By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

Are you an Entrepreneur who has never taken a business class? Are you hoping to parley an idea based on your real world experience into a thriving business? Well, as I will discuss here, it can be done. If you are an Entrepreneur who is also a vegan, then you should really pay attention.

Only a few short years ago, Veronica Bosgraaf and her six year old daughter embarked on a journey in their kitchen in Holland, Michigan to create an all natural, healthy snack made with nothing but the best ingredients. Bosgraaf’s daughter Anna was six years old when she decided to become a vegetarian. In looking for healthy snacks, Bosgraaf discovered that conventional energy bars meet the vegetarian criteria but they usually included a lot of sugar and other additives.

The main goal when creating pure bar was that it had to be delicious and nutritious, and of course vegetarian. On that basis, “The Pure Bar” and ThePureBar.com were created.

The Pure Bar came to life through experimentation. The original version included almonds, dates, walnuts, and a couple of items not everyone has on kitchen shelves — brown rice protein and agave nectar. The positive responses of parents and pupils when she sent bars to school for class treats made Bosgraaf think about manufacturing them commercially.

The first product run launched in January 2006.

“I had a lot of doors slammed, because food manufacturers like to deal with companies, rather than a woman who thinks she has a good idea,” Bosgraaf said. She finally found one manufacturer willing to start off with smaller minimum runs — 50,000 items twice a month.

Business picked up considerably after Meijer agreed to carry her product. Meijer was recently cited as the 18th largest private company in America by Forbes.

“I’ve had a wonderful experience with Meijer,” Bosgraaf said. “They took us on, they understood our position as a small company. They’ve been a huge springboard for us, because it opens a lot of door when you can say, ‘I sell at Meijer.’”

Bosgraaf also went to natural-food trade shows to expand her distribution base, including the Natural Food Expo West, in Anaheim, Calif., and Boston, and All Things Organic in Chicago. Smaller shows such as the Seattle Green Festival and the Toronto Green Festival have yielded distributor outlets as well.

The Pure Bar has as close to raw ingredients as you can get, and provides essential vitamins and nutrients, boasting energy naturally without compromising taste.

The Pure Bar doesn’t have any refined sugar, additives, artificial flavoring, preservatives, cholesterol, trans-fats, dairy, gluten or soy. The Pure Bar is not cooked. The Pure Bar offers vegan, vegetarian and raw nourishment. It is available in 6 flavors – cherry cashew, chocolate brownie, apple cinnamon, wild blueberry, cranberry orange, and chocolate chip trail mix.

You can order them on the site or find a store that sells them using the site’s store locator.
ThePureBar.com is a great entrepreneur success story and gives hope to all those who have an idea and a dream.

Post from: GreatStartups.com