My husband and I sold our luncheonette after eight years of ownership. But, even after the sale, customers still called asking for our rice pudding. Not the meatloaf or chicken sandwiches. Only the rice pudding.

So, we’d make it for them. Out of a kitchen we rented at a Knights of Columbus hall.

A few days after delivering rice pudding for a party, we got a call from one of the guests. He raved about our rice pudding and asked to sell in his 7-Eleven store. But we didn’t sell to stores. He persisted. So we made a few cups for him. He called a few days asking for more. Then another 7-Eleven owner called…

My husband, Lou, was making the rice pudding before work. Then, due to demand, he started making it after work too. He’d do deliveries during his lunch break. It was an impossible schedule. The pudding sideline had taken on a life of its own.

We made the decision that I would come on full-time to deal with customers and sales, and he would handle making the pudding.

It was years from making those first trays out of a hall to working in a multi-million dollar facility and serving hundreds of locations in the NY tri-state area.

Building a business takes time. But, when you love what you’re doing, it’s time well spent.