Why Start A Chocolatier Business

When researching background information for an article, I came across a little start-up company that offered such great tips, I just had to feature them-here on HubPages. Bill Dietz is a chocoholic, an artist, and a lover of sweets. It's that combination that made him go from working for others to owning his own business.

I understand you are a Chocolatier. Was there anything particular in your life growing up, or as an adult, that helped lead you down this career path?

As a child my summers were spent running around a family bakery. The sights and smells of doughnuts and sweet glazes are bright in my mind. My German grandfather was big on pastries and breads while my grandmother was the cake maker. However, I did not follow in their footsteps until later in life. There was always a natural affinity to sweets due to their influence. That influence, plus being a chocoholic and an artist, the title of chocolatier fits who I am.

Before starting The Secret Chocolatier, did you have an internship anywhere?

It's been a long road to this point. I've had decades of experience in many kitchens along the eastern seaboard but with no formal schooling. During that time I was able to participate in local competitions creating everything from chocolate sculptures to unique desserts.

Six years ago I ran my own bakery, Mostly Muffins, in Columbia, South Carolina. That was before moving closer to one of my daughters and her husband in Charlotte, North Carolina. I had the pleasure of working with some of the finest in downtown restaurants which re-ignited a passion of the higher end pastries and desserts. When one restaurant was forced to shut its doors we had a family meeting and decided to try something different: working for ourselves.

What was the most difficult thing about starting The Secret Chocolatier?

While there are a lot of difficulties in starting a business, by far the most difficult is actually saying "I'm going to do this". Next came the actual taking on the responsibility of figuring out how to start the business, how to operate the business, how to get our product out to the people, how to juggle the desire to open a location, and more. The thing that keeps us all going is how much we brighten the day of others with a simple taste of something good.Could you take one week of your business and mix it up to give us a broad overview of what a typical day would be like as a Chocolatier?

Being a startup we are at the whims of our clients, our stable roles right now exist the day before and during market days. Our main market products are 1oz, 3/4oz, and sample size truffles, along with chocolate covered brownies. Truffles take some juggling as they are a product which is staged because of the needs for consistency. One flight is made, rolled out, refrigerated, another set begins--maybe different flavors introduced through our infusion process. Cool ones come out and get their coatings then back into the fridge. After the shell coating is cool we then pipe chocolate designs on each. We handle about four to six flights at a time in a rhythm to produce our market day goods.

Visit him at http://thesecretchocolatier.com/ & http://homemadechocolategifts.com/