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Annika Mengisen
Welcome to the Small-Business Soap series, in which we follow a start-up in real time. Getting a small business off the ground can have as many twists and turns as a daytime drama. But unlike television plots, these stories can inspire and educate entrepreneurs -- be sure to tune in every Wednesday to find out how.
"The idea was the best way I could imagine spending my days," says Kim Ima of a vision that suddenly came to her two and a half years ago. Working in theater and film production, Ima had always been a home-baker, but one day she took her passion further by imagining a truck that delivers baked goods, much like an ice-cream truck. Ima currently sells her treats out of a commercial bakery in Brooklyn, N.Y., but soon she will begin peddling a mix of delectable desserts and daily specials to her neighborhood and the surrounding boroughs from The Treats Truck. "I love really delicious, not-too-sweet goodies of all kinds," says Ima, whose company's tagline is, "Not too fancy, always delicious." "Even fancy people sometimes want a homey treat," she adds. "It appeals to something in most of us." In addition to homemade treats, Ima will sell coffee, bottled drinks and T-shirts from the truck (named Sugar), which runs on compressed natural gas. "The truck itself is a great advertisement," Ima explains, because it sports the logo, tag line, Web site and phone number of her business (companies like U-Haul (UHAL Quote) are notorious for this strategy). On the Treats Truck Web site, customers can sign up for the mailing list, and Ima sends out regular email newsletters to friends and family, the same effective strategy she used when promoting the independent feature films she produced.
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