We were lucky to catch up with The Sweet Spot recently and have shared our conversation below.

The Sweet Spot, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

I started my business in the summer of 2021. It took a lot of courage but with just a simple logo, I started making my social media pages! I had followed other local businesses in the area, shared my business with family and friends, and networked my business through work. I started to slowly gain a following! Three months into my business and I had done a pop up market with other vendors, had some local pick-up orders, and was finally getting more recognition in my area! I unfortunately ended up getting hacked on my business Instagram and lost all my followers and had to start all over. Though I had lost all of my followers, I was not discouraged. I worked very hard and soon I was able to gain my following back, and i even started to gain more followers than i originally had! The first year of my business was by far the hardest. Not only was I starting a business by myself, but i had many things going on in my personal life where it had my questioning if I had even wanted to move forward with my new business. Nonetheless, i made the decision to continue, and it’s the best decision I’ve made to this day.

The Sweet Spot, 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?

My name is Samantha Silva. I run small business making desserts! I offer a variety of sweets such as cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. Since I was a little girl, I have always had a passion for baking! My nana always loved to help me and she always taught me something new every time. She supported this passion of mine from an early age, so when I got older, those memories motivated me to start my business even more. The biggest thing I’m proud of, is how dedicated I am towards my business. Whether I was working a full time job or not being employed at all, I still figured out a way to fulfill anything and everything with my business (orders, pop-ups, etc). Whether I was emotionally, financially, or physically struggling I always figured it out. When you’re dedicated to something you love, you’ll do absolutely anything you can to make it successful. I think that’s what differentiates myself and others in the same field of business, is how determined I am to see myself succeed. I owe it to myself and to my clients to be the best I possibly can be, and with the right mind set and the determination, si se puede!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

At the moment, my business remains as a side hustle. When I was starting my business I was working at Target. When I would go to work I would take a handful of desserts I had on hand, a small white board with item description and price, and set up/sell my products. Doing this, I was able to network my business as well as build a clientele. Eventually I stopped working at target and was depending solely on my business as a source of income. Thankfully, I was able to find my current job and I’ve been working happily there ever since. I’m very grateful that my current job supports my business, and because of them, i have received many opportunities to become more successful and I’m extremely thankful to them for that! I do hope one day, that I can turn this side hustle into something bigger and better!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the things I had to unlearn after starting a business was that problems are bad. Real problems are wonderful, each carrying the seeds of its own solution. For example, I had a graduation order for four dozen cookies and I accidentally made a mistake. My client had asked for a dozen snickerdoodle, a dozen m&m, a dozen Neapolitan, and a dozen s’mores. This was no problem. I made the order and started taking pictures when I noticed I was missing a cookie flavor! It was the night before the order was due and I went back and noticed i had accidentally misread my clients message and made a dozen of a different flavor. Instead of stressing out over this issue, I baked the correct flavor and carried on with my night. Why did I not stress about my mistake? After I realized my mistake, I posted pictures of my new product and mentioned that I had some available for pick up! I sold the cookies I made “by mistake” within 10 minutes. Not every problem you face will negatively affect you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thesweetspot.az?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesweetspot.xaz?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesweetspot.az?_t=8byO9fqDltb&_r=1

Image Credits
@thesweetspot.az