How Community Support Baked My Business Dream

Launching this business has been a whirlwind turning my pipedream of starting my own company into a reality. The progress that's happened is largely because of the small community that has come together in support. Those who are following this new business endeavor and subscribing to Minky's email list. I can't thank you enough for your support. 

A few months ago, I started posting on TikTok. I told a few people what I was doing, teased my brand, and attempted to get comfortable on video. It went okay. 

Then, while traveling, I mustered up the courage to post on Instagram, something that terrified me. I posted a few stories on my personal account, sharing that I was starting a business. I also mentioned it was focused on healthy snacks. Then I put my phone down and went out to dinner, not thinking much of it, aside from feeling relieved that I (finally) went for it.

What happened next was something I will never forget. 

I came back to my hotel room after dinner with friends, opened Instagram, and saw a deluge of notifications and messages from people I've met throughout various stages of life - grade school, high school, college, friends of friends, family, etc. Some people shared links to other businesses I should check out that might be helpful, while others with experience in the industry offered to connect and help give some guidance.

It was overwhelming in the best possible way. 

Two days later, I revealed the product I'm working on - healthy mini muffins. And again, I received so much support from Instagram friends and followers. In 3 days, I had over 200 followers on Minky's Instagram account. I don't know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn't that.

The action that people took to show support by following and subscribing was hella motivating. I reached out to the recipe developer in hopes of moving things along more quickly. To see how the first rounds of samples turned out, you can see my live reaction on the "Samples" highlight on Minky's Instagram page. 

When I gave the recipe developer quick feedback, she went straight to the next round of samples. We are building momentum. 

A few months ago, I was trying to figure out if there was a place in the market for a product like this, so I interviewed a group of people that fit my target audience. During the interviews, a handful of people said the same thing. They preferred products that have fewer ingredients listed. RXBAR, a bar known for using ~4 ingredients, was mentioned time and time again.

It may seem obvious, but food products that have a ton of ingredients listed on the label, including a bunch of words you've never heard of, are typically not so healthy for you. So, when I received the list of ingredients for the first batch of samples and saw a handful of new ingredients added to my recipe, I knew we had to head back to the drawing board. 

Luckily, we've already cut the number of ingredients in half for the mini muffins. Now we're cooking!

I'm learning something new every single day with this business. Between figuring out operations and marketing in a new industry and my full-time day job, I'm moving as quickly as I can to get the product launched soon.

The support from friends and family has been greater than I could've ever imagined. Everywhere I go, people are excited and asking me about the business. It's motivation not only to keep moving, but to keep moving fast and get the product to market as soon as I can. 

Thank you again for the support, it means the world!

 To follow the journey, you can subscribe here.