We were lucky to catch up with Kristin Barnes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

sweet bean was a side hustle when we launched in 2013. I had learned how to make filled chocolates from another small-batch chocolatier, and often made chocolates for fun, holidays or as gifts. I was growing bored in my corporate 9-5, and needed a creative outlet when I started experimenting with painting chocolates. Friends and family started showing interest in purchasing my creations, and this sparked the idea to turn my hobby into a business. I asked my Facebook friends if they would purchase my chocolates for Valentine’s Day and take a survey giving me feedback on starting a business and the overwhelming response was “Do it!”. We signed up for a food business incubator at the then Cleveland Culinary Launch & Kitchen (now Central Kitchen) and after 8 weeks of marketing, financial, and legal workshops, we debuted at the Cleveland Flea.

Kristin, 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?

Our specialty at sweet bean is hand-painted and -moulded chocolate bonbons. Our chocolates are as pretty as they are tasty! Each chocolate is a unique piece of edible art that makes a great gift, event favor, or ‘just because’ treat. Our chocolates are completely customizable from color, to design and flavor.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before COVID, sweet bean’s two main revenue streams were events (weddings, parties, corporate gifting), and hospitality (restaurants, wine bars, hotels). When the world stayed home, we had to rethink our business model. We quickly pivoted to online sales, we were lucky to already have a website in place… we also developed new products like our candygrams, small boxes of chocolate paired with notecards that could be shipped or safely dropped on your loved-ones’ porch.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We opened our brick and mortar studio in February of 2021, in the middle of the pandemic and made a huge pivot toward retail. For the past 2 years we’ve learned a lot about retail by being thrown in the fire.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sweetbeancandies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetbeancandies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetbeancandies
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-bean-cleveland