Name of Business: Lisa’s Sweet Shoppe

Street Address: 409 A S. Church St., Smithfield

Phone Number: (757) 357-0022

Operating Hours: 11 a.m. -7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10-7 weekend

Email Address: sweetshoppe1@charter.net

Nature of Business: Full service bakery, candy shop and ice cream parlor.

Principle owners: Lisa and Eddie Martin

Year Founded: 2007

Prior Locations: None

Number of Employees: Three

How’s Business? Our cake/wedding cake business is great. We have weddings booked through December 2010 and are taking orders for 2011. We also do dozens of special-order cakes a week. It’s a little cold for ice cream right now, but we still offer it and lots of candy as well.

One thing you wish everyone knew about your business: People generally think that we do cakes and desserts but don’t know that we have a large variety of candy and ice cream. We have soft serve Flavor Burst ice cream in nine flavors and hand-dipped in eight flavors.

Something you offer that a customer won’t find elsewhere: Iced Cheesecakes. This is a traditional cheesecake without the crust. We do them in a variety of flavors from the traditional with strawberry or cherry to pumpkin or peanut butter. Instead of the crust, we ice the cheesecake with our homemade buttercream frosting and finish it off with your choice of toppings.

Advice to young entrepreneurs: Start with a good business plan. Make sure you do the research and find a location that will appeal to your customer base.

Your first job: Clerk at a drugstore

Your role model (in business or in life generally): My grandmothers, Virginia Wright and Florie Bell Atkins. They were both wonderful women who taught me everything I know about baking and cooking. They were generous and kind and always took the time to teach me the right way to do something. As I got older they were only a phone call away and always happy to give me a recipe over the phone or a little direction in whatever I was cooking.

The key to a successful business is: Making your customers happy. A smile when they walk in the door, making that special dessert they can’t find anywhere else, doing a last-minute cake for the husband who forgot to order one for his wife’s birthday. It’s doing whatever you can to make someone happy. If you do, they will spread the word and keep coming back. Without our great customers, there would be no Lisa’s Sweet Shoppe.