Rebecca Flynn
was no stranger to the business world when she opened Obsession
Chocolates. Prior to Obsession Chocolates, Rebecca was the owner
of an aviation software company which created the flight planning
software “Destination Direct”.
Rebecca is a trained chef and
has always had a passion for cooking so she sold her aviation software
business and followed her passion. While she had business experience,
she quickly realized that the retail industry is very different from
software development, “I had run businesses my entire life, but retail
was totally foreign to me” says Rebecca.
Rebecca’s
idea to open a store came to her when a local shop owner who had
sampled her chocolate asked if she could sell the chocolate in her
store. Having decided that she
would like to open her own store, Rebecca felt it was time to seek help
in writing a business plan; therefore, she contacted Western Dairyland
Women’s Business Center. The business development specialist, Renee’
Walz, helped Rebecca write a business plan including financial
projections, assisted with establishing a pricing structure (wholesale
and retail), and marketing ideas.
Rebecca
started by renting a church kitchen to create her chocolate
confections. However, prior to renting the church kitchen, she
had to seek approval from the city. Rebecca says that it took
some time, but eventually the regulations allowing her to use the
church kitchen were in place. After several months, Rebecca felt
that her business required more room so she sought out and purchased a
home and renovated it into her chocolate factory.
One
notable hurdle that Rebecca faced when opening her business was getting
the word out and along the way she “learned some painful advertising
lessons”. She feels that the marketing mix used today that includes
print, radio and philanthropic involvement is a good one. In
addition to her shop, Rebecca sells her chocolates at several shops in
Eau Claire, on her website and at the local farmer’s market.
Obsession
Chocolates carries approximately 35 different truffle flavors some of
which are permanent flavors and others based on the season. The
truffles are hand-crafted to be “as beautiful on the outside as they
taste”. In addition to the truffles, Obsession Chocolates offers a
variety of coffee drinks and baked treats. Rebecca is currently
in the process of opening a second location and expanding her shop to
include specialty, high-end food items.
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