Sample News Release

Four Generations Share Scrumptious Treats, but Never the Recipe!

Sally's Candy Company has Recently Been Recognized by BootstrappingStories.com

Sally Smith was four years old when she and her grandmother began creating candies -- her favorite part was dipping the little balls of sugary goodness into melted chocolate. These candies were to be given as holiday gifts to friends and family members. Sally's mother also took part in the process, handling the packaging and deliveries (as she already knew the "secret" to making the scrumptious treats after learning to make them when she was a child in her mother's kitchen). Now Sally has a daughter of her own, and a thriving local candy business in City Name. However, as Sally has learned along the way, it takes more than just a great recipe to start a business. "One of the first hurdles to overcome," she says, "is recognizing that it is a very, very long way from your kitchen counter to the shelves in a chain of grocery stores."

Although Sally's business is now soaring, it wasn't easy. When several friends encouraged her to start making and selling the candy treats commercially, she was eager, but several banks shot the idea down. Sally did not give up, however, and a few of those friends had so much confidence in the appeal of Sally's candies, they lent her money to get started. One of those friends was a restaurant owner, and worked out an arrangement so that Sally could devise a means to produce bigger batches. "When you go from a relatively small batch made on your stove-top to mixers as tall as a kitchen worker, and production processes on conveyor belts, you realize that you've got to be extra careful to not lose the homemade appeal and flavor," she explained. Sally first started selling her candies door-to-door in her own neighborhood, but then realized that she needed to reach a larger audience. That gave her the idea to ask the manager of the grocery store where she regularly shopped if she could offer samples to the store's other patrons. Of course, when she asked, Sally "sweetened the request" by giving the manager a whole box of the tasty candies to sample for himself. A buyer tried some too, and Sally's Candy Company was officially on the way to commercial success.

For all of her efforts, Sally and her company have recently been recognized on the Website, BootstrappingStories.com. According to the site, "the vast majority of business start-ups are founded by entrepreneurial bootstrappers who use creative methods to start and operate businesses because they either lack access to traditional forms of capital, or they want to grow the business on their own." The site provides a venue where bootstrappers can tell their stories, and these stories are ranked using a "boots" rating system to measure their popularity. Those who submit stories are also eligible to participate in an Awards Program, through which the most popular stories are selected for additional recognition. When asked about the significance of the Awards Program, the site's Founder and Executive Director responded: "Because bootstrappers are typically underdogs, their successes provide a source of inspiration for all of us who may be looking for heroes," and "in today's economy, we need all of the entrepreneurial heroes we can find." "Bootstrappers learn to drop-ship, barter, partner, share space, and how to otherwise employ good, old-fashioned do-it-yourself methods. They may use financing resources such as credit cards, home equity loans, or money from friends, family members, or personal savings," he added.

ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS NAME

YOUR BUSINESS NAME was founded in YEAR by Sally Smith when several friends suggested that they loved her home made candy treats. Her secret recipe has been in her family for four generations. Sally soon determined that the small kitchen in her home would not allow her to meet the demands of her rapidly growing enterprise. After borrowing money from friends, Sally negotiated with a local restaurant owner to utilize the restaurant's kitchen late at night, where she began perfecting a means of producing the candies in larger batches. When she secured a distribution agreement with the upscale grocery chain, Giant Food Store Chain, Inc., Sally's company acquired its own facility in downtown City Name. Sally now frequently speaks to college entrepreneurship classes, volunteers at Local Community Organization, and is an active member of Another Community Organization.

-30-

1400 Anywhere Street * Some City, State Zip
YourCompanyWebsite.com * Email@YourCompanyWebsite.com
Telephone * FAX