Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013. The description of Big Dipper Baby Food, including its funding round and its size, reflects the company’s situation at that time.
Claire Hoyt is an entrepreneur from California who gave up her former career as a company manager to pursue her dream. Her dream was not to start a company but to be able to make money from home, so she could spend more time with her children, something her job made impossible.
She came up with the business idea of making organic food for babies and young children. Put like that, at first it might sound as if there is no business in the idea, but the pitch for selling her product is very simple.
Kids are fed crap from the day they are born (I think she uses a different word for the food we give babies). The point is that this entrepreneur believes children should eat fresh food, especially when they are small, as natural as possible and with as few preservatives and assorted “additives” as possible. Yet nowadays few parents have time to prepare this kind of food for their children. On top of that, organic fruit and vegetables can be hard to find.
That is where Big Dipper Baby Food comes in. It started by selling to neighbours, friends and Facebook fans, and it is currently raising a funding round to expand to other cities.
See also: Business opportunities in the gluten-free market: BabyCakes
The business started in her home kitchen. She bought produce from local growers and farmers. The problem with Claire’s product is that, since it contains no preservatives, it cannot go very long without being eaten.
Demand soon grew strong as word spread around the neighbourhood, and even some small local shops wanted to sell her baby purées. She hired a young woman, and her boyfriend joined the business. Today they are a big company that delivers to homes all over the city and even to some schools. This entrepreneur says her dream has only just begun, because she feels she is doing excellent work for children’s health and wants to reach as many people as possible.
Advice from this entrepreneur for anyone thinking of taking the leap
Claire says that if you want to pursue a dream or reach a goal, go for it. But be prepared and accept the challenge, because you have to work very hard and be ready to face many challenges and obstacles, although you keep getting stronger and better prepared to deal with them. In the end the effort pays off. Above all, have fun while you do it.
Further reading
Featured image: thedabblist, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
