Strategies: Chocolate's good for business

— -- Chocolate is more than just my favorite food group. Chocolate, as an industry, is booming, sweet with opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Like most food specialty businesses, there are few barriers to entry for a chocolate company. Start-up costs can be low; in some states, you can even start in your home kitchen. Most importantly, there's a healthy market, whether you want to sell directly or through others, as both consumers and retailers eagerly seek new, creative chocolate offerings.

To discover the ingredients of a successful chocolate company, I spoke with founders of two thriving chocolate businesses: Donna Gabrilson of Market Street Toffee in Phoenix, Ariz., (www.marketstreettoffee.com) and Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms in Jacksonville, Ore. (www.lilliebellefarms.com)

When Donna sent a box of Market Street chocolate toffee to my office last year, my staff all agreed it was the best toffee we'd ever eaten. Equally impressive was the presentation: personalized gift band, beautiful box and ribbon.

I found Lillie Belle chocolates at the New York Chocolate Show (yes, there is a chocolate show, and yes, it is yummy). Though it sounds odd, Lillie Belle's blue-cheese chocolate truffle was a standout. Yes — blue cheese in chocolate. Surprisingly delicious!

If you aim to be the next Willie Wonka, here are some tricks you can learn from Donna and Jeff:

• Keep start-up costs low.

Jeff started making chocolates at home. "In Oregon, you can get a license to produce food in your own home, based on volume. After two years, I passed the volume allowed (by the state), rented a small warehouse and converted that into a chocolate kitchen."

"Initially, I leased commercial kitchen space from a caterer," said Donna. "Most folks think you have to have your own commercial kitchen, but go to a caterer, go to a cafe. Lots of restaurants are dark on Mondays. You might have to get up at 2 a.m. to use someone's kitchen, but you do whatever you need to do."