We recently connected with Lauren Osborne and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The passion for this business was born in 2015 when I was planning my daughters’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s themed birthday party. I wanted a dessert table and after calling numerous bakeries around town, they either could not provide the custom treats I wanted, or they were (in my opinion), extremely overpriced. Out of frustration, I decided to teach myself how to make what I wanted.
The first few years, I provided treats to family and friends as a hobby which allowed me the freedom to perfect my craft. In 2021, when I officially launched my business, it was important to me that it provide treats at an attractive price. I wanted to provide an experience for my customers.
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 background and context?
Azucar_Ave provides attractively priced chocolate covered treats that leave a positive, lasting impression. Some of our high volume items are chocolate covered strawberries, cake pops, rice krispy treats, pretzels and treat tables. However, we also make chocolate covered pineapples, oreos, oreo truffles, marshmallows, chocolate bark, cocoa bombs, and custom arrangements.
My customers are searching for value, consistency and reliability. They want attractively priced treats that don’t require them to sacrifice on look or taste. Our consistency and exceptional customer service from order to follow-up is what sets us apart and has earned Azucar_Ave its most valuable asset, which is our customers’ trust. In addition, we give you more than what you are paying for; we provide an experience. We are customer centric and offer the ability for customization of treats and treat packages. Azucar_Ave is also known for its unique toppings such as strawberry shortcake, fruity pebbles, cinnamon, jolly ranchers and red velvet.
I want people to know that I am constantly working to perfect my craft because I love what I do. At this point, I am most proud of the connections I have made and established relationships with local businesses in such a short time. I have provided treats and treat tables for local organizations such as Amplify, Grand Rapids Media Initiative and Film Incubator, Latina Network of West Michigan, GRPS, RDV Corp, Allen Edwin Homes, Load A Spud, Old Souls Studio, MindsetMeals, and Ambrecht & Wierenga Orthodontics.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
One thing I learned recently is that in business, your business plan is ever changing and should be evolving. I had to learn that it is ok if my business plan changes periodically, because in reality, it should. When you achieve a goal you then have to create another which will mean coming up with new paths to complete that goal. As your sales, profits and goals increase it forces you to think about a variety of pivots that may be needed in order to continue the growth.
When I initially started my business, my plan was to provide treats on a smaller scale. Since launching, it quickly grew to custom arrangements and treat tables. I was scared initially because I did not know how to handle the growth. I enrolled in a small business excelerator program called Spring GR and it forced me to dig deeper in my business and what I wanted it to do for me. I had to adjust to the fact that my high sales items were at that point treat tables and not 1 dozen strawberries anymore. The mental adjustment was harder than restructuring my plan going forward. I had to understand and accept that I had a different target market than when I initially started which meant different marketing strategies.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
All of the capital needed to start and fund my business came from me. I have another full time job which allowed me to invest everything I needed initially. Bringing my business to life and a few months after launching were a bit tough. I wanted my business and brand to be well represented so I invested what I could. While going through the small business program, I learned what financial moves I needed to make in order to cut costs and maximize profit. Upon graduating from the program, I won the Class Entrepreneurian Award which granted me funds towards my business. I used those funds to purchase operating equipment. I also had some family and friends who contributed financially towards the purchase of supplies.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AzucarAve.com
- Instagram: AzucarAve
- Facebook: AzucarAve
- Other: Linktr.ee/azucarave