Washington Business Spring 2019 | Washington Business | Page 52

how i did it
“But starting out, make sure that you surround
yourself with people that you trust, that have your
back, that share the same vision as you,” she said.
“Because when you’re small everybody has to wear
17 hats and solve problems together.”
nurture your company’s culture
Hiring the right people is critical. Thompson
personally interviews everyone who will work in
the office, asking questions to get to know them.
She hires for fit first, not skills.
“If I like who they are and what they believe in,
they can learn anything else,” she said. “Of course,
experience is important, but most importantly
people have to fit the culture and value system of
your company. Then — lo and behold — amazing
synergies happen.”
And if she’s feeling something off about the
energy of the office, she’ll address it right away.
“What I learned is that when office energy or
culture start to go off track, it affects performance
and you have to course correct immediately.”
don’t reinvent the wheel
“Starting out, make sure that you surround
yourself with people that you trust, that have
your back, that share the same vision as you.”
— Jean Thompson, CEO and president, Seattle Chocolate Co.
An entrepreneur’s sense of “I can do this” might
take you too far if it strays outside the core
business.
She remembers landing a big contract with
Target that quickly required extensive and
expensive shipping. “I thought, ‘Well, how hard
can freight be?’ So I literally went out and bought
two semis.”
She quickly learned about log books, driver
sleep requirements, route planning, scheduling
with distributors — and ended up selling the trucks
for pennies on the dollar a few years later.
Her advice: don’t try to re-invent the wheel.
Focus on what you’re good at.
“An entrepreneur’s sense of invincibility is
something that everyone needs to be mindful of
and steer away from. Trust the experts, focus on
your core competencies, and build your business
in a way that makes the most sense — that’s been
tried, true and tested.”
stay involved with the customer end of
the business
She sees package design and marketing as
crucial to her chocolate products, which are often
given as a gift — either to a loved one, or as a gift
the purchaser gives to him or herself.
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