Smart Cookie

Many of you know I’m a database programmer. I was recently referred by a former co-worker to a potential client. Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting Christine Yocum, the maker-baker of Art and Style Baking, a specialty cookie business. I saw the most beautifully decorated cookies I’ve ever seen in my life! These are cookies you could give as gifts instead of flowers, for any party or occasion . . . birthdays, engagements, weddings, Valentine’s Day, Easter, or Christmas.

Check out their elegant web site. http://www.artandstylebaking.com

Christine really impressed me; she is a little dynamo! She has a good eye for design . . . and equally impressive . . . she has a good head for business. She already had much of her operation detailed and documented. She had spreadsheets with every recipe calculated to the ounce, and every step in the baking and decorating timed to the second. She measured the individual cookies, photographed them and assigned item codes. She designed “collections” and made display books. And her web site is inviting, beautiful and user-friendly.

When I build a system, it usually takes hours and hours of analysis, but Christine already did most of that brain-busting work. She has a part-time job in addition to this startup, and she knows that time is money . . . and her time is in short supply. She recognizes the need for a system to streamline orders and scheduling.

In addition, she has the help and support of her husband, and her good friend Sandy. Christine is thorough AND forward thinking . . . she has big plans and she’s outlined steps to achieve them. She’s one SMART cookie!! I think she WILL succeed.

Maybe that’s what I’ll call the new system I’m building for her . . .
“Smart Cookie!”