Home-based business owner, Laurel Handfield providing cookie treats to her sons class.

Grand Bahama Island - For busy moms and snack lovers, cookies create a great way to satisfy that insatiable sweet tooth. Laurel Handfield, owner of The Cookie Mill located in Freeport, Grand Bahama, has taken on the growing cookie craze.

Handfield, who is originally from Pennsylvania, said she thought about entering the cookie business when she first moved to the Bahamas several years ago.

"For the past few years, I ended up baking as a hobby for family, friends and kids around the neighborhood. I had been thinking about getting into business but was reluctant with the state of the economy. With some faith based guidance, I decided it was now or never,”  Handfield said. “I had worked in Corporate America for years and had been very independent but since marrying and having children, that part of my life no longer existed. I love caring for my family but it was time to make my own money again.”

As for the uniqueness of the name, Handfield said it came from her husband.

"Honestly, my husband and I had a few names in mind but all were taken when we tried to create a website. Then my husband suggested The Cookie Mill and I liked it. To me it suggested that we were all cookies all the time. When we went to create the website, the name wasn't taken so we stuck with it.”

Then the real challenge came in.

“Some of the challenges are obvious and some aren’t. Of course, finances are always considered. Without money, there is no business. The challenge is to create a delicious product without expending all of your financial resources.” Ms. Handfield said. “Some costs I believe are necessary like creating a webpage or advertising but using creative avenues is the key. If you don’t want to pay full charge for a webpage, then blogging may be the solution for you. It’s free and the information is just as accessible.”

Another obstacle has been finding the time to bake the orders since my husband works during the evening and that’s when most of the calls come in. There have been plenty of times I find myself making dinner for the kids while at the same time baking brownies for a customer. The kids go to bed at 8:00pm and that’s when I can hop into the kitchen to bake, frost, mix, whatever. Then there are the times when the baby doesn’t want to go to sleep. You have to adjust. It hasn’t been easy at times but women around the world have been working and taking care of their family for generations. It’s what we do.

Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of Laurel's specialties. Check out her website for all her other cookies.

The best part about the cookie business.

I love doing it. It’s great to do something I love. It’s also nice to know I can’t get fired from my own business. LOL!. It really is a family business. I bake, my kids taste and my husband delivers. To have that support is wonderful.  

Words of advice for those looking to start their own business.

Definitely do something you love and even then there will be difficult days. There are times when nothing is going right and I have to re-do an order. I always say owning a business is akin to choosing your lifetime partner. You may love them dearly but if you’re together all the time you will get sick of them at some point. There are good days and there are bad days but that love is always there.

Also, if you are hesitant, do your research and start off small scale. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had a target market of family and friends and they would offer suggestions as to what they liked or didn’t like. I started off small, concentrating on a delicious no-frills treat that could be offered for a great price. Make sure your market isn’t saturated with the product you’re thinking about offering. If so, think about how you can make that product unique and offer something that the others aren’t.

Laurel has high hopes for the future of The Cookie Mill

"I see us concentrating on a larger scale business as well as individual cookie lovers. My next target would be those business meetings of larger companies or even teachers as a little pick me up gift for their students. The possibilities are endless," she concludes with enthusiasm.