We recently connected with Arin Bonk and have shared our conversation below.
Arin , appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
In order to be successful in business you have to be willing to work harder than anyone else. In my early days of owning a small business I worked crazy hours and said yes to every project that came my way. I went to networking events to meet people and grow my circle. I went to everything, I possibly could, which was hard at the time because I had two small children and a husband with a challenging work schedule. As my business has grown, I have been able to be more selective about the work I take on, which ultimately leads to more profitable work. I put in the time at the beginning and still do today. I’ve done a lot of crazy things and gone to the end of the earth to get the supplies and materials needed for the job. There is no substitute for hard work and I think today’s social media frenzy makes it look like success comes overnight, which definitely is not the case. You have to keep showing up.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a married mother of two sons and in my early years of being a mother I started a bakery business. I needed purpose and a way to contribute to our household income, so I started Delicious Designs Cookies. I make custom cookies for special events and occasions and in more recent years have taken on a large amount of corporate clients. In that capacity I create not only themed and logo cookies, I also make custom gift boxes for their clients. I really enjoy making these gifts because it’s important to thank your customers and my clients trust me to be creative. The trust I have built with the corporate customers means so much to me. They know that they can count on me to do what I say I’m going to do and it helps them grown and maintain their customers. I always work with their budget and work hard to make them shine.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When COVID hit in March of 2020 I woke up one morning to canceled orders. I took a moment to sit back and think about what I was going to do. At that time I thought maybe it would just last a short time, but that definitely was not the case!
I thought about it over the weekend and I went on Facebook and offered cookie-decorating kits for delivery. I was completely overwhelmed by orders and had to take a deep breath and get organized. During those first 6 weeks of quarantine I made more money than I had for that time period in previous years. The kits, which had new themes every week, took our town by storm. I hired two drivers to make the deliveries daily. The delivery concept led to other things such as birthday balloons and cookie cakes delivered as well. I’m proud of the way my creativity paid off during what was an uncertain time for everyone.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think what helped build my reputation is that I turned my business into a serious commitment. I never treated it like a side hustle, I treated it like my full-time job and people have taken me seriously over the years. When I take an order, I won’t let anything stop me in terms of keeping my promises to people. In recent times I have received phone calls from bakers who have canceled orders and that isn’t something I do. This is my job and I am committed to the outcome.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deliciousdesignscookies.square.site
- Instagram: deliciousdesignscookies
- Facebook: Delicious Designs Cookies
Image Credits
Ali Wolfe Photography for the photo of myself