Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sharonda Lawson . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sharonda , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

I feel strongly about having a family business. Not only are our children involved in the business, but I try to always find a way to incorporate my siblings businesses into my business to support them and help them to grow as well. I feel that this is another way that we can grow as a family and create more generational wealth within our family. It also shows the generations to come how to work together for a greater good and to let go of that rat race mentality. It’s okay to help a family member along the way to your avenue of success.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started in 2012 whe God gave me the vision and the talent. Ive gone with His flow and allowed Him to lead and guide me COMPLETELY along this journey. We have been very successful in the 11 years of operating as a cottage bakery and now God has elevated us to bigger and better so that we can continue to grow! We have currently secured a retail location for Bakers D’lite here in Wylie, TX! We are excited to be able to offer more accessible treats as well as continue to be able to service our custom needs customers. Having this retail location will also allow us to step outside of the box and offer different services that we are not currently able to offer. It’s going to be an exciting journey that I can’t wait to share.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to learn was to create policies and procedures and to stand firmly by them. I once had a customer who placed a last minute custom designer order. I accepted the order and didn’t require a deposit from them. The day that the customer was to pick up the order, they were a no show. I messaged and was advised that the next day they would get the order. Needless to say they never picked up the order and I was stuck with it. I couldn’t resale it because it was custom to their specific occasion. I was out of money, time and supplies. This made me realize I not only need more structure in my business but I also need to stand firm on it. I now charge a fee for rush orders, payments ate due at the time of order (with the exception of weddings and orders over $500) and payments are non refundable and non transferable.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

One of my marketing strategies is sending out solicitations to event planners in hopes of being on their preferred vendors list. After sending out about 50 blind emails, I had several event planners who have reached out and now currently utilize Bakers D’lite for their clients needs. A lot of professionals will advise against sending out solicitation emails, but I took a chance and it paid off! So I say go for it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bakersdlite.com
• Instagram: @bakersdliteinc
• Facebook: @bakersdliteinc
• Linkedin: @BakersDliteInc
• Twitter: @bakers_dlite
• Yelp: Bakers D’lite Inc
• Other: TikTok @bakersdliteinc