We were lucky to catch up with Opals Gemz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Opal, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk about keeping costs under control when growing. How have you managed to keep costs from getting out of control?
I understand the price of inflation is hitting everyone hard and unfortunately most small business owners such as myself have had to raise our prices. However I believe that before raising prices dramatically consider your product and service. People always want to feel that their hard earned money is valued so take the time to improve quality and make small tweaks as needed. From a customer perspective it is refreshing to shop with a business that provides great service and product and I feel that spending my money was worth it.
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?
Hey y’all!! I am a southern girl with big dreams! I am your local sweet treat maker specializing in simple sweet treats such as chocolate covered strawberries, Oreo cookies and other sweet creations. I can customize the treats to my customer’s preferred colors, flavors and themes. I got into making treats in 2018 but didn’t fully commit until 2019. The idea for my business came from racking my brain for an extra stream of income. Once I actually studied and watch numerous videos on how to create treats, I took off to the kitchen to practice. I love to provide treat tables for special events, baby showers and parties! I like to see people light up with joy when they see beautiful, sweet treats adding an extra touch to their day. I want potential clients to know that I am a perfectionist. Yes, it’s a big deal that you have freshly washed and cleaned produce. I also want them to know I don’t go overboard on fondant so if you like the elaborate artistic treats, I may not be of service but if you want luxury quality treats, then I’m the business for you. Fun fact my business names derives from my deceased mother in homage to her.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
I love new clients! The best source of new clients has been good old-fashioned word of mouth. Tell a friend to tell a friend! I also market myself to the community occasionally by becoming a vendor in local pop-up shops which leads to new clients discovering my business. Overall, word of mouth has been the best source out of everything.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience is the perfect adjective to use because it’s so many times I wanted to quit. I don’t have a particular story in detail only because the anxiety to deliver an order to someone’s exact expectations is pressure. I have definitely messed up; I mean absolutely destroyed an order before and wanted to quit. I have encountered last minute emergencies during big orders and have had to refund a client her money back for the entire order that’s how bad I’ve messed up. Every last setback has taught me a lesson and I now understand the reason behind it happening. If my candy thermometer didn’t break on me during a large candy apple order, I wouldn’t have learned the importance of purchasing a few extra on standby just in case. Mistakes have been my best teacher for the business. I am still pushing and committing to only getting better with my product and service!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.opalsgemz.com
- Instagram: @opalsgemz
- Facebook: @opalsgems