September 4, 2006
A good cookie | A chat with Marnee Robinson, founder of Marnee's Cookies in Bath.
By Erview By Kerry Elson
Founded: August 2005
Employees: Three to seven, depending on demand
Startup costs: $75,000
Revenue, year one: $75,000
Projected revenue, year two: $200,000
Contact: 443-4301
906 High St., Bath 04530
www.marnees.com
Tell me about Marnee's.
We're a gourmet cookie company, making wonderful cookies because life is simply too short not to. That's really been a prevailing philosophy. People love a really good cookie.
What kind of cookies do you make?
We have 17 varieties. We have Nirvana, which is a chocolate-chip-and-toffee cookie, and we have Utopia, which is butterscotch and toffee. We have unusual names for unusual flavors ˆ lots of different kinds pretty much for all taste buds. Anywhere from a Paradise, which is a lemon-lime-macadamia cookie, to Kismet, which is cranberry, coconut and walnut.
What led you to start the business?
I was making Nirvana and Serendipity for years, giving them away for Christmas, and everyone would say, "Oh, you must start a business." And I'm like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'll put it on my list of things to do." So finally it came to the top of the list. It's always been my passion. If I had to do it all over again, I would have started it 12 years ago when I had all that extra energy and the time.
What are some of the challenges?
Pick a challenge! From setting up production to finding the customers to designing a website to getting online. And the financing, the packaging. Originally we were just using cellophane bags with bows. But when Balducci's ˆ they're a large specialty food store ˆ agreed to carry our products, we had to become more professional very quickly, so the packaging changed [to boxes].
How did the Balducci's deal happen?
They were a cold call. We called them up and they said, "Send us cookies." So we sent them cookies, and they're like, "We want to carry your cookies." It really is the foundation of our business. We have corporate clients and online clients and local clients, but a big portion of our income is from Balducci's. Right now it's about 50% them. We were in the first store in December and the second store in January. They kind of did a slow roll out for us, just making sure that we could keep up.
How do you market your business?
We do a lot of our marketing by donating cookies to charity events. People are starting to recognize us [that way]. There are so many nonprofits in Bath ˆ everyone has some little function that they can use cookies for. It creates a buzz. And we do an e-mail promotion a couple times a year.
What are your plans for growth?
We'd really like to be doing a lot more online sales, because that's really where a great market is. I'm working with people now to try to figure out a strategy for how to get noticed more online. I'm working with some business counselors right now, because we know we're onto something big. Hopefully I'll be finding space in Bath, a warehouse space, where we can set up production and that would have room enough to grow. We could be making a million dollars in cookies in a couple years.
How did you finance the launch of your business?
It was a lot of sweat equity and some family capital and whatever I could scrounge around. We just started small, and then once we realized we needed money, I took some money out of the house and my sister put in some money and I've been working for free. But now that that's exhausted we're going to look for a pool of investors.
What is your competition and how are you different?
We make a really good cookie. So many people out there are making millions selling average cookies. What we did is we came up with a great texture and we have a great combination of ingredients and flavors. Our texture is something that's chewy and crunchy at the same time. And you eat with your eyes ˆ [our packaging] is festive and it draws you in.
Do you keep the recipes locked away somewhere?
Of course! Of course it's in the safe deposit box ˆ wink wink, nod, nod. No, it's not, and that's actually because I work on them all the time and I make notes, but that is something that I've been advised to do.
Employees: Three to seven, depending on demand
Startup costs: $75,000
Revenue, year one: $75,000
Projected revenue, year two: $200,000
Contact: 443-4301
906 High St., Bath 04530
www.marnees.com
Tell me about Marnee's.
We're a gourmet cookie company, making wonderful cookies because life is simply too short not to. That's really been a prevailing philosophy. People love a really good cookie.
What kind of cookies do you make?
We have 17 varieties. We have Nirvana, which is a chocolate-chip-and-toffee cookie, and we have Utopia, which is butterscotch and toffee. We have unusual names for unusual flavors ˆ lots of different kinds pretty much for all taste buds. Anywhere from a Paradise, which is a lemon-lime-macadamia cookie, to Kismet, which is cranberry, coconut and walnut.
What led you to start the business?
I was making Nirvana and Serendipity for years, giving them away for Christmas, and everyone would say, "Oh, you must start a business." And I'm like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'll put it on my list of things to do." So finally it came to the top of the list. It's always been my passion. If I had to do it all over again, I would have started it 12 years ago when I had all that extra energy and the time.
What are some of the challenges?
Pick a challenge! From setting up production to finding the customers to designing a website to getting online. And the financing, the packaging. Originally we were just using cellophane bags with bows. But when Balducci's ˆ they're a large specialty food store ˆ agreed to carry our products, we had to become more professional very quickly, so the packaging changed [to boxes].
How did the Balducci's deal happen?
They were a cold call. We called them up and they said, "Send us cookies." So we sent them cookies, and they're like, "We want to carry your cookies." It really is the foundation of our business. We have corporate clients and online clients and local clients, but a big portion of our income is from Balducci's. Right now it's about 50% them. We were in the first store in December and the second store in January. They kind of did a slow roll out for us, just making sure that we could keep up.
How do you market your business?
We do a lot of our marketing by donating cookies to charity events. People are starting to recognize us [that way]. There are so many nonprofits in Bath ˆ everyone has some little function that they can use cookies for. It creates a buzz. And we do an e-mail promotion a couple times a year.
What are your plans for growth?
We'd really like to be doing a lot more online sales, because that's really where a great market is. I'm working with people now to try to figure out a strategy for how to get noticed more online. I'm working with some business counselors right now, because we know we're onto something big. Hopefully I'll be finding space in Bath, a warehouse space, where we can set up production and that would have room enough to grow. We could be making a million dollars in cookies in a couple years.
How did you finance the launch of your business?
It was a lot of sweat equity and some family capital and whatever I could scrounge around. We just started small, and then once we realized we needed money, I took some money out of the house and my sister put in some money and I've been working for free. But now that that's exhausted we're going to look for a pool of investors.
What is your competition and how are you different?
We make a really good cookie. So many people out there are making millions selling average cookies. What we did is we came up with a great texture and we have a great combination of ingredients and flavors. Our texture is something that's chewy and crunchy at the same time. And you eat with your eyes ˆ [our packaging] is festive and it draws you in.
Do you keep the recipes locked away somewhere?
Of course! Of course it's in the safe deposit box ˆ wink wink, nod, nod. No, it's not, and that's actually because I work on them all the time and I make notes, but that is something that I've been advised to do.
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