Voicemail - Business Beginnings

Amy still has not replied to my email. I am starting to get a little impatient.

So I called her about 5 minutes ago to see if she still needed my services.

Of course, all I got was voicemail. I am just going to assume she is on vacation now. In the meantime I am going to begin calculating the expenses related to working on this chocolate project for her engagement.

Wish me luck working with my numbers!

Ebay Scammers- Business Beginnings

I have been looking for the ACMC chocolate tempering machine on Ebay for quite some time now. When I finally found it I put in my bid and hoped for the best.

I was outbid of course, and soon after I noticed the seller put it up again since apparently the reserve was not met. Well yesterday I got an email from the seller saying that the first bidder did not respond to his emails so I am getting a second chance. Of course I was thrilled. But no sooner did my joy turn sour.

You see, I am new to Ebay, so I have no idea there were scammers out there that prey on trusting victims like me. The fishy part about the email was that he was offering to pay for shipping. Hmmm... Sounds too good to be true. I thought it was true. My skeptical husband, however, did not. He told me to email the seller through the Ebay messenging center to be sure it was real.

When I did this, the real seller told me it was not him. Thank GOD I did not send my credit info! I really got lucky.

Despite this I was pretty upset I did not 'win' the ACMC chocolate tempering machine. So buyers beware!!

The Cocoa Saga *Part VII* A curious mutation

"Sonia, I think we should be interviewing some of the other villagers," Samuel said impatiently as I took the new species sampling from one end of the lab to the other.

"Listen, interviewing a person is variable. You cannot be sure of the probability that they will be telling us exactly what we need to hear," I said as I adjusted the sampling under the clinical machinery. "However, in science, there are times when the probability is simply undeniable."

"What?" Samuel seemed like he didn't understand me at all.

"Look," I said impatiently, "I think we have a better chance of figuring this out if we just do more tests."

Samuel looked unconvinced. The journalistic side of him was emerging. "I am going to go and hold interviews in about five minutes," he said as he gathered his things to leave the lab.

"Why five minutes?" I asked without looking up from the sampling.

"Because I will at least give you the courtesy of having the option to join me." Just as Samuel ended his sentence I saw the analysis report printing in the printer.

I picked up the freshly printed still warm page and began a quick scan. Something immediately caught my eye.

"Samuel, you'd better sit down for this," I said as I leaned onto the counter. "You're not going to believe this."

"What is it?" He walked back into the room closer to me.

"This specimen produces 4 times the amount of cocoa butter an average cacao tree produces!"

To be continued....

Asking for details...Business Beginnings

After much thought and consideration, I decided to just try to make the packaging. I set to work on my Word file to get the perfect clip art. I ended up settling on a few cute hearts. The perfect font was next. Quickly, I was able to develop something much more unique than I expected. I anticipated this might be especially challenging, but as you can see it came out quite good. I blacked out the names just to keep the privacy.

I was pretty happy with my packaging results. The next thing I needed to get were molds. I did a ton of searching online and finally settled on business card size chocolate molds. They were the perfect size to put all the text information onto and also large enough to be considered a good size chocolate piece. The total cost ended up around $32, which isn't too bad.

After making my sample though, without the mold (thats still on the way), I decided to email Amy and ask her how many bars she actually needed. Last time she gave me a roundabout figure of 300. I wanted to be sure it wasnt going to be less. So I outlined a bunch of questions on Monday and sent it away. I also invited her to come over to my home this Sunday to view a sample of my efforts. She hasn't yet responded... More later...

The Phone Call - Business Beginnings

When I called Amy, she told me she wanted individually wrapped chocolates to be made as placecards for her event. I told her if she could send me a sample idea of what she is talking about, I would be happy to see what I could do.

Now, I'll tell you directly that I have never made massive quantities of chocolate before. Professional use good quality tempering machines to temper the chocolate in bulk. In my case, a good valued machine costs close to $1000. That is simply something I can't afford. In addition, being that it is the middle of the summer, unless I have a wine cooler fridge or space in my fridge, storing the premade bars would be out of the question.

Did I mention that I think she wanted 300? As you can see this is just beginning to pose it own set of problems.

On one hand it would be a wonderful opportunity. On the other, it might be very difficult to even do.

More to come..

An unexpected email - Business beginnings

I haven't quite begun my part-time gourmet chocolate making business for a variety of reasons. First of all, I don't have any customers. No customers, no business. In all fairness though, I have done no advertising and have done nothing to even properly begin.

In fact, I lack many essentials to running a business, from machinery to all related equipment and inventory. I have been hitting bumps in the road when it comes to writing my business plan too. A big part of my problem is the lack of capital I have to start. Also know as 'seed money', this $$ can help me begin without worrying about the essentials.

Anyway, I'll get back to the nitty gritty a little later. A week ago I got an email from a friend of a friend who had heard I was graduating as a Professional Chocolatier back in November. 'Amy' as I will call her, asked me if I was in the 'business of chocolate making' via email.

I responded yes, and soon after she replied telling me she wanted chocolates made for her engagement party in September but cannot find what she wants at an affordable price. She then left a number to call her.

Back again

I apologize for not posting in the last few weeks. Things have been pretty hectic around here. Stay tuned for more editions of the Cocoa Saga and some new posts which will chronicle my start in a possible part-time business.