Food Network, etc.), but they didn’t do as well as we had hoped.

Votes: 7

5 4 3 2 1  

Related Articles

• The Modern Mompreneur: Mission Success!
• Making the Most of Business Travel
• Modern Mompreneur: Ingrid Carney Transforms a Tube Top Into a Must-Have for Moms

Comments