Semi-finalist Q&A:Sheila+Sharon's Cookies

Sheila+Sharon's Cookies makes handcrafted cookies and brownies using as many local, organic, and fair trade ingredients as possible.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don't forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I came up with the idea for a dessert business after the failure of my previous business, a consignment shop in 2007. After going back and forth with different dessert business ideas, I finally settled on cookies. I like cookies and the idea that you can take a basic cookie and add so many different ingredients to it to dress it up.

What makes your business unique? Why do you think it will be a success?

What makes our business unique isn't what we make, but who we are. We're two young, African American women working hard to build a business from scratch. We're struggling to overcome the obstacles of no financing, no transportation, and little time to make our dream a reality.

What are some of your top business-related accomplishments, or business lessons learned?

Being a second time semi-finalist for an Idea Cafe grant is a huge accomplishment for us. It definitely means that we're doing something right. Some of our other accomplishments include various vending opportunities and a few wholesale accounts. The biggest accomplishment though is being able to do what we love and turning out products we can be proud of . More than anything that means the most to us: knowing that the cookies we make are the best we can produce.

Buying what we need as we need it is one of the biggest business lessons we've learned. We're able to have more control over our cash flow if we don't tie up all of our money in inventory. Also, buying butter and eggs as we need them ensures that the cookies we sell are made with the freshest ingredients available.

Why should the Idea Cafe regulars vote for you?

Idea Cafe regulars should vote for us because we're passionate and scrappy. We may not have much as far as money and time goes, but what we lack in resources, we make up for in the love we have for our business, customers, and each other. I couldn't have picked a better person to start this venture with than my twin sister, Sharon.