The Entrepreneur’s Journey: Business Lessons from Late July Snacks
Dec. 31, 2018 at 5:35 PM
Late July Snacks founder Nicole Bernard Dawes discussed her journey as an entrepreneur and the tough decisions founders need to make in order to survive. Founded as a cracker brand and later adding cookies, Late July’s first seven years saw the company grow to about $8 million in annual sales. But after the sudden death of her business partner — her father — the company needed to make radical changes to survive. In 2010 Late July discontinued its cookie line and released a line of tortilla chips. The decision paid off and sales skyrocketed from $8 million to more than $130 million in 2018. While one key takeaway was knowing when to kill your darlings, Dawes emphasized the significance of creating trust with the consumer and with your employees by cultivating a strong internal culture.
NOSH Live is a two-day business conference for the natural food industry. Future conference dates and locations can be found at nosh.com/events.