One of the fun things about being an event planner is you get to meet a lot of people. I love to find out when someone you know has a whole life outside of how you know them. I recently found out that a colleague has a chocolate truffle company Purple Cow Truffles LLC. and I wanted to share it with you.
Katharine started the company in 2008, several years after graduating from Williams College, home of the purple cow. It emerged from her love for dessert making, combined with entrepreneurial interests. She has a chocolatier and packager, and she manages all marketing, finance, distribution, production, website design, logo design and packaging design.
I asked Katherine a few questions…
HRH: How did you get started and what gave you the courage to start your own company?
Katharine: I got started by doing a lot of research on the logistics of starting a small business, the food industry, and the chocolate truffle industry particularly. This research of course involved a lot of tasting and communicating with chocolatiers around the country.
I’m not sure what gave me the courage , I guess there was very little risk. I put up a small amount of my own money and regarded the initial months of business operation as an experiment. If I made money, I would invest more and grow the business. If I did not, I accepted that my initial investment was spent on a learning experience and would not be recouped. I was very cheap at first. For example, I was very opposed to paying a few thousand dollars to have someone build my website. SO I bought a book similar to “HTML Coding for Dummies”, learned the codes, and built it myself. I loved my first website because I was so proud of myself for creating it. After a year though, it looked very elementary to me, and I invested money in building one that was more professional. (However, I did design it all!)
HRH: Do you use the truffles to entertain? Do your friends/clients?
Katharine: I do, and I give them as gifts, though I absolutely keep my business and personal expenses separate. Most of my customers buy the truffles for entertainment and/or gifts. They have been given as birthday gifts, hostess gifts, holiday gifts, baby gifts, and they have been served at weddings, reunions, fundraisers, holiday parties, baby showers, bridal showers and dinner parties. I also partner up with some wine companies in NYC to do tastings. These are a lot of fun. People can have wine and truffles to their heart’s content, and they seem to like meeting the business owner and learning about how the business started.
Purple Cow Truffles are all made with a high quality chocolate that makes them naturally lower in sugar. They have all natural flavorings and no hydrogenated oils. Additionally, all truffles are made with pure pressed natural cocoa butter that promotes healthy skin and high cocoa antioxidants that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
To learn more and order them for yourself, visit: www.purplecowtruffles.com
