October Topic: Now that your business has been operating a few years, are you doing today what you thought you would be doing when you came up with your business idea?
By Rose Ficco with Rose’s Fiscotti Gifts
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If someone had told me in 2014 that I was going to run two businesses or that I would be baking cookies, I would have laughed until my ribs hurt. While I spent over 25 years working for several organizations, my world came to a halt at my last job because I was let go for ‘no cause’. This should have devastated me, but I just turned fifty and was motivated to reinvent myself.
You see, when I was fired, I felt liberated. I spent many years working for others but deep down I knew I wanted to run my own business. Being let go was just the opportunity I needed. But, when it happened, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Well, I did know, but it was too many things that didn’t make sense. Maybe because when I had to sit down and write out all my skills, I was all over the map as I’ve had a colorful career.
So, how did it all start? Well, with me thinking that I wanted to be a Professional Organizer. I took the course, got the certificate, registered Rose to the Rescue as the company name and went out looking for clients. Without getting into the nitty gritty of it all, it didn’t work out mainly because in 2014, the concept of being an organizer wasn’t as popular as it is today. As a result, I was back at the drawing board. While I didn’t want to give up my company name, I wanted to figure out how to use it but for something different. That’s when I came up with being a Virtual Administrator. Now, this worked out as I had developed quite a few skills in my past career, and this allowed me to accumulate clients on short- and long-term projects for the last eight years.
While I was getting into the groove of running my first business, I stumbled upon another idea while working with my administrative clients. You see, working on your own means you need to validate the time you spend trying to earn a living. You’re not getting paid weekly or bi-weekly anymore. You’re getting paid when you invoice a client for the work you completed. And while I did work, I wasn’t bringing in as much as I would if I was in the ‘corporate world’.
When I came up with this new business idea, at no point was I thinking about being a baker. If my mom was alive, she would tell you I don’t bake. But I do love food, and I love a particular cookie my mom used to make. Mom wasn’t around to make it anymore, so I called my aunt for the recipe. This is how Fiscotti Cookies came to life.
It’s a longer story, but to answer the question – Now that your business has been operating a few years, are you doing today what you thought you would be doing when you came up with your business idea?
No, it isn’t. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Contact Rose Ficco at fiscotticrew@gmail.com or on Social Media: Facebook or Instagram