Small business spotlight: Nana Joes Granola
Meet Michelle Pusateri, a Culinary Institute of America-trained pastry chef who found herself "crashing out mid-surf session" and blamed the sugary granola she was eating for breakfast.
Dig in: Pusateri channeled her baking experience to found the gluten-free, organic granola company Nana Joes in 2010.
It's named for Pusateri's "Nana" and her grandfathers — both named Joe.
How do customers typically discover your granola?
"We've found most of our customers organically. People really, really love a granola that's clean, and so once we get it into people's mouths, people will come back for it. We have a 69% customer return rate on our website, which is great, and I've done all of the sales myself in the stores."
How big is your small business?
"Two million in revenue last year. We are eight employees, nine with me. We self-manufacture in the Dogpatch."
Has social media been important for your business?
"I haven't actually done TikTok. We had a couple of people who really loved our products, who were gluten-free influencers, who would talk about it a lot. Two of them: @kalejunkie and @celiacandthebeast."
What's one piece of advice you have for other aspiring small business owners?
"It's important to establish a clear vision and define your ultimate goals from the very beginning, [and] I highly recommend reading 'Traction' by Gino Wickman [to help with] structuring and scaling your company."
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