November, 2009

Entrepreneur Fridays: The Petite Cafe, Home of the Stuffed Cupcakes

WHO: Keith and Maureen Jaret
 
WHAT: The Petite Café, Home of the Stuffed Cupcakes
 
WHERE: Nutley, NJ
 
WHEN: 2001
 
HOW: “I was in corporate and always felt that I would have my own business,” says Maureen Jaret, a veteran of Wall Street. Looking for an outlet from the world of finance, Jaret took a job as a hostess at a nearby restaurant, and it was there that fate began to take its course. While working at the restaurant she met Keith, an Executive Chef from the Culinary Institute of America who would later become her business partner and husband.  
 
After they wed in 1987, the couple continued to add to their food industry experience, running a catering company and several restaurants.  In 2001 with $100,000 in savings, they launched The Petite Café in Nutley, New Jersey. “We served breakfast, lunch, dinner and did catering,” explains Jaret. While the Petite Café prided itself with being ahead of the curve with trends and products, there was one area of the business where they struggled.   “The one area where we could not attract attention was with desserts,” says Jaret.
 
That all changed when Jaret decided to put her chocolate cake on the menu. “I made a chocolate cake that had always been popular with friends and family, so we chose to put it on the menu.”  To promote the treat, Jaret decided to bake the cake in cupcake form and sell it during the busiest time of the week: Sunday brunch.  
 
Keeping with their tradition of having unique items on their menu, Jaret decided to mix things up a bit and fill the cupcakes. “My husband and I developed a recipe for a peanut butter filling.  The following Sunday, I prepared 200 chocolate cupcakes, filled with the mixture…it was an instant hit.” While Jaret expected customers to rave about the chocolate cake, they sang the praises of another aspect of the dessert instead.   More…

Ask Jean Thursday: Paying it Down

Hi Jean, I just read your book, “Pay It Down!” I have $15,00 in credit card debt. I am dedicated to cutting some major things in my life to cut down this debt. My question is, when I save $10 where am I putting it? Do you want me to put it in some sort of savings account, a piggy bank, or a safe?

- Antonio, Pennsylvania

First off, congrats on taking the first steps towards paying down your debts. I think that with the information you’ll find in “Pay It Down!” and your dedication to cutting down on spending, you’re on the right track to financial freedom.

Let’s talk about where to put the $10 you’re saving every day. Ideally, you should be keeping it in a high-yielding savings or More…

Taking Your Questions

On this morning’s edition of Money 911, Carmen Wong Ulrich and I tackled another round of your money questions. Miss the segment? Check out the video below.

Coupon Mom To The Rescue!

It’s Thanksgiving Tuesday, which means most of you are busy shopping for your turkey and all the trimmings. Others of you have an entirely different kind of shopping on the brain: Black Friday shopping. To help you map out your Black Friday shopping strategy, I went right to a pro—The Coupon Mom, Stephanie Nelson. Here are some of Nelson’s favorite tips for getting the most bang for your buck on both Black Friday and all holiday season long.

Shop online. “Shopping for gifts online is a stress-free way to shop for the holidays because you avoid traffic and crowds, and you can get a lot done in one sitting,” says Nelson. According to Nelson, the web is a great place to save thanks to things such as coupon codes, free shipping offers and printable mail in rebates. “For example, Amazon.com notes in the item description if there are any “special offers” that go with item, so pay attention. The Special Offer section will list specific coupon codes, free shipping, or rebate details,” she adds.

Search for printable coupons. “When I go out to local stores, I always search for a printable coupon by entering the name of the retailer and the term “printable coupon” in a search engine,” says Nelson. She also makes a habit of scoring her newspaper flyers for department store coupons.

Change it up. According to Nelson, many people don’t realize that some coupons are interchangeable between different stores. “Craft stores tend to More…

Stopping Holiday Overspending

Nervous about breaking the bank this holiday season? Luckily, there are things you can do to stop holiday spending before it even starts. Watch the video below for some of my tips, and be sure to check out my Holiday Budget Calculator to see how much you can afford this year.