Having a headquarters in Austin, Texas is not the only thing that warm cookie delivery company, Tiff’s Treats, and Dell have in common.
Another commonality: We both trace back to humble beginnings on a college campus. Fifteen years after Michael Dell launched Dell Computers out of a University of Texas dorm room, it was 1999 and another campus-based company was being baked up… literally.
Meet Tiffany and Leon Chen, founders and owners of Tiff’s Treats.
Baking and delivering warm cookies straight from Leon’s college apartment kitchen, the Chens have built a cookie empire that now includes 32 stores and counting.
If hearing “warm cookie delivery” makes your mouth water but doesn’t spark thoughts of computer hardware, you’re not alone.
People think we are just multiple bakeries, but everything is connected through technology.
“People think we are just multiple bakeries, but everything is connected through technology,” says Tiffany Chen. “If one store gets too busy, I can press a button and extend delivery times so our customer’s expectations are met.”
Initially running their company from a single Dell PC and a QuickBooks license, the Chens technology needs have grown as their cookie brand grew from beloved homegrown Austin business to a national stage.
It’s the Ferrari of laptops.
Today, the Chens rely on an in-house IT director and their Dell Small Business Tech Advisor to manage their growing IT needs including Dell POS systems and Leon’s Dell Precision 5520, which he refers to as “the Ferrari of laptops.”
Right now, sitting at my desk in Dell’s headquarters, business facts and figures are far from my mind. I’m enjoying a quiet break with a cookie, what Tiff’s Treats has coined my “warm cookie moment.”
I love seeing them grow their business. They’ve been Austin’s local celebrities for years and they’ve now been well received in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and then outside the great state of Texas into Atlanta. For me, it’s icing on the… cookie that Dell has been there every step of the way.
