11 Year Anniversary of Freshbet.com
When I started this business my family humored me and gave me full support. It was Thanksgiving weekend of 1998 exactly 1 year after my father passed away. I had been working 7am-4pm as a Senior Buyer at Square D in Seneca for the past 8 years. Frankly, I was tired of getting up so early and contending with the Corporate rat-race.
I had been a shopper all of my adult life as well as a professional purchasing agent with a lifetime certification through the National Association of Purchasing Management. I now hold the designation: Lifetime C.P.M. (Certified Purchasing Manager)
I knew I wasn’t talented enough to produce a product to sell on the web. But, I also knew I possessed the ability to quickly assess a product and determine if professional career women (like myself) would be interested in purchasing that item. Essentially I use my own gut as the yardstick and this has worked well for me.
We started small with $500 of merchandise stored on a bookshelf in the spare bedroom. I worked every night from 5pm to midnight and on weekends building up my little business. After all, I couldn’t afford to leave my Corporate job without replacing part of my salary. In 2000 we decided it was time to down-size our lives and get off the hectic treadmill of “living large”. My mother Norah and my husband Wade were my best supporters who helped me tremendously along the way.
Summer of 2001 we built a new smaller home and moved into a house that I chose and designed. I continued to work evenings and weekends until they had a RIF at the Plant. (RIF = Reduction In Force). After intense soul-searching and discussion with Wade, we decided I would Volunteer for the Lay-Off and work Freshbet full-time from home. This was SO SCARY! I gave up a perfectly great job with benefits and security and traded them for the freedom and flexibility of my personal time that I so badly wanted. I worked hard on Freshbet and thankfully the fates aligned and our Sales grew to the point that I could actually pay myself.
Freshbet continued to operate in 2+ bedrooms of my home thru 2003. My Mom passed in April 2003. I had lost my best friend. By now I had hired my first part-time helper, Amber. In December we moved the business into my Mom’s downstairs apartment and several months later we hired Amanda and Jenn.
March of 2004 we fired the Call Center and started taking our own phone orders via the 800 number. This was a big improvement and sales grew again. We continued to hire part-time students like Leia and Kate to help pack and take phone orders. By Fall of 2006 we had outgrown the basement and I was ready to try a storefront.
This business continues to bring me immense pleasure and challenge - it is my baby that has been nurtured since November 1998. We are indeed proud to say that we are now celebrating our 11th Anniversary on the web.
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