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| Kitchen
Tools and Skills, Ltd.
Sharon
Dela-Hamaide
By Diane Meeks
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After
almost 30 years, it was a corporate decision that
gave her the freedom to pursue her passion full time.
About once a week, guest chefs provide instruction
to as many as 12 customers. They have a meal with
wine and then coffee with dessert.
 In
a society where fast food is king, Sharon Dela-Hamaide,
owner of Kitchen Tools and Skills Ltd, has built her
business around the art of traditional cooking. It
had been her passion for many years. While working
as an engineer at Ameritech and taking culinary classes
as a hobby, she thought about the possibility of having
a kitchen shop closer to home. “After I moved
to Perrysburg, I was driving home from Gourmet Curiosities
in Sylvania one night after class, and I thought,
'Boy, this is a long drive. You would think that somebody
would open a kitchen shop in Perrysburg.'”
After almost 30 years, it was a corporate decision
that gave her the freedom to pursue her true passion
full time. Although Sharon realized that this was
the perfect opportunity to put her entrepreneurial
plans into action, there was one major drawback: “I
had no retail background, so I went to school at Owens
Community College for a year. I took a small-business
class and all of the food prep classes available.
That was a real learning experience!”
Unlike most business owners, Sharon did not need to
expand her services as the business grew. She had
the opposite problem. “We started out actually
doing dinners-to-go and catering, as well as the store
and the classes. It was way too much! After about
a year and a half, we stopped doing the catering.
We still did the dinners-to-go for about another six
months. Then I decided I really wanted to concentrate
on the store and the classes.”
Once a week, guest chefs provide instruction to as
many as 12 customers, featuring a meal with wine.
Later, they have coffee with dessert. Sharon says,
“It's like going out for a nice dinner, but
you get to see it being prepared. You should be able
to go home and make that same dinner yourself.”
People come to classes for a variety of reasons. “Some
are gourmet cooks and they just want to learn something
different. Some people don't know how to cook anything,
but they want to learn. Then, we have people who just
come to eat. They don't really intend to cook.”
Although demand for classes has increased, the floundering
economy has had an impact on the business. “We
get a lot of people that come in and are just looking,
But, then, you get to talking to someone and find
that they, like a lot of other people, are out of
work.”
All in all, Sharon still would not discourage a prospective
entrepreneur from starting a business as long as that
person has a realistic expectation. “Quite often
someone will come in and say, 'I'd like to talk to
you about starting a business.' When I ask them why
they want to start their own business, if they tell
me that they want to be their own boss and come and
go as they please, that means that they had better
run out the door as fast as they can. You're not going
to be your own boss,” Sharon says with a laugh.
KITCHEN TOOLS AND
SKILLS LTD.
26597 North Dixie Highway,
419-872-9090
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