15-Year-Old Entrepreneur Runs Her Own Sauce Business

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Updated: November 19th, 2023

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Tyla-Simone Crayton, first created her signature sauce at the age of 8 when her family had no sauce for their homemade chicken wings.
Crayton and her mother "threw a bunch of random things" together to create the sauce, which turned out to be a hit.
Crayton's sauce, called Sienna Sauce, is now sold for nearly $10 a bottle and in 70 stores across the U.S.
In 2019, the business brought in $192,000 in revenue.
Crayton begged her mother for years to let her sell the sauce, but it wasn't until she was a teenager that her mother relented.
In 2017, Crayton and her mother opened a pop-up restaurant night in their home to test the market and prove that the sauce could capture a customer base.
The pop-up restaurant was so successful, Crayton and her mother made it a regular gig and sold 700 to 1,000 wings every Friday night, bringing in $48,000.
Based on the success of their makeshift restaurant, Monique agreed to let Crayton bottle and sell Sienna Sauce.
To launch the business, Monique gave Crayton $1,500 to buy her first bottles and labels, and Crayton would hand-make the sauce in the kitchen every Sunday morning.
Business began to pick up, and Crayton now sells her sauce in big-name stores.

Marketing strategies

Tyla-Simone Crayton used several strategies to make her business, Sienna Sauce, a success:

Creating a unique and high-quality product: Crayton was able to recreate the unique, sweet-tasting sauce of her favorite wing restaurant, which had recently closed, and her sauce was well received by her family and friends.
Starting small and testing the market: Crayton and her mother started by selling the sauce at home and then opened a pop-up restaurant night in their home to test the market and prove that the sauce could capture a customer base.
Building a loyal customer base: Crayton reached out to former customers of her home restaurant, who she knew liked the sauce, and would sell a couple of bottles to them, who would then buy some more.
Expanding to retail: Based on the success of their pop-up restaurant, Crayton and her mother decided to bottle and sell Sienna Sauce, which they named after their town, starting in 2018. Crayton was able to expand and now sells her sauce in popular stores like Walmart.
Consistency: Crayton was consistent in making the sauce every Sunday morning and reaching out to her customers, this helped her to keep a steady stream of revenue.
Branding and Marketing: Crayton and her mother used social media, flyers, and word of mouth to build awareness of their brand, this helped them to increase the popularity of the sauce and attract more customers.
Leveraging the support of family: Monique, Crayton's mother, supported her and helped her to launch the business with a small loan of $1500 and also helped her with other aspects of the business such as branding and marketing.

Future Plans

She sees herself as a curious and creative person who is always making inventions.
She believes that her sauce is unique and better than the sauce of her favorite wing restaurant.
She is confident in her product and is proud of what she has created.
She is passionate about entrepreneurship and wants to be a successful businesswoman.
She is committed to her brand and wants to keep the quality of her sauce consistent.
She wants to expand her business and bring her sauce to more people.
She plans to innovate her product line and add more flavors to her sauce.
She is grateful for the support of her mother and the role she played in helping her to start her business.
She is optimistic about the future of her business and sees a lot of potential for growth.
She is determined to make her business a success.