Between 2019 and 2024, “women-owned businesses saw their number of firms increase by 17.1 percent, their employment increase by 19.5 percent and their revenue increase by an impressive 53.8 percent,” according to the 2025 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Business Report.
Bankrate is celebrating National Small Business Week by profiling Daphne Subar of Los Angeles-based bakery Subarzsweets, who shares the ups and downs of her business’ nine-year journey.
From hobby to business
Daphne Subar launched Subarzsweets in 2016 with her flagship product, the Subarz, which combines the crunch of mandelbread (a softer version of biscotti) with the sweetness of a cookie. Before turning her love of baking into a new venture, she was a lawyer for 26 years.
“I didn’t leave the practice of law because I hated it. I was challenged by my daughters to follow my passion because I love to bake,” Subar recalls. “They told me that I had always encouraged them to follow their passion, [so] why wasn’t I trying something different and following mine?”
After trying to come up with excuses and reasons not to do it, Subar launched Subarzsweets. “I was scared. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, and I was motivated by a fear of failure combined with impostor syndrome,” she says. However, she quickly found that feeling like she didn’t know what she was doing was an advantage in some ways, because it meant she didn’t come to the business with any preconceived notions.
Subar started her company with a cottage food operations license that allowed her to bake and sell from her house, with certain restrictions. “But as I was growing, I knew I had to move out to a commercial kitchen, and that finding the right kitchen was a little bit challenging,” she says. “I moved to a commercial kitchen, Foodies Urban Kitchen, in 2018.”
When Subarsweetz first launched, Subar was still figuring out how everything worked, business-wise. “I don’t think I seriously thought about marketing early on. I felt like I would have a product, and people would just come to me,” she says.
Subar learned how to market her company through a process of trial and error. “We don’t do any paid advertising, but I had to figure out the platforms that worked best for me,” she says.
Today, Subar regularly shares content on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn. “We utilize LinkedIn primarily to connect with our corporate clients as we expand further into corporate gifting. We use IG and FB to keep our clients and followers up to date on the business,” she says. “Most recently, we have added TikTok and are having fun on that platform.”
In addition to posting on those platforms, Subar says she regularly emails clients and publishes newsletters on LinkedIn on topics related to corporate gifting and the growth of Subarzsweets, as well as being a woman entrepreneur in a changing market.
Business roadblocks
Female business owners face certain roadblocks, says Subar. “I feel like things are a little bit harder. It’s also the type of business that I started, because there are so many people trying to sell baked goods. In the beginning, it was a struggle,” she says. “Interestingly, when people found out that I was an attorney before, somehow it validated my business, and I think if I hadn’t had that background, it may not [have been] taken as seriously, which is really sad.”
About two years into her business, Subar realized people were buying Subarz as gifts, leading her to lean more heavily into the area of corporate gifting. “My business transitioned from what I originally thought it was,” she says.
Throughout the process, Subar relied on other women business owners. “People were very generous with their time and their information. I would reach out to others and ask questions and people were very forthcoming, which really helped,” she says.
Female business owners have a story to tell, says Subar. “I feel like they’re all very honest. Most will favor collaboration over competition, even if they’re in the same space,” she says. “You know you’re never alone. Somebody always has your back if I have a question, whether it’s about marketing or networking.”
Here to help
When it came to more formal sources of support, Subar looked to business programs. “I did the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program in 2020, which was wonderful,” she says.
Even though the program was a coed cohort, a small group of female participants still talk, according to Subar. “We’re accountability and supportive partners for each other. And we like to bounce ideas off each other,” she says. She also completed UCLA’s Management Development for Entrepreneurs (MDE) program and supplemented that with her own research and conversations with people who paved the path before her — a favor she now tries to return to others.
“I met with two new business owners over the last couple of months because I feel like so many people gave me such great information that I want to turn around and share [with them],” she says. “I think that with the constant flow of information, we can all learn from each other.”
Based on what she’s learned in the past nine years, Subar’s offers the following advice for new female business owners. “I would say that if you’re hesitating, just do it,” she says. “You can always decide it’s not worth it, but you definitely need to try things. I would also say to get involved in organizations early on. I’m certified as a woman-owned business through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).”
WBENC offers resources and support, though Subar didn’t join until about two years ago. “I was in business six or seven years before I got officially certified and found all those resources,” she says.
The bottom line
Subar’s primary motivation in her business is her enjoyment of baking, though she also appreciates the way many of her customers send Subarsweetz products as gifts. “I love the fact that I’m part of that process,” she says. “Generally, they’re sent to celebrate things, and that has really kept me going. Even during the pandemic and in dark days, people are still being thoughtful and sending gifts.”
Nine years later, Subar’s business continues to grow. “This year we are expanding much more into the corporate gifting space as well as the event space, partnering with several event planners and corporate sponsors of events to provide Subarz for swag bags, thank you gifts and more,” she says.
Check out Bankrate’s Small Business Week Guide for more resources.
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