Small Business: Chattanooga couple's startup slaps sports logos on cookies

photo Ann Nickerson cuts out cookies from her dough inside of the Legends of Game Cookie Co. located in the Small Business Development Center. Bill Zach and his wife Ann Nickerson started their cookie company together using their digital printing as a speciality.

Name: Legends of the Game Cookie Co.

Location: Small Business Development Center, 100 Cherokee Blvd.

Contact information: CEO Ann Dickerson, 423-598-1177

Products/services: Custom-ordered handmade cookies with edible digital images printed in food coloring on the icing for $1.50 each

Age: Dickerson and her husband started looking for investors about a year ago and the company began sales in September.

Startup investment: $40,000

Target market: Sports fans and businesses. Legends of the Game has the rights to print the logos of popular local colleges such as Auburn and the Universities of Tennessee in Knoxville and Chattanooga. Businesses can send in their logos to be printed on cookies for customer gifts.

Biggest hurdle: Getting the word out. Dickerson said their cookies are popular when she sets up stands at sporting events and places like the weekly Chattanooga Market, but drawing the attention of larger businesses can be difficult.

Biggest reward: Being in charge of her own business. Dickerson has always loved sports and spending time out of an office talking with people. While her husband and co-owner Bill Zack, who is passionate about cooking and sports, spends time baking orders, Dickerson gets to head out on the road and sell orders to companies.

Five-year goal: Dickerson hopes to reach 75,000 cookie sales this year and scale up her business over the next few years. She plans to invest in more equipment, allowing for quicker production. She said she has already been approached about franchising, and other Legends of the Game in noncompeting markets could be in the near future.

If you have an idea for a small business feature, call 757-6525 or email to coneil@timesfreepress.

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