Marcela Flores Newburn

Rico Mexican Kitchen

Marcela decided to launch her business after a few drinks in the pub one afternoon with friends. Her home-made Mexican salsas and sauces have proved a big hit amongst friends and at local food fairs in Belper, Derbyshire and beyond. Following one particularly successful recent food trade show that her sauces are now stocked in Harrods and are being trialled at Selfridges!

However, Marcela is still preparing the salsas and sauces herself in the home kitchen as well as trying to manage all other areas of the business. Can she juggle the demands of the business, the cooking and being a mother of two and take advantage of these fabulous business opportunities? Follow Marcela in Fishbowl 2 over the coming weeks and months to see.

http://www.ricomexicankitchen.co.uk/

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

The good, the bad & the ugly of 2009 and plans for 2010

The New Year is a perfect time to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly times past, to learn from the them and to decide on the next moves.

The Good:
J Having invested in going to some trade shows, with specific objectives and clear ideas of what I wanted to get out of them.
J To have worked with experts in their fields to advise me on the following:
ü  Strategy and business plan creation (Connect Mildands, Ginem); 
ü  Technical issues on food manufacture (Campden BRI, Food and Drink Forum, Nottingham Trent University)
ü  Issues around innovation (Food and Drink iNet)
ü   PR (Lava)
ü  Packaging and web design (23 Skidoo, Invosis, Design Futures)
ü  Sales (The Tasty Company)

The Bad:
:-S  On a day to day basis, I’m still running the show on my own- this needs to change.

The Ugly:
L WIP- To have spent too much money on packaging which will last me for many months- work in progress can kill viable businesses.
L The Bank which changed its mind and said “no”, after my manager , who had agreed in principle to loaning us what we needed, got transferred to a different branch.

And the next moves for 2010:
-To employ a book keeper/credit controller
-To employ a fantastic admin person- please do contact me if you know of anyone!
-To have the manufacturing unit up and running
-To increase our sales
-To go to the gym!!

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