Passion and Flexibility Are Key Attributes For Small Business Success
Entrepreneurship is not only a hustle, but also a roller coaster ride. Sometimes you need to adjust your marketing efforts and business model to align with the elements of your environment. Many times, things that are out of your control influence these adjustments. Just know that you CAN adjust and the more flexible and innovative you are, the more ROI you will see.
Jamison Communications invited Stephanie Zakich, owner of FINO, to share her experience as an entrepreneur and small business owner. Stephanie shares why she started FINO and how she has adjusted her marketing and business model along the way.
Enjoy the read!
Owning my own business allows me to share my passion for cooking and heathy food. Food has an effect on your body and well-being. Physically, mentally and emotionally. I personally experienced the lows of an unhealthy dietary lifestyle. Through studying and experience, I was able to get to a healthy place and make it an effortless routine moving forward. I wanted to bring this to other people who were struggling, and hopefully make a positive impact on their lives.
I have been cooking for half my life, starting around age 10. Growing up my mom never stopped me from making a huge mess in the kitchen, she loved seeing me find so much pleasure in creating recipes at such a young age. This freedom allowed me to grow my passion as time went on. I started my business as a personal chef for local families, but I soon found that it was limiting my reach and I wanted to share my mission with a broader customer base. I created individually packaged meals and began to work with local businesses such as Trak Athletics that allowed me promote FINO and leverage their brick and mortar as a FINO pick up location for orders placed online.
Since the pandemic, we have learned to be resilient and adaptable with our business model. Our individually packaged meals were perfect for pandemic eating and staying on track. We expanded our model to offer free, no contact home delivery. This update was something that made FINO more convenient and desirable to new customers. With a lot of people being stuck at home, personally and professionally, we wanted to accommodate their needs for wanting to stay healthy the best we could.
FINO runs as a team effort. We are an amazing team of four. I create all the recipes, do most of the cooking and manage the team and overall business. Savannah leads our PR and digital marketing, she has a heart for people and for personally getting to know them. This allows her to be a great communicator and idea generator for what our customers really want. Not to mention she is great at all things tech! Charity is artistic and has an amazing eye for photography, you can find her taking most of the images for our website and social media. Charity is great with attention to detail, and this guides her in evolving visuals to align with what the market is reacting to most. And then there’s my mom. You will find her washing dishes, cleaning up after all of us, making deliveries and being our biggest cheerleader.
We’ve had a lot of amazing growth this year. I credit this growth to social media and really being able to tell our story through the visuals Charity captures and shares on Instagram. The visual effects of social media have allowed us to connect with our customers and share the process with them. When they see the process, they can feel the passion. Follower engagement Also guides us to what entrees build the most excitement.
Marketing has played such a key role in allowing us to build our business. People want to see what they are getting before they commit, and they want to know what others are saying about the product. We incorporated customer testimonials and the feedback has set FINO apart, while also allowing us to continue evolving our service model. We have connected with some amazing local businesses that sell FINO, contributing to us growing our geographic footprint and customer base. We love cross promoting their business and driving new traffic to them too!
For those looking to try FINO, you can find us on Instagram and Facebook at @entreebyfino or visit our website to see more and place an order, entreebyfino.com.
-Stephanie Zakich, owner of FINO
FINO is part of the small business showcase series that Jamison Communications will be leading. To submit your business to be showcased, please email tiffany@jamisoncommunications.com.