NAME AND AGE: Patricia Green, 37
COMPANY NAME AND DESCRIPTION: Ginger Kids Inc., in
Williamsville, New York, manufactures and wholesales children's
international baking and cooking kits and conducts baking and
cooking classes for individuals and schools.
STARTING POINT: 1994 with $30,000
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1999 SALES PROJECTIONS: $600,000
COMBO PLATE: When Green left California to take care of
her ailing father in upstate New York, she ran into a bit of a
problem--she couldn't find a job. Doing what enterprising
unemployed folk have done for decades, the international marketing
expert took her vocation, combined it with an avocation, mixed in a
chunk of start-up capital from mom and seasoned it with a dollop of
educational flavoring to create a line of children's cooking
kits which she distributes to upscale department stores and gourmet
food outlets.
TOO MANY COOKS: After making sure her company's
infrastructure could handle large-scale production, Green took
Ginger Kids to the International Fancy Food and Confection Show in
New York City. The result: orders totaling six figures. "I got
calls from people wanting to license the name, schools wanting me
to develop curricula and companies wanting me to
private-label," she says. "I was trying to be everything
to everybody and began to lose focus." Slipping sales jerked
Green back on track.
NEW ON THE MENU: Last May, Green created a Ginger Kids
school, which she is now working on franchising. How does the
school fit into Green's master plan? "If we're able to
franchise," she says, "we'll have a retail area where
we can sell the kits while maintaining control of our mission to
teach children about other cultures."