Sweet success - entrepreneurship - teen-owned business Jam-N-Yams

Black Enterprise, Oct, 2002 by Sonya Kimble-Ellis

Camilla Amber White has always been sweet on baking goodies. So much so that she started cooking minicakes when she was just 8 years old. "I really liked doing it," says Camilla, now 15. "So as I got older I decided I was going to start my own business. My pies tasted good so I figured I could make a profit from selling them."

And so she has. After seven years of hard work, Camilla has grown her love for baking into an entrepreneurial endeavor. Her company, Jam-N-Yams, based in Flossmoor, Illinois, brought in $9,000 last year. Camilla's financial success along with her strong marketing efforts, landed her the 2002 BLACK ENTERPRISE Kidpreneurs Award.

Presently a student at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Camilla offers a wide variety of pies, including sweet potato, pumpkin, pecan, and cream pies. She also bakes cheesecakes and bread and rice puddings. Her champagne meringue pie is a favorite for New Year's, while the key lime pie goes over well during the month of March.

While the Jam-N-Yams' pie list boasts plenty to choose from, Camilla started out pretty simple. Once she decided to sell pies, she went to a local hair salon to get her first clients. Once there, she asked the owner if she could take just a few samples around to the customers. By the time Camilla left the shop, she had her first three orders.

In no time, Camilla's client list grew. Before she knew it, she had customers from the local video store and was making pies for the restaurants in three local motels owned by her father. These days, Camilla's hands are pretty full. She makes 50 pies per week for L&J Bib Joint, a soul food eatery owned by her dad and his partner. "I bake sweet potato, pecan, and bread pudding for them," she says. "Those are the real customer favorites."

But baking 50 pies seems like a lot for one person. And what about school? Camilla says baking 50 pies is a breeze. She already knows what ingredients she needs and her oven bakes 12 pies at a time. "As far as scheduling," she assures, "I do most of my baking for the rib joint on Friday nights in time for the weekend rush." She sometimes finds herself baking for other customers on the weekend. "And if by chance I have to bake on a weeknight." she continues, "my homework gets done first." But Camilla wasn't always this business savvy. It took a little time before she was able to determine the best way to make Jam-N-Yams profitable.

EARNING CASH

Turning your business into a moneymaker doesn't always happen right away. But the sooner you can turn the tables, the better off your business will be.

As Camilla discovered, determining the value of your work and your time can be a challenge. "Pricing was sometimes difficult in the beginning," she admits, "because I wasn't thinking that big. I just wanted customers to buy my pies." Early on, she sold all of her pies for $4 dollars, even though some were more expensive to make than others. "I was originally giving people a good deal," she says, "but I wasn't making much of a profit."

The expense of making pies, with ingredients such as yams and fruit, butter, milk, and pans, runs about $1.80 for a fruit pie, $1.90 for a freezer pie, and $1.70 for pudding. Camilla came up with new prices that would earn her more money. Charging $5 for the fruit and freezer pies gave her a profit of $3.20 and $3.10, respectively. Charging $6.00 for the bread and rice puddings gave her a $4.30 profit. Selling the pies and pudding wholesale was something else she had to consider. Camilla offers the fruit pies wholesale to caterers and corporations at $4.25 each, which nets her a profit of $2.45. The bread and rice puddings are sold wholesale for $4.50 each, giving her a profit of $2.80.

ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS

Every company, no matter how big or small, relies on its customer base to stay afloat. While large businesses use a lot of money and man power to do their customer solicitation, Camilla found that pounding the pavement on her own and word of mouth did the trick. "Normally, when I want new customers," she says, "I bring business cards and samples with me."

Camilla says the initial customers she acquired at the salon also helped get the word out about the pies, In addition, Camilla has been able to secure her father's business partner, who owns an architecture and contracting firm, and many of his employees as customers.

And what about delivery? Well that hasn't been a problem. With her mom's help, Camilla maintains a written delivery schedule that gets the pies to her clients on time. Her mother also drives her to each location then waits while Camilla delivers the pies.

As for the future, Camilla says she wants to major in business and minor in law when she goes to college. That's no surprise for this multiversed entrepreneur, who also owns two other businesses--Camilla's Crafts and Camilla's Packables. With Packables, Camilla provides fresh cut vegetables to pet store owners. Camilla's Crafts sells handmade craft items such as decorations and clothing for Beanie Babies, Although Camilla has these other businesses, it's Jam-N-Yams that takes up most of her time.