We were lucky to catch up with Antonio Simon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Antonio, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

When I was in school at Georgia Southern University, I began to cook for myself because that was just the more cost-effective and convenient thing to do as opposed to relying on a meal plan. As I learned to cook for myself I began to enjoy it more and more and grew a desire to want to try to cook and eat more from my own kitchen. This led me to bake my first dessert and favorite dessert, brownies, which I initially made for myself but would later share with friends and family. After sharing with others I was met with praise for what I had made that sparked something in me. I found something that I love to do and people loved what I shared and that I had shared it with them.

Years later, I continued to bake only as a hobby to occasionally share with family and friends as cooking became less of a hobby and more of a profession as I’d worked as a cook at a restaurant here in Atlanta. During my time as a cook, I brought some extra cheesecake that I’d made to work, and this time, not only did people like it, but I began to receive orders to make more. This was during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic that seemed to spread not only the deadly disease but also the entrepreneurial spirit to many people as well, and I found myself as one of the people infected. This is when I got the idea that baking could be more than just an occasional pastime and began taking the steps to turn what was once a hobby into a business for myself that I can be proud of.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Sweets By Simon is a home bakery that specializes in making delicious cookies, brownies, cheesecakes, and more. I offer these desserts at what I believe is the highest quality to customers to enjoy individually or with family, friends, and coworkers at events such as birthday and office parties or other such gatherings. I am proud of the fact that the people who take the time to support me really do enjoy the desserts that I make for them to enjoy and that they share with the people around them.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

All the desserts I make come from a mixture of my own personal tastes, what customers have asked of me, and experimentation with other sources of inspiration such as videos from other chefs online. Every dessert that I make for my customers is made from scratch from that point with ingredients that can be bought off store shelves. Beyond that point, I buy packaging and labeling for my products from vendors that specialize in those things, I found that it took some time and experimentation to find what packaging and labeling I felt was best and fit my brand the most. I believe that there lies the lesson in itself. In business, there are a lot of things that rely on time and experimentation to reach the best fit.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I find that the easiest and most natural source of new clientele for me, as well as many other new entrepreneurs, is word of mouth from previous supporters. This has always provided me with a slow and steady source of new customers for my business. However, I also find that social media advertisement is the best at getting larger short-term boosts in engagement and clientele that fade just as fast as they came.

Contact Info:

• Website: sweetsbysimon.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/SweetsBySimon
• Facebook: facebook.com/SweetsBySimon

Image Credits
Personal photo is taken by Christian Powell email: chrisjabari@gmail.com all dessert photos are my own