Steeped Tea consultant, Kim Dickson, has recently been featured in the business section of The Record, the newspaper serving Waterloo region and much of southwest Ontario. We've reprinted the article below:
August 05, 2009
WATERLOO – A tea party sounds quaint and old-fashioned, like sitting in the garden with grandma and the aunts, sipping tea and making polite conversation.
Kim Dickson is having none of that. She turns tea parties into modern, exciting events that also generate a tidy part-time business income.
Dickson, 40, is a tea party consultant for Steeped Tea Inc., a direct-selling business that’s similar to Tupperware, Pampered Chef or Epicure Selections. It was started in Hamilton by her friend Tonia Jahshan in 2007 and became a huge success.
There are now 100 consultants like Dickson across Canada, including 10 in the Waterloo Region area, selling a wide variety of loose steeped teas, tea accessories and related products. The company will soon will branch into a fair trade coffee line as well.
The company is looking for more consultants, Dickson says.
Dickson, who got in on the ground floor, runs 10 to 12 tea parties a month at the homes of different hosts, selling about $50,000 a year worth of teas and accessories. She gets a 25 per cent commission, plus bonuses and incentive gifts for being a top seller.
The commission supplements her full-time income as a store manager for an electrical distribution company in Kitchener.
“You can take on as much or as little as you want to,” says Dickson, of Waterloo. “You can decide to do one party a month or one party a week.” Unlike some direct-selling companies, there are no minimums or entry fees.
For Dickson, it is also a lot of fun. “Sometimes, women will dress up and come with their hats and their gloves,” she says.
She makes the parties as trouble-free as possible for the hosts. “I’ll even bring my own tea cups, so the only thing the host has to do is to have some boiling water and provide a light snack for the guests,” Dickson says. Some hosts enjoy using their own tea cups, taking pleasure from bringing beautiful fine china out of the cabinet.
The Steeped catalogue now includes about 60 different loose teas that can be served hot or cold, including traditional English teas, herbal teas, white teas, black teas, green teas, specialty teas, and flavoured Rooibos teas.
Some people prefer coffee, so the company plans to introduce two fair trade coffees in September.
During her presentations, Dickson discusses the antioxidant health benefits of teas. She offers tasty samplings of products, such as a refreshing cold herbal berry tea which is a great low-sugar alternative to pop or juice for children.
Accessories include stainless Henley teapots, tea cosies, sugar bowls, creamers, platters, Bodum tea kettles and jugs, as well as scone mixes, cookies and honey sticks. There are tea bath products, natural soaps, soy candles and other items that promote relaxing with a comforting cup of tea.
When Dickson was approached two years ago, she jumped at the opportunity to get involved. “It was a chance to get in at the beginning of something that could be really huge,” she says.
There are still many opportunities for new consultants in this area, she says.
A new consultant starts by hosting a party and inviting as many friends and relatives as possible. The sales from that “starter party” go toward paying for the first sales kit, which includes about $600 worth of teas and accessories for future parties. The new consultant also commits to having at least four booked parties at the homes of people who come to the starter party.
“That’s important because if they were to have a starter party without having parties being booked from that, it can become discouraging, so it’s best to go out ahead of time and book as many parties as they can.”
That was the key to Dickson’s success. She had 22 parties booked in advance of her own starter party, which helped bring her business to a quick boil.
It’s a perfect fit for someone like Dickson, who enjoys the products and meeting people. “I just love the business, and I love what it has to offer,” she says.
rsimone@therecord.com
Steeped Tea Inc.
Kim Dickson, Steeped tea party consultant
Web: www.steepedtea.com
Email: kimsteaparties@rogers.com
Tel.: 519-884-5894
