Jenn Bowersock with Jenn’s Backstube

The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses

Jenn Bowersock lives in Sidney, OH and sells pretzels, donuts, and other authentic German baked goods with her cottage food business, Jenn’s Backstube.

Jenn was born and raised in Germany, with fond memories from her childhood of bakeries on nearly every corner, and now she is bringing a little slice of Germany to her corner of the States.

Although she’s only been in business for one year, it’s been far more successful than she ever imagined!

What You’ll Learn

• Why authenticity and sticking to your roots can make your business stand out
• The importance of finding the right niche with product/market fit
• How Jenn turned her entrepreneurial struggles into an unexpected success
• The benefit of testing the market quickly instead of trying to create a perfect business plan
• The necessity of persistence and not giving up when faced with initial business challenges
• How to streamline your operations with a pre-ordering system
• Why you should explore ways to turn unsold products into something new

Resources

Jenn’s Backstube website (Facebook | Instagram | Hotplate | Google | Nextdoor)

Hotplate (online food ordering platform)

CookKeepBook (Food Cost Calculator)

Ohio Home Bakery Law

Ohio Cottage Food Law

Free Tutorial: Intro To Email Marketing

Are you building an email list for your business yet? If not, you really should be collecting customers’ email addresses and emailing them on a regular basis. Even these days, email continues to be better than social media for generating consistent sales, and the best part is that you own it. Once you build an email list, nobody can take it away from you.

I created this free tutorial that will walk you through the essentials of using ConvertKit to build an email list and get more followers!

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/123