It feels great to share with all you E-junkies that we have started a new segment on our blog called 'Start-Up of the Week' where we would feature new businesses, new blogs, new websites, new products or anything that is in its initial stage. This is our step towards encouraging upcoming businesses breaking the barriers of E-commerce.

Today, we bring you the very first start up, that is, 'Crispycones: The Future Of Portable Food Is Here'. The guy behind this innovative product is Nir Adar, who is a chef, a food stylist and an artist. If you read us regularly, this talented guy is no a stranger to you as he has been our guest before. Crispycones' motto says 'the food you love in cone' that fully justifies with the type of product it is. Many a times, you find yourself too rushy to even gulp your food. Well, Crispycones can work wonders for them. I am personally in love with this innovative and classy product and hope you too fall for it.

Lets learn more about 'Crispycones' from its founder itself in the interview below:

Nir, tell us about Crispycones and the fascinating concept behind it.

First I would like to say a few words about my background, I’m a trained chef, an artist, a food consultant and I come from a family with engineering background. The reason I mention my background is because I believe it is a crucial element in the success of this product.

As every New Yorker knows, the best way to eat your a slice of pizza on the go is to fold it in half and start eating from the bottom up. Doing that while trying to avoid spilling oil on you yourself is quite a task. In mid January 2003 I had one of those Eureka moments, I looked at my folded pizza and realized it is a cone. I called my invention Pizzacono and Konopizza and immediately started to make cones at home. The prototypes proved that a seamless cone shaped bread could well be the solution for the pizza on the go. As the concept developed I realized that the cone is the perfect vessel to hold and serve any type of foods on the go, from breakfast to dinner from savory to dessert. Our tag line became to be “the food you love in a cone”. The product itself is a high quality par baked artisanal bread cone that (we believe) will become the next sliced bread. The cone and its portability factor is addressing the social changes and eating habits we witnessed through out the last decade such as eat on the go and the desire for more small meal in between meals.

If you were to list its primary advantages, what would be the first three ones?

Portability, the cone is the first and only seamless bread product that could be held and eaten in one hand without spilling or dripping.

Size, the cones come in three sizes (small, medium and large) and due to its shape it is a perfect portion control product. You just can’t pile food high or over stuff yourself.

Quality, the cone is a baked product made from high quality ingredients and taste like a mix between pizza and flaky crust.

Are there any varieties in the type of cones?

Yes, size (small, medium and large) as well as flavors. We currently have our original cone, Masa (corn), Whole wheat and Onion but we are able to customize and produce just about any flavor profile.

You guys are in your initial stage. What kind of response Crispycones has received so far?

The response till now is overwhelming, during the last several years as we continued to develop and evolve from a franchise business model to manufacturing we received thousands of emails from all around the globe inquiring about our product. Most of the inquiries are from people interested in opening their own retail stores or incorporating the cone into their existing menus. At the same time we were approached by some of the largest food companies in the world asking questions and showing interest in the product. Currently you can see copycats sprouting all over the globe with cone product mainly as a pizza replacement.

Tell us about the pre-launch experience. What were the difficulties you had to face?

Launching any new business is a difficult task, launching a new business that is based on a non-existing product is much harder. You need to develop the product, machinery, and auxiliaries while at the same time develop a marketing plan for a product that is not yet out there. I always compared the cone to the IPod and referred to it as the IPod of foods. Like the IPod, till you didn’t have it in your hands you didn’t know you needed it and had no clue how it will change your life once you tried it. We decided to go the franchising route; in order for us to succeed we needed; Capital, Machine and recipe development, Store design and location.

We were able to hire the best people in the industry to help us develop a product and machine. We located a good spot for us in Arcadia CA and in 2006 we opened the Crispycones store.

What do you think is the most important thing in starting up a new venture or launching a new product? What one should be the most careful about?

Having a good product and concept that either improves on existing desired products or (as in our case) develop a new product that would improve the way people do things they already like doing, in our case eat on the go.

Conviction, tenacity and patience. At times this formula sounds like an oxymoron but it proved (in my case) to be the right one. Don’t let other people push you over and don’t get discouraged by bad days. Just wake up the next morning, look up to the sun to remind you it is time to start a new day.

You need to be in love with your product and at the same time now its limits. You need to understand the mechanics and basics of each and every aspect of it, I got involved in every phase whether it was finance, engineering of the machines, recipe development and store design. I immersed myself to the point that I couldn’t sleep because the stream of thought wouldn’t let me to.

Trial and error. Go ahead make mistakes; if you think it’s bad you are wrong. There is different between conceiving/inventing an idea (or product) and to actually have your product work within the tolerances you are ready to accept. You will learn from each and every prototype, bad tasting recipe or bad investment. Eventually it will (hopefully) make you the expert and the best in the field.

Last but not least find the right partners, I was lucky enough to find great people that I either met through my career as a food stylist or  a good friend that joined me along the way and is now running the company together with me. Finding partners when you have an exciting product might be easy, finding the right ones is more challenging. Make sure the one you partner with are first of all genuinely good people, you don’t want to get stacked in a partnership with a sour apple, it will make things ugly and will eliminate the fun factor.

The most difficult thing while launching Crispy Cones was _____________?

Keeping my head up when there were no more funds to continue?

Share the best incident that you encountered on this journey from conceiving the idea till present.

Early on just after I came up with the idea and names of the product I was introduced to a food group out of Italy. The group was interested in producing the cones and in partnering with me on the franchise model. After a short period of time working together and after machines were developed the Italian group decided that they no longer needed my expertise and decided to go at it alone and against my will, leaving me with no funds. This was the best thing that could have happened to me (although it did hurt for a long time). I recoiled and sprung back in the US, developing a superior product that was designed with a large production capacity in mind. New better machines were developed and we were awarded a US Patent for our apparatus. This is a perfect example of why you need to be tenacious, and have the ability and conviction that will allow you to get up after what might have seemed to be a knock out and turn the table around to your advantage.

What methods or tools are you most rely on, for promoting your product?

At this point we have a web site that is targeting large business and most of the traffic is due to the exposure to our concept. We recently signed a manufacturing agreement with a very large reputable plant that will be able to manufacturing millions of empty cones as well as filled frozen cones. We will launch our products at the NRA food show in Chicago in May 2011. Our sale, marketing strategy and promotion is focusing on large QSR’s (quick service restaurants) and the foodservice channel. Important to mention is that we were featured on the Colbert Report, Good Morning America as well as other media outlets, all without self promoting our product yet.

What is your vision for 'Crispycones' as a whole? Where do you project it to see 2 years from now?

One of the important things I learned along the way is the difference between being foolishly optimistic and cynically optimistic (i.e realistic). As an entrepreneur you are an optimistic be default to a fault and you intend to make decisions ‘On a High” and sometimes believe things will happen just because you believe they will. I was foolishly optimistic at times. Realistically speaking I see the crispy cones (cones) becoming a staple in every household. Similar to how wraps/tortillas made their way to most of America’s tables. I think there is a good chance that you will start seeing food being served in cones along side or replacing bagels, rolls and sliced bread. I think that very soon you might see frozen filled cones in you supermarket isle offering fillings such as pizzas, chicken dishes and even deserts.

Since you've recently started up your business, one can look up to you for the best advice. What message do you have for them?

First (as I mentioned above) love it, follow your passion and go for it using every tool you got BUT make sure that the foolishly optimist within you won’t take over to the point were you jeopardize your family’s well-being, your health and your friendships. I always suggest that before you move from one lily pad to another you make sure the one you go to can provide the support you need. If it doesn’t just try keeping your feets on both as you try to make the transition from one profession/income to your new venture. Each person have it’s tolerances for how much money and time he could invest, it is crucial to make sure you know yours.

Nir, your product is awesome and at the same time very creative. It was great to learn your experience and I hope it helps other budding start ups too. Thanks a lot and we wish you all the very best. A long way for Crispycones! :)

Check out Crispycones website.

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