The second corporate visit of our semester took us to Dolly’s Delicious Treats. We were treated to the story of a year old business created by one of our very own SFU Alumni Sepi Motamedi and her business partner Rikka Vassal. Inspired by Rikka’s mother Dolly, the two owners set out to make jellies with an added twist, liquor. Their tasty jellies are now available in 15 locations across British Columbia and one in Alberta. But how did they get there? Sepi willingly offered her insights into the challenges of running your own small business. She shared with us some of the mistakes that they made during their first year of operations and how they have learnt from those mistakes. Dolly’s Delicious Treats is a great example of how a start-up can grow organically while facing and overcoming challenges.
The best advice of the day came through Sepi’s explanation of how they have been so successful in expanding to different grocery stores. Through the art of good storytelling these ladies have communicated an essential part of their business – its home-grown with local roots in the community which they have found is important to potential retailers and buyers. This has allowed Dolly’s Delicious Treats to grow quickly and sustainably in an environment that values buying local.
After having spent the past few weeks of our program on intensive design and prototyping, it was quite encouraging to look at a small business that has found success because of people’s love for their product. Additionally, it was definitely a change of pace having come from a classroom environment of detailed business planning to see a company that simply jumped right in. Sepi’s belief that at a certain point you just have to go for it surely struck a chord with many members of our class who have spent the last few months planning and strategizing.
Our class ate up the advice and the samples of jelly that Sepi had brought along with her. It didn’t take long to realize that the jellies were a hit as the sample jars and crackers disappeared within minutes. There’s nothing quite like the promise of free food and alcohol flavoured snacks to satisfy university students.
Finally, here are some wise words for entrepreneurs:
Be prepared for the long haul. Oh, and find something you love, like tequila flavored jelly.
Jordan is currently in his third year at the Beedie School of Business and is concentrating in Accounting and Entrepreneurship. Although enrolled in Beedie for 3 years, the past year has seen him start to take advantage of the amazing opportunities that are offered outside of the classroom. Jordan started his involvement in the Business Administration Student Society (BASS) as the VP Internal, overseeing such events as BASS FROSH and the BASS Mentorship Program. His experiences with BASS have opened up opportunities with the Royal Roads Case Competition Team and the GEM Joint Semester in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Jordan looks forward to future involvement with BASS and hopes to have an opportunity to compete in International case competitions.