Our mail carrier with his free chocolate.
Formal management meetings for Beato chocolates are lonely and futile affairs. Mostly, they consist of Lisa and I sitting around the kitchen table vetoing each other’s ideas. Our most prolific, and creative, brainstorming sessions occur at parties, around fire pits, and on car rides; the times when distractions are involved, and guards are down. COVID had taken all those moments away. As an executive branch of two, we needed extra juice, or, at the very least, a tie breaker to pick a side and declare a winner. We needed a third to make our meetings more productive and less contentious. But, for the time being, it was just the two of us. So, we had to struggle on.
In May 2020, Lisa and I were strategizing ways to sell our product and stop the financial hemorrhaging. I started a spreadsheet. Lisa ate a banana. I analyzed web traffic. Lisa poured herself a cup of coffee. I priced out advertising options. Lisa filed her nails. It was a typical meeting that wouldn’t be complete until she threw out an idea that would make my head explode. On que, Lisa suggested that we give away free chocolate bars. Our agenda was complete. I was alternately scared and angered by Lisa’s “steer into the skid” method of business. Unfortunately, my anxiety is rarely a hurdle in our decisions.
That week, we started giving away chocolate to the mail carrier, a friend who was handing out complimentary tomato plants, a farmer distributing free vegetables, and so many others that were helping our community. It was unprofitable, time consuming, and a lot of fun. We were perfectly on brand.
Stay tuned,
Heather
Co-Founder of Beato Chocolates