Describe the business
We produce all natural pre-prepared cookie dough. I grew up in the States, so it’s not a new idea, you just have cookie dough there. When I came over here [to Scotland] I would just make it myself and stick it in the freezer.
What was your lightbulb moment?
When people came over I became known as the one who made fresh baked cookies in 10 minutes. People would say: “You should do that as a business.” At that point I had a job and thought it wasn’t on the cards, but it was always in the back of my head.
There was this group I used to go out walking in the park with when I was on maternity leave – they didn’t want to go back to work and would brainstorm ideas about crazy businesses because we had a bit of time. They came over to my house and said the cookies would be a great business.
How did the business begin?
We became a business in March 2013. Just before that I went to my local Business Gateway and said I was thinking of starting a business. They told me to look at the BBC Good Food show as they are looking for new products all the time. You can win a spot at the BBC Good Food Show, but the application had to be in at 12 o’clock that night.
After sending the application in, I got a phone call the day later saying they liked my story as it was different. It was a great opportunity to test the market, and we sold 400 units on our first day.
What happened next?
That Christmas people were calling, saying: “I want to get some more of that cookie dough as a Christmas present.” I thought: “I have to get a distributor.”
From March 2013 we started selling in some shops and delis and I was still making it in my kitchen at that point.
Later we outsourced production to a small bakery and approached Whole Foods, because they are really great at taking on new brands. Then we pitched to Booths, and they were great too. We started to get a constant rate of sales and we started getting repeat customers.
What’s your proudest moment?
Ocado had a search for Britain’s top suppliers last year. I applied and got a phone call saying I had made it to the semi-finals. There wasn’t a train or a plane that I could get me to the event as it was such short notice, so I piled my cookie dough into the car and drove down to their head office in Hatfield. The next day I got a phone call saying I was through to the final. In the end we got down to the last three and got a listing in Ocado.
What are your strengths?
It’s a new product and there’s an opportunity for growth. We really understand our customer and we understand busy parents and what they are looking for. Being one helps.
What’s been a big challenge?
Waitrose said they liked the product, but they didn’t think the packaging was going to work on their supermarket shelves. A rebrand is around £30,000, it’s a lot of money, so I thought, what can I do? Really luckily, in Scotland they have something called the Scottish Edge. You can pitch, so I went and I pitched a Dragons’ Den style pitch, and won £50,000. I rebranded and went back to Waitrose, and they liked it.
Is your family involved in the business?
Everyone is involved and you have to have the absolute support of your family. You don’t get time off, you think about it constantly. I think that’s a good thing and a bad thing. The older girls have certainly learned a lot, you can hear it in the things they say and how savvy they are at marketing.
Morag Pavich is the founder of Mo’s Cookie Dough
Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.
