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A Rocky Mountain Chocolate High Stephanie Kusayanagi learns that business can be profitable and fun.

By David Port

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Fifteen years into her franchising venture, Stephanie Kusayanagi still has a taste for chocolate--and the profits it generates for her as a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchisee.

"It's a great business to be in," says Kusayanagi, a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchisee since 1994 and owner of an RMCF store in Monterey, California. "And, yes, I still love chocolate."

Catering mostly to tourists with a sweet tooth, the Monterey store produces annual sales in excess of $500,000. It's the only RMCF operation still owned by the mid-50ish Kusayanagi, who in recent years sold stakes in two other stores to free up time for other interests, such as her grandkids.