We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Buoniconti a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

John, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Our small family business is 6 years d. So half of our time in business has been under this Covid cloud. We found ourselves in a awful place a couple of months into this Covid pandemic.

We went from 138 wholesale customers to 58 wholesale customers.

Thankfully, just before the lockdown, we attended a trade show in Denver, CO. We had another vendor come up to us and start chatting. We had seen him there several times before and every time he would ask us why we did not do any private label. I would always reply that we make everything by hand and we were just not comfortable doing that. This last time was a little different though. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and started listing off all of the pros that come with this type of work. And ended by saying g that we were going to let pride kill our business. I went home and stewed about it all night and came in with a list of questions/concerns and he shot down every one of them with solid responses.

Fast forward back to the start of the story and our customer base just got cut in half.

So, we reached out to some folks who had contacted us in the past and started some conversations about private label and what that would look like. It was one of the best business decisions that we ever made. Not only did it save us through some bleak times, but we are not strong as a business than ever before.

John, 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?

Colorado Candy Company is a candy shoppe based in Fort Collins, Colorado, which offers handmade candies in small artisan batches. We take pride in providing delicious candies available in natural flavors with no preservatives added. Our founder worked for a candy shop for years when he was in his early twenties, and had always wanted to get back into the business. So, together with his wife, and a couple of good friends, he decided to establish a commercial candy kitchen and started selling sweets. We are a manufacturer and wholesaler, so look for our products in your local specialty store. Our specialty product is our thin hand spun ribbon candy. It is thin and delicate with a nice crunch before it melts in your mouth. We also make a variety of hard candies as well as popcorns. We make a delicious classic peanut brittle as well as a gourmet bourbon pecan bacon brittle.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Owning a small family business is all about the pivot. A lot of time when you try and scale up your test kitchen R&D batches it just doesn’t go as planned. Either the costs no longer make the best financial sense or the process no longer works at that level. Change is hard but often very important for the survival of your business and your sanity. Especially nowadays when we are moving from one crisis to another with little time to breathe in between.
One advantage to being a newer small business is there is lots of room to s ale up and find both efficiencies and cost savings.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

Selling a business is much different that I thought it would be. Maybe it was because I grew it from its infancy, but it was a very emotional process. Much more than I realized it would be. I also had to learn that a deal is never done until the ink is on the paper. Things can change and change fast. You absolutely need to run it like you are going to continue to own it right up until closing. I also recommend that you find a good business lawyer. One that specializes in these types of transitions. On my case we were selling to a national equity firm with a team of lawyers that was trying to squeeze you from every angle. So you need someone knowledgeable that has your best interests in mind.
The due diligence process is difficult and time consult, but as long as your business is solid, it is well worth the effort needed.
Lastly I would say that you should take care of those that got you there. There are several way to do this from direct payouts to a solid bonus structure for the new owners to follow and pay out.

Contact Info:

• Website: Coloradocandycompany.com
• Instagram: Coloradocandycompany
• Facebook: Coloradocandycompany

Image Credits
All my photos