The Sweet Whisk on Chandler Street in Buffalo has been serving up chocolate bonbons, pastries, cupcakes and more since 2019. As co-owners Amanda Page and Kenny Williams celebrated one year of making sweet treats, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing them to change how they did business.
"We were scared we were going to have to close. We had no idea what was going to happen. It was only our second year in business so it was definitely nerve wracking," Page said.
"I feel like we didn't give up. I think that's the big thing. We changed with the change," Kenny Williams, co-owner of The Sweet Whisk, said.
So while everyone was cooped up at home, Page and Williams developed a new business strategy: bringing their sweet treats right into customer's houses.
"Social media was there. We were thinking, alright everybody is at home on their phone, what else are they doing? Our audience was there. We just had to reach out and get them," Williams said.
"It makes them want to come in here and taste it because it's just fun to look at. I love making the videos. I feel like it gets good action with our customers," Page said.
A handful of TikTok and Instagram posts later, and suddenly The Sweet Whisk had nearly 6,000 followers on Instagram.
"And it tastes better than it looks. That's what I tell people," Williams said.
Couple that with joining delivery service apps like GrubHub and DoorDash, and business boomed.
"Sometimes we'll sell out of stuff just from posting it online which is really great," Page said.
"We weren't expecting it at all. It was definitely something that just kind of happened. I feel like we got really lucky," Williams said.
