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Dane Rodgers has a day job, a beautiful wife, three of the cutest kids ever (one more on the way) and still finds time to bake some of the most amazing cookies you will ever stuff into your mouth. So, do not tell me you don't have the time to go after your dreams and build your own business.
I discovered Great Dane's Cookie Company while I was shopping for a new car. There, at the dealership was a simple cookie jar. Being the glutton that I am I grabbed a few. I popped one in my mouth (yes the whole thing), and said to myself, "I really need to meet the person making these". I looked around and saw one card left on the table. I was taking a picture of the card to store in my contacts when I turned around and ran into Dane himself. He was carrying a tub of cookies to refill the order for the Toyota dealership.
We struck up a short conversation, exchanged info and then I asked him to come on the show.
It's more than a cookie, Great Dane's Does Good By Supporting The Community Around Him.What I learned most from interviewing Dane is he is a patient, persistent, calculated (in a good way) person. He knew he wanted to start a food business, and cookies weren't his first choice. Dane enjoyed the pies his grandmother made. She had a few varieties every time they visited her house. He quickly realized that baking pies would take a lot of investment in equipment, and space. He slowly realized a great vehicle would be cookies, after tons of encouragement from friends and family.
In 2012 Dane started baking cookies from his home kitchen, taking advantage of California's new cottage laws.
Dane Has a Unique Marketing Strategy!In all honesty it is not a strategy at all. Dane believes so deeply in the community around him, he donated 100% of the proceeds of his baking to his local church so kids who may not have been able to could go to camp.
Here's the main takeaway. It wasn't a marketing ploy, scheme, or tactic. It is just how Dane, and his family run their business.
Dane is truly one of the nicest people I have met doing this show. I am a better person for meeting him and his family.
Key Ideas: Start your business in a way that will not take away from your family Learn your market, your product and how to perfect them Bootstrap it. If you can only make a few items a week and sell them at the farmers market, start with that. Grow organically. Surround yourself with really great people Find new ways to market your company. Here's a great article on finding new niches for your business.Do you have a food producer I should talk to? Leave me a voicemail and tell me about them.
