University alumnus David Botwick-Ries founded Mike & Cookies, a business that bakes and sells cookies out of a truck. Botwick-Ries hopes to have his business fully up and running within the next couple of months.
When university alumnus David Botwick-Ries graduated last spring, he embarked on an entirely different kind of business venture: baking and selling cookies out of his truck.
Botwick-Ries began his Washington-based business, Mike & Cookies, through this university by using the $2,750 he won from the Pitch Dingman Competition — an annual competition in which students submit business proposals and the winner is provided with money to start up the business — last year. He used the monetary prize for the initial setup, research, advertising and the ingredients necessary to jump-start the company, and he has successfully expanded his customer base since graduating. He said he hopes to have the business fully up and running within the next few months.
“I want to provide a cookie experience. The cookie is a sensory dessert and ought to be enjoyed as one,” Botwick-Ries said. “It’s not just describing it as fresh but presenting as fresh.”
Mike & Cookies seeks to provide customers with cookies they cannot find elsewhere — such as the Buddhascotch cookie, which is made of butterscotch chips, pecans, oats and cinnamon — and sell them at an affordable price. A pouch of two cookies costs $2.
Botwick-Ries has the necessary permits to start his business and has received approval from the Washington Department of Health, he said.
Botwick-Ries said his father, Mike — a chef at Yale University — inspired him to start his own business.
“It was less of deciding that cookies would be a good business and more identifying a passion of ours and understanding this could become something big based on how much we love it,” he said.
Botwick-Ries’ friends said his innovative and creative ideas will lead to a successful business and that Mike & Cookies’ unique concept will attract a large customer base.
“It takes a very strong person to say, ‘Right after I graduate college, I’m not going to go for an interview and start a job; I’m going to start a business because it’s what my dad wanted, and I think I can make a living off of this,'” said senior finance and marketing major Prannoy Nambiar, a friend of Botwick-Ries.
Although Botwick-Ries has expanded his business idea since graduating, he said he still hopes to give back to the university and attract more customers on this campus. Although he can sell cookies for a sizable profit, he said by distributing cookies — which he plans to do at Nov. 2’s “Maryland Made Possible” event — he said he will build relationships to ensure he has loyal customers.
“Giving them away allows me to connect with the person. I could find a place to buy cookie retail, but that would not allow me to express who I am and where the business is going,” Botwick-Ries said. “I could sell 100 cookies in a night and make a couple hundred bucks, but that’s not sustainable. Nobody would remember the brand. If I invest in people, the business will be more sustainable and people will remember.”
Though vending on the campus is prohibited, Botwick-Ries said he eventually hopes to build a relationship with the university that allows him to sell his cookies at tailgates and become an official business on the campus.
Many said they thought Botwick-Ries’ idea was appealing and that his desire to please customers will help him succeed.
“I think making cookies is going to be widely accepted and successful, not only because it’s a great concept of bringing cookies to people that are hot fresh and delicious, but his overall positive attitude and determination to spread joy through these cookies,” said Alyson Goff, a student philanthropy coordinator at the Maryland Fund for Excellence. “I really believe in his mission, and I think it will take off.”
Senior history major Evan McQuirns said Mike & Cookies is a business concept most haven’t seen, and that Botwick-Ries is a model for how students can turn ideas into reality — no matter how unusual the concept may be.
“I’ve seen street vendors working out of trucks, but it sounds like a really original idea,” McQuirns said. “I think he has a clear plan of what he wants to do and is doing it all the right ways, which is great. It’s inspiring to see the tangible effort of someone pursuing their dream.”
Botwick-Ries said he is not driven by the potential for monetary success.
“I’m not in this for the money — it’s a vision and love and passion of mine,” he said. “My opportunity and ability to grow and share this is not about the bottom line. There’s a double bottom line: We do well in the business and do good at the same time. Infusing this in the business has allowed me to stay true to myself and what I believe.”
romas@umdbk.com
