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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Kim Hoover, a 1999 Canfield High School graduate and owner of Kim’s Confections in Canfield, visited her former school and teacher, Sherry Creighton, to speak to Creighton’s business students about her experiences as small business owner on Dec. 12.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Kim Hoover, a 1999 Canfield High School graduate and owner of Kim’s Confections in Canfield, and her daughter Carlie visited Sherry Creighton’s business classes to talk to students about being a small business owner on Dec. 12. Hoover also brought several treats from her bakery for the students and teachers.
By ABBY SLANKER
Kim Hoover, a 1999 Canfield High School graduate and owner of Kim’s Confections in Canfield, visited her former school to speak to business students about her experiences as small business owner on Dec. 12. Hoover visited Business Instructor Sherry Creighton’s classes to talk to them about following her passion and opening her own bakery.
Hoover is a former business student of Creighton’s and it was Creighton who invited Hoover to speak to her classes.
“In 1998, Kim was sitting where you are today, but she was in an accounting class. Accounting is the foundation for business ownership. Now, fast forward 18 years and here she is with an actual brick and mortar business of her own in Canfield,” Creighton said to her students as she introduced Hoover.
Hoover started her presentation by telling the students how lucky they were to have a teacher like Creighton.
“Mrs. Creighton is a teacher who cares about her students and truly has a passion for what she does. As for me, looking back at my high school career, I admit I was bored and just wanted to be done with school. I never thought I would be a business owner,” Hoover said.
Hoover explained that she always had a passion for baking.
“I have always enjoyed baking and have a passion for it. After I was laid off from my retail job, I started taking cake decorating classes to fill my time. I got great feedback and a good reception from my family and friends, so I started doing it out of my house. I got an LLC and the next thing I knew, I was a business owner,” Hoover said.
Hoover told the students she was a bit nervous about owning a business.
“I was nervous, but I wanted to have a successful, locally owned business. I’m not looking to make a million dollars, but I do want to be successful. I want one great shop and will put all my focus into that one shop,” Hoover said.
Hoover said one of the advantages of being a small business owner is knowing that all the hard work she puts in directly benefits her.
“I knew that all the hours and hard work I was putting into my business would directly benefit me, not a larger company or corporation. I knew owning my own business would benefit me and that was what I wanted,” Hoover said.
Creighton asked Hoover to explain to the students what she looks for in an employee.
“The number one thing I look for in an employee is that he or she shares the passion for what we do at the bakery. The person must also be reliable and be invested 100 percent in what we do. When you have the right people in the right places, it makes a huge difference to your business,” Hoover said.
Creighton then went over Kim’s Confections website, kimsconfections.com, so the students could see how it was set up.
“I set up this web site myself, which saved me hundreds of dollars. It’s a process, but I can change it and adjust it any time I like,” Hoover said.
At the end of her presentation, as a special treat, Hoover passed out to the students one of her top sellers, sugar bottom brownies, for them to taste.
As the students were tasting the brownies, Creighton asked Hoover if there is one season at the bakery which is much busier than others.
“Not so much. We are really busy with wedding cakes in the summer, but we do get many orders for wedding cakes all year round. Someone is always celebrating something, so we really don’t have a down time, so we stay pretty busy,” Hoover said.
Hoover also opened up the floor to the students to ask any questions they had for her to answer about being a small business owner or about business in general.