Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
NAME AND AGE: Patricia Green, 37
COMPANY NAME AND DESCRIPTION: Ginger Kids Inc., inWilliamsville, New York, manufactures and wholesales children'sinternational baking and cooking kits and conducts baking andcooking classes for individuals and schools.
STARTING POINT: 1994 with $30,000
1999 SALES PROJECTIONS: $600,000
COMBO PLATE: When Green left California to take care ofher ailing father in upstate New York, she ran into a bit of aproblem--she couldn't find a job. Doing what enterprisingunemployed folk have done for decades, the international marketingexpert took her vocation, combined it with an avocation, mixed in achunk of start-up capital from mom and seasoned it with a dollop ofeducational flavoring to create a line of children's cookingkits which she distributes to upscale department stores and gourmetfood outlets.
TOO MANY COOKS: After making sure her company'sinfrastructure could handle large-scale production, Green tookGinger Kids to the International Fancy Food and Confection Show inNew York City. The result: orders totaling six figures. "I gotcalls from people wanting to license the name, schools wanting meto develop curricula and companies wanting me toprivate-label," she says. "I was trying to be everythingto everybody and began to lose focus." Slipping sales jerkedGreen back on track.
NEW ON THE MENU: Last May, Green created a Ginger Kidsschool, which she is now working on franchising. How does theschool fit into Green's master plan? "If we're able tofranchise," she says, "we'll have a retail area wherewe can sell the kits while maintaining control of our mission toteach children about other cultures."
