We recently connected with Ana Arriaga and have shared our conversation below.
Ana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?
Maintaining quality as a small business attempts to expand can be tricky. As a one-person operation, it can be extremely difficult to meet demand as this venture grows. In fact, a large part of why this bakeshop has remained a small business is due to this limitation. Other cookie operations can mass produce large quantities of cookies with automated machinery to meet demand, but this would not work for our bakeshop as a level of artistry would be lost. The cookies we produce require a great attention to detail as they are not only tasty but maintain a visual aesthetic that needs to be met as well. I have been afforded the opportunity to participate in larger events such as Dessert Wars and Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, which required additional help to meet the amount required to serve an audience of that size. A small business such as mine would need to employ additional workers to grow. Now, it’s no secret that I can be a bit of a control freak. I like to see each product before it leaves our bakeshop to ensure that it meets the level of quality I wish to maintain. I have been extremely fortunate to have family who is willing to step up when I need a hand with larger orders. It is essential for business owners to find people they can trust to produce at the same level of care that they would themselves use and hire employees who have pride in their work. Your employees will ultimately be a reflection of your business. When you can employ helpers to handle operations, this will give you more time to concentrate on creativity and expansion.
Ana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a self-taught baker and artist, who made a hobby into my full-time gig. I moved to Atlanta in 2020 with the hope to pursue a lifelong passion for baking. Unfortunately, a week after settling into my new home Covid shut everything down, unexpectedly cutting my job prospects indefinitely. After several failed attempts to get hired at local bakeries, I was completely frustrated and feeling hopeless. I decided that if other established shops wouldn’t give me a chance to gain the experience I wanted, I would start my own business to do what I love from the bottom up. I took the opportunity for a fresh start to rebrand my side baking business and created my own logo, website, and aesthetic. I redirected my efforts from decorating cakes to my true dessert passion – cookies. Creating ghoul next door bakeshop was the perfect way to lean into all of things I loved growing up and pour them into delightfully unusual and unexpected treats. From the flavors to movie references in the names of our cookies, the ghoul next door brand offers a wink and a nod to all things dark and spooky. I thought to myself…would people get it? They totally do, and there’s been no greater satisfaction than creating something I believe in and having the love I get from my customers who believe in this venture too.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Having a trustworthy business model is so very important. To me, your reputation as a brand is a direct reflection of who you are as a person – from the production of each cookie to the voice on social media. I feel very strongly about not presenting anything that I would not be proud of, or that I feel satisfied with myself. Sometimes this isn’t the most cost-effective way of approaching sales but maintaining a standard of quality that customers can depend on takes priority in my book. My customers mean the world to me, from those who have been loyal from day one to the people I have yet to meet. I believe that customer loyalty is something to be earned, and when people see the amount of detail and care that goes into every product, they appreciate your brand so much more. A consistent level of quality makes people excited to come back for more and eager to share your business with others. Mistakes will happen, but showing a level of sincerity and professionalism goes a long way with most people – that’s with anything in life. I want everyone’s experience to be a positive one, because if it isn’t then we are not staying true to the goal behind the brand. We want to make people feel good. If we aren’t doing that then we have lost sight of where and why we started this venture in the first place.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
In the age of social media, connecting with clients and fostering brand loyalty is truly a different animal. Maintaining presence on all of the social media platforms is at times a full-time job in and of itself but it can truly be crucial to maintain the interest of customers. I can think back to reels I would watch of artists decorating cookies and cakes – I was in a trance for hours watching them. This resulted in me following their content because I HAD to see more. I had to take this thinking and transfer it to how prospective followers or potential clients view my content. The expectation for creativity now is a very high bar. People (and the algorithms) are pushing for videos with production value…music, behind the scenes shots, creative processes. It is difficult to constantly create this content and maintain all other aspects of the business, but it keeps your customer base excited to see what’s next and can draw a whole new audience. Equally important to me is making sure I respond to people who take the time to comment, share, or message me. It’s frustrating when you try to engage with an artist or business who never responds, so I try to be sure to address everyone personally as soon as I’m able to step away from the mixer.
Contact Info:
- Website: ghoulnextdoorbakeshop.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ghoulnextdoorbakeshop
- Facebook: facebook.com/ghoulnextdoorbakeshop
Image Credits
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