We have loved owning our business, Luca and the Five Girls! We have learned so much, have had so many unique experiences, and have all grown our business minds more than we ever expected. But, like with everything, it’s not always easy and we have definitely run into our share of challenges. For example, because we are busy high schoolers, we need to juggle multiple sports with differing schedules, clubs and activities, new jobs, and of course, our social lives. For that reason, it makes it a bit challenging to find time to meet to continue to help our business grow.
Luckily we have learned sometimes we need to divide and conquer, Zoom meetings have saved us!
Supply Chain Issues
Another challenge we have faced is supply chain issues. We proudly use all organic ingredients, but this makes it a bit more difficult to have an extended shelf life. This has been something we have had to really stay on top of and while it has been a challenge we have overcome this obstacle and have figured it out, because recently, the supply chain has improved, and we are receiving our ingredients in a very timely manner!
Scalability & Partners
We have experienced very rapid growth in our business which is truly amazing but left us scrambling with a short and unexpected amount of time to fill the high demand. Our steps included finding a way to get a larger amount of ingredients to new bakers, who are available to produce the bulk products we need. We have also visited commercial kitchens, to scope out where our treats would be made, and if we wanted to partner with one kitchen over another. Usually, all five of us would not be available to go on all business visits, but we would always make sure to share what we learned at each location with one another. Because our business is continuing to grow, we have switched bakers several times, finding someone who can get a high amount of products to us in a short period of time was very challenging but we have continued to show both ourselves, and others that we are very successful business owners!
So, while there are challenges in every business, it is so worth it to us because we believe so strongly in our product and we have learned so much from every obstacle. Some people may overlook a business run by teenage girls, and not think much of it which has been another hard challenge for us.
As our business is growing we have continued to show that we are not a business that should be overlooked, but rather one that should be looked up to.
We know how much people love their dogs, which is why we wanted to provide high protein and all organic dog treats for them. We are so happy about all of the challenges we have overcome so far, and know there will be many in the future, but are ready to take them on!
