Jamie's Farm

 
 
 
 
 

"I'm super excited and optimistic to move forward with my business! I feel like I can start planning for a greater vision and scale more smoothly. I've been able to dedicate more time to putting my CEO hat on ever since working together there's definitely a greater sense of freedom and morale, with a weight being lifted. Angie's able to get things done very quickly and effectively. She created a new strategic SKU generator system for my current and future products - it's something that I knew I needed help on but wasn't sure how to go about it. I wouldn't have been able to implement DEAR without her!”

- JAMIE, FOUNDER & OWNER, JAMIE’S FARM

 
 

MEET JAMIE’S FARM

Jamie Kim, Founder of Jamie's Farm New York, produces award-winning granolas with locally sourced ingredients and grass-fed ghee. Her granolas are made with the highest quality farm-to-table ingredients that are unique in flavor with a delicate crunchy texture. 

THE CHALLENGE

Jamie started her granola business as a one-woman show with a few NYC regional wholesale accounts, a DTC e-commerce presence, and a small volume of independent retailers on platforms like Faire and Mable. Her products were also being tested at two Whole Foods stores and a few Wegmans in NYC.  Jamie is a very creative, intentional business operator and leader, but was struggling to keep up with everything. Her process centered on tracking sales and inventory in a spreadsheet requiring many manual entries and updates.

THE SOLUTION

While I started off manually updating her inventory and sales as a virtual assistant, that quickly evolved into a part-time Operations Manager position as the business grew. We’ve now been working together for over a year and a half and have since expanded into all Whole Foods within NYC, Central Market in Texas, and over 30 new independent retailers on Faire and Mable. We also attended the Fancy Food Show together in NYC in 2022. 

CREATING AN ORGANIZED SYSTEM TO STREAMLINE BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Central tracking was my focus when I started with Jamie’s Farm. I wanted to streamline all the prioritization and tracking in a central location. I implemented project management initiatives through ClickUp, which allowed us to collaborate and work remotely as a team.

Next, I created a strategic SKU system for current and future products, raw materials, and components. This facilitated all platforms to work with each other and create a foundation for pulling reports and tracking sales through:

  • Shopify

  • Quickbooks

  • ShipStation

  • 3PL

  • Co-packer

  • Various spreadsheets

The new SKU system made it easier to track sales and product consistency by using these SKUs and UPCs with new wholesale accounts, so everyone was aligned.

Once this initial project was complete, I collaborated with her accounting team to lead a DEAR - ERP/MRP software implementation initiative. This allowed us to automate and manage production, fulfillment, inventory, customers, invoicing, sales, and reporting data confidently without relying on manual spreadsheet data. 

Implementation went smoothly due to the solid data foundation created from the aligned SKU strategies we just launched. I then audited the bill of materials (BOMs) and raw material costs for each product COGs monitoring. To avoid interrupting fulfillment systems with her 3PL, we strategized how to sync the EDI feeds of data to separate wholesale and e-commerce channels. 

As we ramped up the system, I set up all inventory fulfillment locations and updated customer profiles with accurate billing, invoicing, pricing, and fulfillment data, along with a system training guide for us to use on an ongoing basis.

Through these critical initiatives, Jamie could move seamlessly in her business and free up her time to focus on marketing and sales. As her Operations Manager, I continued to own the management of Jamie’s Farm’s DEAR system for processing orders, pulling reports, entering bills, allocating costs, managing co-packer orders, and creating assemblies for production runs.

To centralize key information, I created the company’s first SOPs around internal processes, freight specs, vendor requirements, and wholesale account customer requirements.

I began overseeing the daily order fulfillment process and created routine checklists for each wholesale PO to ensure we were meeting guidelines and providing seamless service to our customers. With the new process, anyone could log in and see exactly where each PO was at any time. 

It was important to make better order decisions and build a forecasting schedule with her co-packer by monitoring inventory levels daily, weekly, and monthly to reconcile discrepancies. I also helped the accounting team process month-end closes to generate the most accurate books, numbers, and executive reporting.

To free up even more time for Jamie, I worked with freight brokers to have an additional eye on all the details to move products and fulfill POs, analyze the best costs and options based on PO due dates and inventory levels, as well as monitor and track freight.

I also worked with 3PL on their Logiwa system implementation to synchronize with ours and update our operational processes and hold quarterly strategy sessions to focus on key areas of the business.

The key to growing a business is all in the systems, and implementing, perfecting, and expanding them is crucial to being able to step back and be the CEO of your business.

AT A GLANCE: OUR WORK TOGETHER

As the fractional Operations Manager for Jamie’s Farm, Virtual Sidekic helped Jamie:

  • Quadruple sales from the prior year

  • Lower expenses by transitioning to a new copacker

  • Eliminate overhead and labor expenses for production 

  • Switch accounting teams

  • Improve accuracies in COGS accounting

  • Offload fulfillment to a 3PL

  • Go through a re-brand

  • Improve operational efficiencies in inventory management

  • Allow more time to focus on sales & marketing

  • Acquire new accounts with:

    • Sunbasket

    • FreshDirect

    • MOM’s

    • Local Sprouts

    • Central Market

    • Specialty Faire

  • Expand distributions across Whole Foods NYC

  • Onboard two new distributors:

    • Rainforest

    • Chef’s Warehouse

Want results like these? Book a call with me, and I’ll show you how I can help your business take off!

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