Cocoa Dolce experiencing the sweet taste of success
Friday, February 8, 2008, By PAT SANGIMINO, Wichita Business Journal
Beth Tully took a leap of faith in leaving the corporate world to open Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates in November 2005. Now, the east Wichita shop is on the verge of outgrowing its East 37th Street location.
Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates, the only hand-crafted chocolate shop in the state, is on the verge of becoming profitable as it enters its third year.
The company is about to outgrow its store on East 37th Street, just west of Rock Road, leading Tully to wonder whether an already successful store might increase its sales volume with a move to a pricier address three miles down Rock Road.
Retail centers like Bradley Fair offer far more foot traffic, but a better location doesn't come cheap.
"Who wouldn't want the kind of footsteps you get in those locations. But we have to weigh the costs," Tully says.
Cocoa Dolce is a destination -- and there's something charming about that, says Tully.
That was proved during the holiday season when Cocoa Dolce had nearly $100,000 in sales. With Valentine's Day coming up, Tully is expecting another huge month for the business.
Since opening in November 2005, the company has met sales forecasts each month and has never had a flat quarter, Tully says. In that time, it has grown from three workers to 14.
She is pondering an offer from Kroger to carry Cocoa Dolce's hand-crafted chocolates in area Dillons stores, while being ever mindful of offers from other markets that could be ripe for expansion.
"You can see that 2008 is going to be our year of strategic planning," Tully says. "It's a real interesting time."
Hand-Crafted Quality
Artisan chocolate is a trend that has become popular on the east and west coasts the last few years. Only recently has it come to the Midwest. Unlike mass-produced chocolate, artisan chocolate is hand-made in small batches.
"There's premium quality to what she makes," says Ken Elliott of the Small Business Development Center at Wichita State University, which helped Tully create her business plan. "People respond to that."
Christopher Elbow opened a similar business in Kansas City, Mo., four years ago and has enjoyed so much success, he will soon open a second store in San Francisco.
"People are understanding more and more about what a hand-made product is," Elbow says. "People are getting a better understanding and demanding that kind of quality."
Christopher Elbow Chocolates has outgrown its workspace three times in four years. And at a time when some are predicting a national recession, Elbow sees that having little impact on his business.
"It's an affordable luxury," Elbow says. "Even with downturns in the economy, they might cut out buying the BMW, but they will still buy a box of chocolate. It will make them feel like they are splurging without feeling like they're spending a lot of money."
Like Elbow, Tully mixes Belgian chocolate to create confections that have drawn raves not just from the private sector, but also from the corporate community.
About 30 percent of Cocoa Dolce's business is corporate. The client list includes Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft Corp., as well as a number of companies outside of Kansas.
Crunching the Numbers
Success has come quickly for Tully, whose entrepreneurial endeavor came after years of coaxing from friends and family members, who knew she never felt fulfilled in her career as an executive at the Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Her grandmother instilled in her a love for cooking when she was younger, and when she tried out a candy recipe she found in a magazine, a fire was lit.
"They were horrible," she says of those early creations. "They were tasty, but they looked like a train wreck."
But she got better and as she did, she began giving the chocolates to friends during the holidays. And each time she did, she heard them say she should be selling her chocolates.
But it wasn't until her 50th birthday that she agreed to take steps toward that.
She found an online class offered by the University of Vancouver, passed that and then spent the next three months in Vancouver earning her master's degree by working each day with a master chocolatier. [Clarification - Beth took Ecole Chocolat's online Professional Chocolatier Program over the three months mentioned and then the Vancouver Master Program for one week.]
All the while, she worked with WSU on her business plan.
"As I went through training, I would crunch the numbers," she says. "If it didn't make sense, I would pull the plug."
With the help of friends and family members who did all the painting and decorating, Cocoa Dolce opened its doors at a cost of $125,000 -- most of that spent on equipment.
"We started on a shoestring budget," Tully says. "But this was still an act of courage for me to do this."
Cocoa Dolce
Owner: Beth Tully.
Address: 7730 E. 37th St. Suite 400, Wichita, Kan., 67226.
Phone: (316) 866-2906.
Web site: www.cocoadolce.com.
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