Interested in running your own business? What about buying one that's established, has a proven track record, and could have potential to expand?
Betty Handy would like to sell her Handy Pies operation.
“I figure, at 87, I've got to slow down a bit,” she said. “The older I get, the slower I get. I can only make about 50 pies in three hours now.”
She started the business about eight years ago when Drake Smith tried one of her pies at Clearwater Legion. He told her it tasted so good that she should sell them commercially.
“The next thing I knew, Betty showed up on my doorstep. She told me that she was ready to go into business, but only if he acted as her bookkeeper,” Smith said.
Handy started off selling her pies from the back of her truck. More recently, she has been selling them through Safety Mart in Clearwater and Dee's General Store in Birch Island.
The pies come in three flavors: chicken, beef and turkey. Many of the ingredients are purchased locally, which in turn helps local food self-sufficiency.
Baking is done using a kitchen at Wells Gray Inn.
The pies' recipe plus the necessary equipment would be included in the price. Handy would help out during the first while to make sure the purchaser learns the business.
“Let someone younger do it,” Handy said.
Anyone interested should call Betty Handy at 674-2946 or Drake Smith at 674-3030.