[NaOH]

On the food side, I agree with you about there not being much room for creativity in my setup. I'm comfortable with that. I like it, even, since coming up with new items or menus was never a part of the work I particularly enjoyed. Plus, that work complicates ordering and increases the risk of food waste. Sure, I do some of that, but not much and not on a regular basis.

Yet there is plenty of room for creativity. I focus on trying to bring that to customer service. I've worked diligently to make it so that all my customers know I will do whatever I possibly can to help them, pretzel-related or otherwise. Some things are across the board, like not requiring specific lead times for orders (in this field it can be up to 48 hours). Others are customer-specific, like getting an order at 9:15AM and delivering it by 11AM (fresh-baked goods, remember), or doing dishes for three hours because I've got time and my customer's dishwasher decided to no-show, or bringing a customer a giant 5-pound pretzel to help that group of people celebrate its first anniversary of being open.

All of that contributes to my business doing okay despite the lack of marketing on my part. People rave about the products I make, and the businesses to whom I sell are comfortable recommending me to other businesses. I mean, we all know word of mouth is the best marketing—not just for its low cost but mostly for the weight it carries—and since I’m a wholesaler my best opportunity for generating word of mouth is through customer service for the businesses buying from me. That’s an area where there’s always room for creativity since circumstances and the people involved provide diverse opportunities for me to respond well.