With spring in the air and Easter just around the corner, people like Lindy Pearson are putting her confection skills to use to grow her own small business by providing a sweet service to the people of Omaha.
“This is something new for me. Last year my first box was for mother’s day so I just really wanted to test myself on other holidays when I know other people are buying confectionery items,” Pearson said. “So this year, I am doing an Easter box with four different flavors: two milk chocolate and one white and one dark, and that’s something I am really excited for,” said Pearson.
With many small businesses struggling right now, finding niches and trends in the market, such as holiday treats, and capitalizing on them could be a savvy business move.
According to marketingcharts.com, Easter surpasses Valentine’s Day for the amount of chocolate sold in the United States, with more than 120-million pounds sold every year. In fact, the week leading up to Easter totals over half a billion dollars.
Pearson hopes she will be able to work with places like the nonprofit No More Empty Pots to find a more permanent home for work, where she will be able to start an online store and offer her chocolates across the country. But she still expects to face a lot of difficulties.
“Adding on a lease in addition to your own lease is going to be a challenge, but equipment-wise I am using a lot of what I am using at home will be overlapping to start. But definitely just those startup costs,” said Pearson.
Milk chocolate salted caramel, lemon meringue pie and dark chocolate cherry almond are just some of the chocolate concoctions being hand made by Pearson. She currently uses Facebook to advertise her products but is working on creating a website where customers could order chocolates and other goods directly.
