Sometimes the best idea for a business might be right in front of you. Stephen Moore found his idea at home.

A 2001 graduate from La Sierra University's School of Business with a BA in Business Administration (marketing emphasis), Moore thought his mom's tofu steaks were pretty good. And he remembers guests in his home and his school friends raving about how good his mom's steaks tasted. Those comments planted a seed in Steve's mind. But the business concept still had some growing to do.

During his junior year at La Sierra, Moore interned at a high tech company that sought to market a personal computer tablet.

"Even though it was a really great product, that company didn't get off the ground," Moore remembers. "But I did learn a lot through that experience, including a lot of what not to do."

Looking back on his LSU experience, Moore identifies another important aspect of his education as a key to his current success.

"At La Sierra, you have teachers that believe in you, and aren't afraid to push you," Moore says. "They took an interest in what you were doing."

Moore experienced a teacher's interest in a personal way during a class in entrepreneurship he took from Dr. Johnny Thomas, dean of LSU's School of Business. Moore decided to write a business plan to start a company to produce and sell his mom's tofu steaks.

"I ended up writing the paper the night before it was due," Moore recalls. "Dr. Thomas called me into his office later. He said, ‘I know you wrote this the night before, because it's not very good. But I'm giving you an A- because the idea is viable.' "

Moore followed up that class with a directed study project where he investigated the health foods industry. After looking at food manufacturers such as Morningstar Farms and Loma Linda Foods, and retailers like the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's chains, Moore came to an energizing conclusion: "There's a ton of money in the health food industry."

After graduation, Moore began working on the foundations of his business idea at home.

"The church where my father was pastor, the Norwalk Seventh-day Adventist Church, has a retail bakery operation as part of their service to the community," Moore says. "I got permission to use the bakery facilities at night to do product testing." Moore got his hands on every frying pan he could, and set about fine-tuning his processes.

"We realized that mom's way was taking too long, up to a half hour per batch," Moore says. " We were able to cut that down. We also went from marinating the tofu steaks to an infusion process for the flavors." Still, one key future customer expressed some doubts.

"Mom was sure our products couldn't taste the same as hers, even though we thought they were pretty close," Moore says. "We ended up having blind taste tests with Mom, and we passed."

Moore's first retail customers were the Loma Linda Market and Clarks Nutritional Center in Loma Linda. Since those first deliveries, Moore's "Helen's Kitchen" product line has grown to include two flavors of frozen tofu steaks, and tofu-based Mexican, Italian, Thai, and Indian frozen meals. He's also expanded distribution into stores in California, Arizona, and Canada, with further U.S. expansion on the horizon. Several natural foods chain stores, including Whole Foods, started carrying the products after Moore presented his line at some natural foods industry expositions. He's also opened a production facility in Irvine, Calif.

Want to know more about Moore's products? Go to www.helensfoods.com. You can sign up for an electronic newsletter, find recipes, and see if there's a store close to you carrying Stephen's products.