I got out of computer programming a few years ago hoping to do something more tangible. From my interest in food, I ended up starting a sorbet business: http://screamsorbet.com.
After two years, we're up to about a dozen employees, running about break even, and we're starting to get some good press: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/we-made-it-our....
Our strength is definitely product quality, stemming from our attention to detail, knowledge of theory, and direct ingredient sourcing. Our weaknesses are primarily lack of sufficient initial funding, launching a gourmet product into a weak economy, and our general lack of business savvy. Did I mention that the product is good?
While there are definitely overlaps between the thought process of programming and that of business development, every time I have to deal with a regulatory agency I definitely long for the orderliness of a xterm. Many days I hope that "spend time working on your weaknesses" turns out to be a good long-term personal strategy.
If you're in the Bay Area and like good food, do check us out. We're opening a store in Oakland in the next few weeks, and are at Farmers' Markets from Santa Cruz to Marin. Or if you're a frozen dessert fanatic somewhere else, we ship overnight on dry ice, although the shipping costs can be rather steep.
your product kicks ass. was in the sf for business and pleasure (from the east coast) and randomly stopped to have some (I am a sorbet fanatic). it was a real treat and probably the most memorable thing my wife and i had the whole time.
That's awesome! It seems like in a business like yours, product quality matters most for customer loyalty ("content is king" for business that aren't on the Web, if you will). Good to see that more food businesses (like yours and others like Kogi BBQ) are starting to care about what they turn out rather than how many tables they can turn over.
I also know as we grow, the lines will begin to define themselves between software startup and "real" business (just waiting to run into FCC regulations on clothing tags...egh).
I'm totally going to have to check out your Sorbet next time I'm in California. I just recently started getting into Sorbet because I found out I'm lactose intolerant. Wish we had a great Sorbet place in San Antonio, Tx.
Our strength is definitely product quality, stemming from our attention to detail, knowledge of theory, and direct ingredient sourcing. Our weaknesses are primarily lack of sufficient initial funding, launching a gourmet product into a weak economy, and our general lack of business savvy. Did I mention that the product is good?
While there are definitely overlaps between the thought process of programming and that of business development, every time I have to deal with a regulatory agency I definitely long for the orderliness of a xterm. Many days I hope that "spend time working on your weaknesses" turns out to be a good long-term personal strategy.
If you're in the Bay Area and like good food, do check us out. We're opening a store in Oakland in the next few weeks, and are at Farmers' Markets from Santa Cruz to Marin. Or if you're a frozen dessert fanatic somewhere else, we ship overnight on dry ice, although the shipping costs can be rather steep.