Meet Suzane, the owner of a Lebanese cookie small businesses called Tayta’s Taste.
Meet Suzane, the owner of a Lebanese cookie small businesses called Tayta’s Taste.Suzane’s small business sells Lebanese cookies that are based on an old, traditional recipe that her grandma used to make. The cookies are called Thursday cookies, as they are traditionally made on a Thursday.
“There are many reasons that I wanted to go into business. I didn’t finish my studies when I was young and I ended up marrying and coming here from Lebanon. When I came here I didn’t have time to study and I had few options. Now my kids are grown and I can’t just sit at home. I wanted to be financially independent. I needed income – I have two kids and family overseas to help. The business is not such a big thing, but it is something.”
Suzane has been running her small business for four years and making the cookies for family and friends. Now that her business has grown, and with the support of her Many Rivers business coach, Suzane has been selling the Lebanese cookies from her husband’s café.
Meet Suzane
My business is called Tayta’s Taste, which means Grandma’s Taste. I was doing the Stepping Stones program through the Brotherhood of St Lawrence. The program helped me to learn more about business. I was already making the cookies out of my own kitchen but it wasn’t commercial. I had too many ideas in my head and I decided to stick to doing one thing professionally instead of trying to do 10 things. Now I just focus on making one thing that people can eat at any time.
Working with Many Rivers
Gina, my Many Rivers business coach, guided me through the right steps to starting the Tayta’s Taste. I was lost and I didn’t know which way to go. Gina helped me with the business name and encouraged me to stick to one business idea instead of doing too many. She helped me with the logo, getting ingredients, the packaging, and now working from the café. I also now have a professional oven and dishwasher, so Gina helped me to make it commercial. I already had a business plan from Stepping Stones, but Gina helped me with the steps I needed to make one by one until it was finished.
Biggest Success
The biggest success is that I feel like now I have a good product. They look professional now with their packaging and I don’t need to explain to each customer what they are and what is in them – and everyone is happy with the result.
Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge has been to move the business from my home to a commercial kitchen. Finding a commercial kitchen was hard – they were too expensive and too far from my home and there are not many in my area. I was renting a commercial kitchen by the hour and it cost a lot of money. They charge so much, so it is not easy to make profits from that. I had been looking for a space to hire and then I found a little place in the café and spent some money to buy the equipment I needed.
Future Goals for Tayta’s Taste
I hope to find the equipment that I envision in my head. This way I can make the process easier so I can supply more businesses.
Thank you Suzane for sharing your story of how you started your Lebanese cookie small business.
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If you enjoyed this client story, make sure to check out Daniel who runs Strait Removals, a successful furniture removal business in The Torres Strait.
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