ENTERPRISE : LEARNING CURVE: FLANIGAN FARMS : Happy Trail Mix : A ‘Health Nut’ Builds a Strong Business
Since Patsy Flanigan founded Flanigan Farms in Culver City 25 years ago, the business has weathered its share of setbacks. But Flanigan has learned to overcome them through hard work and community involvement. She was interviewed by Karen Kaplan.
I’m a product of the Depression. My dad was out of a job a lot and I used to think, “Someday I’m going to have my own business, and I will hire my dad and he will always have a job.” That was kind of naive, but it was my childhood dream.
My husband and I started Flanigan Farms 25 years ago. He was an out-of-work aerospace engineer and we had four daughters. We decided to go into business for ourselves because we needed to create a livelihood for our family.
In 1970, we were health nuts, and we felt there was a need for more natural foods in the supermarket. We package natural unsalted nuts and trail mixes.
Granola was our first product, and it was very well received. We began selling in smaller independent markets. I’ll never forget the day my husband said, “I’ve got an order for 10 cases!” We didn’t have automated equipment then, but we filled the order.
After that my husband designed equipment to get us mechanized. I developed new products, worked on the packaging and made sure the office ran smoothly. The machinery and sales were his part of the business. We stopped making granola and went into nuts and trail mixes because it’s easier to do on a larger production schedule.
Now we’re in approximately 500 markets, including Ralphs, Hughes Markets, Food 4 Less and Gelson’s. For all our products combined, we sell close to 1 million packages a year.
The riots and the earthquake affected our business dramatically. The loss of stores after the riots hurt us immediately. Then people started leaving the area. In 1993 our business dropped off 15% because our customers were leaving for places like Colorado and Arizona and Seattle. The next year we were still down 5%. In response, we tried to increase our territory. Before the riots we were selling mostly from Los Angeles south to San Diego. We expanded north to Fresno and the Central Coast to reach new customers.
In 1992, the year of the riots, my husband passed away. That was a hit for our business. Four production people left after my husband died because they thought the business would shut down. I had to learn how to make sure those machines kept running. I also had to take over the sales.
With losing my husband, I had to fill up my life. I worked 12-hour, sometimes 16-hour, days, and that helped me get through the trauma. The business takes my mind and puts it on something that is positive and going forward.
I am a member of the Culver City and Los Angeles chambers of commerce. It’s something I like to do, and it’s good for business as well. Networking is part of it. It also helps you to stay in touch. When you’re the owner of a business, you tend to become isolated if you don’t get out into the community to talk to other people to find out what they’re doing and get new ideas.
If we can turn around the economy in our state, people will come back and businesses will turn around.
On joining the Chamber of Commerce . . .
“It’s something I like to do, and it’s good for business as well. . . . When you’re the owner of a business, you tend to become isolated if you don’t get out into the community.”
On the virtues of small businesses . . .
“Some people like to work for a big company and some like to work for a small company. With a small company, the benefits are sometimes not as great financially, but you have more opportunity to show what you can do.”
On government regulation . . .
“There is too much government regulation--so much that a business doesn’t even know what all the regulations are. It’s getting worse.”
AT A GLANCE
Company: Flanigan Farms
Owner: Patsy Flanigan
Nature of business: Producer and seller of trail mixes, unsalted nuts, dried fruit and other natural foods
Location: Culver City
Total business space: 5,000 square feet, plus warehouse space
No. of employees: 10
Annual sales: Close to 1 million packages (Flanigan declined to give dollar figures)
