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The Artistic Whisk LLC, Jovana Unietis
Jovana came to SCORE with no current job, but a dream to open her bakery – specifically a wedding cake baker. Her expertise was well-established, having been schooled at the Cordon Bleau in Orlando and recently apprenticing at the Ritz Carlton in Ft. Myers and Innisbrook Resort here in Pinellas County.
With SCORE’s mentoring help (John Andes and Bob Gaynor), Jovana rented a small shop and remodeled the space, installing ovens, preparation tables, refrigeration, etc., all on her own. After some delays, she opened for business in Feb. 2015 and had her first sale a month later.
In her first Spring, she built her business up to one sale per weekend (weddings) and established vendor relationships at the Don Cesar and Tradewinds resorts in St. Pete Beach. Her spadework paid off, with rapidly increasing sales, and she expanded into additional product lines like cookies, and vegan and gluten-free cakes.
She started to sponsor tastings of her products through her established clients and established a remarkable 85 percent order production from those who attend.
Our mentors continued to play an important role in the business side of her success, suggested her prices were too low for the market, and advise her to implement a 22 percent price increase. Because her backlog is now 6 to 9 months, she has a built-in transition period for these price increases.
Jovana, with the mentoring and counseling from SCORE’s mentors, has proven to be in the minority of successful new entrepreneurs who are profitable and positioned for long-term success. In her first year, she sold 35 cakes and followed that up with sales of 154 so far in 2016. She has posted remarkable pre-ordering sales for 2017 of 46 with deposits, and another 30 per-orders waiting for receipt of deposits.
Continuing to grow, Jovana, the accountant, the office manager, and SCORE will work together to ascertain the profit by item so that The Artistic Whisk can aggressively increase overall profit as well as growth in sales. This analysis will also allow Jovana to promote highly profitable items.
The Artistic Whisk, run by Jovana Unietis, is presented as a candidate for the 2016 SCORE Chapter 115 Small Business Client of the Year award. She is superior at her enterprise. She is ambitious, hardworking, and has a logical business mind. She understands the advice we give her and acts accordingly to produce positive results.
Jovana came to SCORE with no current job, but a dream to open her own bakery – specifically a wedding cake baker. Her expertise was well-established, having been schooled at the Cordon Bleau in Orlando and recently apprenticing at the Ritz Carlton in Ft. Myers and Innisbrook Resort here in Pinellas County.
With SCORE’s mentoring help (John Andes and Bob Gaynor), Jovana rented a small shop and remodeled the space, installing ovens, preparation tables, refrigeration, etc., all on her own. After some delays, she opened for business in Feb. 2015 and had her first sale a month later.
