{"id":57,"date":"2015-11-16T18:14:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T18:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/holidays\/?p=57"},"modified":"2016-04-22T13:38:35","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T13:38:35","slug":"small-business-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/holidays\/2015\/11\/16\/small-business-story\/","title":{"rendered":"For This Small Business, The Pressure Is On During The Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most families worry about spending too much on gifts or travel over the holidays. Some family businesses rely on the holidays as a lifeline when revenue has been flat. Quincy and Sheri Brown hope for the best this season \u2014\u00a0because they don’t have a plan B.<\/em><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a dreary afternoon in Garland. The sky is gray. It\u2019s starting to drizzle and traffic is stop-and-go long before rush hour begins.<\/p>\n

Inside Quincy and Sheri Brown\u2019s catering trailer, parked at a Shell gas station, the mood is much<\/em>\u00a0lighter.<\/p>\n

It might be noisy\u00a0inside their generator-powered mobile kitchen, but it\u2019s warm and toasty. And Sheri\u2019s double cheeseburgers make the whole place smell like heaven.<\/p>\n

While his wife cooks, Quincy fills glasses with pink lemonade.<\/p>\n

\"Quincy

Quincy and Sheri Brown launched their business in their kitchen. Then they expanded to a food truck. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Serving up lunch and dinner helps pay the bills. But what really defines their business \u2014 cake.<\/p>\n

\"A

A selection of buttercakes inside Quincy and Sheri Brown’s food truck, Ain’t No Mo! Butter Cakes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe got butter chocolate, we got ‘sock it to me,’ coconut, lemon, salted caramel, cookies and cream,” Quincy says. “We have birthday cake, pumpkin, blueberry, we have raspberry.<\/p>\n

“Want me to keep going?\u201d<\/p>\n

And most important, they\u2019ve got plain old butter cake, which evolved from Sheri\u2019s great-grandma\u2019s pound cake recipe.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple and straightforward, and when people taste it:<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them cry, some of them smile,” Quincy says. “And some of them just keep coming back every week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weekly customers — that’s exactly who the Browns need.<\/p>\n

And my husband said, ‘Just go bake something; we need to pay some bills.’ So I went and pulled my great-grandmother\u2019s recipe out and it became a hit.
Sheri Brown, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes owner<\/div>
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‘Just go bake something’<\/h4>\n

They started their business in 2001. Quincy had just left his job at a car dealership. Then, Sheri was laid off from a local hospital. The job market wasn\u2019t friendly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the holiday season was looming.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd my husband said, ‘Just go bake something. We need to pay some bills,'” Sheri recalls. “So I went and pulled my great-grandmother\u2019s recipe out and it became a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, all the baking happened at home. When the cakes caught on, the business started to outgrow their kitchen. That\u2019s when Sheri and Quincy\u2019s young son inadvertently gave it a name.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like 5 at the time, and I\u2019m always tired, my feet are always hurting, so I told him, ‘Go answer the phone,'” Sheri says. “And so he grabbed the phone and said \u2018There ain\u2019t no mo butter cakes; my mom\u2019s feet hurt!\u2019 So that\u2019s how we came up with the \u2018Ain’t No Mo! Butter Cakes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Quincy

Quincy and Sheri Brown at their food truck, Ain’t No Mo! Butter Cakes, on their third day operating from a Shell gas station near Interstate 635 and Ferguson Road in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

A big move, a big price tag<\/h4>\n

The Browns moved the baking out of their house through a couple of storefronts and warehouses before settling in at the Dallas Farmers Market. They stayed there for five years.<\/p>\n

Last December, they decided to take their show on the road and buy a concession trailer \u2014 a huge move for the business, with a big price tag.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis trailer right here? About $60,000,” Quincy says. “And I bought it all with cakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shiny silver trailer has a bright pink and yellow custom paint job with a logo visible from a mile away. Inside, Sheri has everything she needs to grill up burgers and bake. She can bake around 100 small cakes every 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Sheri

Sheri Brown works on an order at her food truck, Ain’t No Mo! Butter Cakes, on the third day operating from a Shell gas station in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

The Browns have invested a lot in their business.\u00a0 Moving into the trailer was a risk.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve only made one-fourth\u00a0of what they usually earn so far this year, and they\u2019re counting on a big holiday season to make up the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re expecting some orders,” Quincy says. “I\u2019m looking forward to it. It would kind of put us back on track. Because it\u2019s been a pretty rough summer, but we\u2019re coming out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quincy says he doesn\u2019t expect to turn a huge profit; he just wants to stay solvent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actually just keeping the lights on and trying to get our kid through high school. Just like any other family,” he says. “So the holiday season means a lot to us as a small business.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘We don’t have a plan B’<\/h4>\n

And their cooking means a lot to their loyal customers. Tara Hairston has been stalking the Browns\u2019 Facebook page since they moved into the trailer last year.<\/p>\n

When she saw they were in Garland, she got off work early and made the 15-mile trek from Addison to grab a burger and a mini butter cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m from Mississippi so I know what good pound cake should taste like,” Hairston says. “And it\u2019s like nothing I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Customers

Customers Tara Hairston and son Tyler Kennedy, 14, place their orders at Quincy and Sheri Brown’s food truck, Ain’t No Mo! Butter Cakes in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Because people react that way, the Browns know they\u2019re on the right track. It\u2019s just hard to survive on talent alone. It\u2019s been a down year for their business, but they have no\u00a0plans to call it quits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a plan B; we\u2019re all in,” Quincy says. “We\u2019ve invested everything that we own and all of our energy and efforts are invested in our business. We live, sleep and eat what we do. We breathe this business. This is us.\u201d<\/p>\n

That deep devotion is something Quincy and Sheri hope you can see and taste when customers swing by their pink and yellow trailer.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have a plan B; we\u2019re all in. We\u2019ve invested everything that we own and all of our energy and efforts are invested in our business. We live, sleep and eat what we do. We breathe this business. This is us.
Quincy Brown, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes<\/div>
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    Quincy and Sheri Brown inside their food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes, in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Customer Tara Hairston picks up her order at Quincy and Sheri Brown's food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes, in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Sheri Brown works on a burger order at her food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Customers Tara Hairston and son Tyler Kennedy, 14, decide what to order at Quincy and Sheri Brown's food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes, in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Ingredients are lined up and ready for use inside Quincy and Sheri Brown's food truck in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Customers Tara Hairston and son Tyler Kennedy, 14, decide what to order at Quincy and Sheri Brown's food truck. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Quincy and Sheri Brown at their food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes, on their third day operating from a Shell gas station near Interstate 635 and Ferguson Road in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    A selection of buttercakes inside Quincy and Sheri Brown's food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Shell owner Jay Shrestha, left, stops to say hello to Quincy Brown at his food truck, Ain't No Mo! Butter Cakes, which is operating at the Shell gas station near Interstate 635 and Ferguson Road in Garland. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n