Cheryl Sandberg From an Occasional Chocolate Talks to AC About Starting a Business and Her Products

As I was surfing the web one day I came across this site that had the most delicious looking chocolate on it. An Occasional Chocolate was the name of the business and Cheryl Sandberg is its creator. Cheryl was nice enough to grant me an interview to talk about how she got her business running and more details about that delicious chocolate.

What was your inspiration to create An Occasional Chocolate?
I have always loved making candies and desserts. I went to a few chocolate making classes and felt inspired to make some truffles for some friends and they were thrilled with them and said "You MADE that?!" Yes! I made those! The look of amazement on their faces was exhilarating! Even more fun was having them over and teaching them how to make them! I enjoyed giving my friends a new skill that could make them look like geniuses in the kitchen!

Was starting the business harder than you thought?
Starting a business was much harder than I ever thought. I have never made so many decisions in such a short amount of time in the beginning. What products to carry, how much of each product to have on hand, what will people be excited about? I don't have any business background so I was just going by gut feeling most of the time. I wanted to remain debt free so every choice was very important.

How did you begin to build your clientele initially?
Optimizing my website to be search engine and user friendly.

What is your favorite occasional chocolate treat?
I love bringing the dipped strawberries and truffles to parties because they are so beautiful and they feel so rich and extravagant! My favorite things to eat are more simple, dipped pretzels and graham crackers are what I really enjoy.

How has the company changed since it began?
I began wanting to make the candies and sell them in shops. After many sleepless nights of researching and thinking and praying, I decided it would be too labor intensive and costly to go the food handling route, especially in the state of California. I really am glad I chose this instead, I really love website design and customer service and this is a good fit for me.

What kind of products does your company offer?
Chocolate candy making supplies and tips.

What new products or ideas can your customers look forward to for later this year?
New molds and fun new packaging as well as new decorating items!

If you could start your business over again, would you do anything different?
I would have hired a babysitter for those times where I was so inspired and fired-up and ready to work hard. Then work a few solid hours so I could really focus on my children when they were with me.

What advice would you give to a person who is thinking about starting their own business?
As easy as it is to spend gobs of cash getting a business started, go the conservative route. There's not a better feeling than being debt free and letting your business income pay for it's own growth.

On your website you can sign up for a newsletter. What does the newsletter offer?
Bi-weekly recipes, member only discounts, and new product announcements.

Do you offer a print catalog or is this strictly an Internet business?
Currently strictly Internet.

What is your long term business plan?
Eventually carry 10 times the current product selection with a larger warehouse while staying debt free.

How long has your business been up and running?
One year, this April.

What has been your highest selling item? Our chocolate, truffle molds, edible glitters, and bulk caramel.

With these products anybody can become a fantastic candy maker. The recipes that are offered rival those found in high- end cookbooks and the discounts are worth using. If you have a sweet tooth or just love to create delicious things than you need to visit An Occasional Chocolate today.