Deer Buzz

Do You Know What Business You’re In?

You’d think it would be obvious what business you’re in. If you make drills, you’re in the drills business. If you bake cookies, you’re in the cookie business. Right? Wrong.

When Trish Karter started her firm, Dancing Deer, it sprang to fame for unbelievably delicious and beautifully presented cookies. Molasses clove was the best selling cookie (it won the food industry equivalent of an Oscar in 1997), but her peppermint fudge brownies became pretty popular, too. Largely through word of mouth, the bakery had become famous for fantastic indulgences, gorgeous packaging and for the major contribution it made helping the homeless of Boston, where the company was based. Swiftly, Dancing Deer became a very easy business to love. But, like many entrepreneurs, Karter struggled with the company’s growth, especially with the markedly seasonal nature of her product: sales peaked between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.

Read the full article at BNET.com

How a Social Mission Guides This Business

Dancing Deer CEO moved her cookie company to a gang-ridden neighborhood and donates a third of the profits of one product line to charity. How can this be good for business?

Dancing Deer Baking Company got off to a rocky start but that didn’t stop the Boston, Massachusetts-based outfit from making the local community and its employees priorities—right up there with turning a profit.

In the early and mid-90s, America was falling head over heels for gourmet coffee, and to Suzanne Lombardi, that aromatic blend smelled like opportunity. After spending time with some artisanal roasters out in California, she recalls, “I realized that the coffee craze was something that was going to come East.”

Seeing the need for high-quality baked goodies to accompany the country’s newfound java predilection, Lombardi rented a caterer’s kitchen in the evenings where she could bake in mass, schlepping pots and pans to and fro each night, and delivering her all-natural baked goods to coffee shops at the crack of dawn. Understandably, this was a stressful way to run a business, and one day she sought out Trish Karter and her husband Ayis Antoniou for advice. The pair did her one better and became angel investors, but a year and a half into the partnership Lombardi was still struggling.

Read the full article at Inc.com!

Out of Office: Dancing Deer passes Sustainable Business Leader Program Certification

Representatives from 23 Boston companies (including Dancing Deer Baking Co) recently graduated from the Sustainable Business Leader Program’s first certification class to develop “sustainable business leaders”.  The program, funded by a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection through the Boston Redevelopment Authority, puts participants through a six-step SBLP process in which they implement changes in energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, transportation, pollution prevention and substainability management.

Trish Karter and Maggie Kerr are representing Dancing Deer in the photo above.

Interview with Deborah Re, CEO of Big Sister Association of Greater Boston

I had the pleasure of meeting Deborah Re at a recent Big Sister event where inspiring women of all ages came together to share stories about our Little Sisters and listen to guest speaker Trish Karter, CEO and cofounder of Dancing Deer Baking Company, who supports organizations that give back to the community, like Big Sister.  While Deb is petite, she packs quite a punch, running a hugely successful nonprofit with boundless energy and dedication.  Happy to help Gen Y’s navigating our own career paths, Deb took the time to answer some questions that I hope you’ll find helpful and inspiring—I know I did!

First-person ideas for small business recovery

(NECN) - In the New England Nexus segment of DC Dialogue, Dancing Deer Baking Company CEO Trish Karter talks about the impact of the recession on her business and shares her recipe for what the government might be able to do to help small businesses recover.
“You don’t hire someone because of a tax incentive, you hire them because the demand is there, the underlying economics are right and you need that position to do work,” Karter said. 
“The other thing that occurs to me is that you don’t hire someone because they’re unemployed, you hire the person that’s best suited to do the job.”

She said tightened lending practices by banks was a strain on her company.  And in her view, there is one thing that will lead to re-hiring laid off employees.

“It’s all about orders.  We see the volume, we hire people,” Karter said.  “There isn’t something that the government can do with a jobs bill and incentive that’s going to change whether or not consumers are going to the stores, corporations are giving each other gifts—other than to run efficiently.”