How can I overcome the anxiety of opening up my own micro-bakery?
I have the license and everything one would need to start but am terrified of putting myself “out there”. Any advice for a 25 y/o trying to start a small business?
by irene_nels
7 Comments
Gcastle_CPT
I don’t have a business but I would say put yourself out there. Start with your friends and family and temper expectations, talk to other bakers. Do what makes you happy
7366241494
I’ve started many businesses. It feels like jumping off a cliff.
If you are not confident in your business’s potential, you need to do more market research and testing.
Starting a business doesn’t have to be an all or nothing quit your old job kind of thing. Try baking part time on the nights or weekends and try to sell to people who are NOT friends and family. F&F will just glaze you and not give honest feedback. If you can sell croissants at the office for $4 each then you can do it in a storefront too.
Other market research you need to do is list out all the bakeries in your area and where they are located. Is there any gap in the market or will you be competing directly against another nearby bakery? What about alternatives like Starbucks?
Do you have a differentiated product? That is, what do you offer that is different from other bakeries? Is it cheaper? More delicious? Different pastries altogether? What is your special niche?
It goes on and on but the main thing you need to know, the ONLY thing you need to know is whether or not strangers (not friends or family) will buy your product and demand more of it. You can find this out before you open, but you need to be honest and ruthless with yourself about the reality of opening a bakery. It’s extremely competitive and you need to have a special product, special location, special price, _something _ to really make people go out of their way to find your store and buy your baked goods.
If you do all the testing and research ahead of time, you should be able to build confidence that your store will sell products and not go bankrupt in a year.
P.S. In my area there is a “food truck court” that is not trucks but permanent booths offering 1 year leases. This allows small businesses like yours to test their concept for a year without taking out a massive bank loan or committing to a 10-year lease. Look for similar “popups” in your area for a lower barrier to entry compared to a regular retail location.
Apprehensive-Buy198
I’m 29 and just started mine a few months ago. It was scary at first but the response from my community has been extremely positive. I posted in my neighborhood Facebook group and offered free loaves before charging. I also posted my business page in my towns Facebook page. I was so nervous nobody would even want to sample it but it has all worked out in the end. Business has slowed down a bit in the summer but overall steady. You can do it. People LOVE fresh bread and especially sourdough. You got this!!!!! It’s a hard side gig I’m not going to lie but I’m sure you will have some interest ♥️♥️
thackeroid
What do you mean by micro? Are you planning to make any money on this or is this going to be a hobby?
Then you have to ask yourself some questions. Have you ever worked in a bakery before? I mean have you done it full-time and not just as a weekend volunteer? Have you ordered materials and supplies and paid them within the prescribed time? Have you sold products?
Do you know who your customers are going to be? How will you contact your potential customers? Have you figured out what you need to pay your rent your utilities your staff and your supplies each month? Do you have capital to send you through the first few months?
Do you know exactly what it is you’re going to make? Do you know how long it takes you to make it? Have you broken down the cost of each item that goes into it? Including your labor? And overhead?
A simple thing like deciding when your hours of operation are going to be can make a huge difference. If you want to be open so that people can stop in for coffee and a breakfast roll, that means you’ll have to be open by 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. that means you will have to start baking by 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. the day before. And then if you’re going to be open until dinner time, you’ll have to start preparing everything for the next day. When will you sleep?
On the other hand if you’re not open for breakfast, does that mean you will lose substantial sales? Maybe you don’t need to be open past early afternoon. And how do you know what products to focus on? There’s a big difference between making pastries and making bread. And what will you do with the stuff that doesn’t sell at the end of the day? Bread can be ground up into crumbs, croissants and things like brioche can be transformed into bread pudding. But there will be some inevitable discards. Pastries don’t last very well from one day to the next.
It is truly a lot of work. I opened a bakery when I was about your age. I don’t think I have ever worked so hard in my life. On the other hand, I have to say, it was an experience I would never want to have missed. We weren’t as successful as I wish we would have been, but it was worth every second. One thing you might look at doing is developing a list of wholesale customers. If you have a few signature items you can take around to restaurants etc, you might be able to make some money doing wholesale. That can really help because a lot of restaurants do not have in-house pastry chefs. And depending on where you are, beware of the moochers. We had people from the local police precinct come by every week with a birthday request or retirement request or some sort of party request and they expected everything to be gratis. And don’t overlook the corrupt health department officials who come and look at the place and inspect for cockroaches and bugs.
In any event best of luck to you!!
delightfullytangy
Honestly you just have to take the leap. It’s scary, there are a lot of unknowns. The single thing that helped me take the leap was asking myself what is the worst that can happen. In my case I started baking under the cottage food laws in my state and selling directly at the farmers market. My initial investment was small; ingredients, tent, table containers and labels. I kept my day job. For me the worst thing would be people wouldn’t like my product and I would just go back to working full-time. But at least I would have tried.
Fast forward 6 years, I have 3 full time employees, 2 part time employees, a 2000 sq ft production facility, participate in 4 profitable farmers markets, and have my product in around 200 stores across the country. But you never know unless you take that first step.
foodiecpl4u
Start with a farmers market stand and go from there. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t work with minimal financial outlay. You can also build a terrific database of customers using your point of sale.
Give yourself a couple months of that and use the data (and your feelings) to decide if you want move to something bigger (and more committed).
Material-Might-2089
I started a home baking business just selling sourdough breads and bagels. It’s scary to think about not having stable income but I took my time selling to my family and neighbours in the beginning. And then I’m doing my first market this weekend. I think as long as you continue to be genuine in your product people will come back. I think maybe it’s overwhelming when you think about so many things but take it one thing at a time. Talk to someone that can listen to you. If you don’t have any, lets talk in DMs I also understand the dread you’re feeling now because Im currently going through it as I just started my business for a couple months. Stay positive xx
7 Comments
I don’t have a business but I would say put yourself out there. Start with your friends and family and temper expectations, talk to other bakers. Do what makes you happy
I’ve started many businesses. It feels like jumping off a cliff.
If you are not confident in your business’s potential, you need to do more market research and testing.
Starting a business doesn’t have to be an all or nothing quit your old job kind of thing. Try baking part time on the nights or weekends and try to sell to people who are NOT friends and family. F&F will just glaze you and not give honest feedback. If you can sell croissants at the office for $4 each then you can do it in a storefront too.
Other market research you need to do is list out all the bakeries in your area and where they are located. Is there any gap in the market or will you be competing directly against another nearby bakery? What about alternatives like Starbucks?
Do you have a differentiated product? That is, what do you offer that is different from other bakeries? Is it cheaper? More delicious? Different pastries altogether? What is your special niche?
It goes on and on but the main thing you need to know, the ONLY thing you need to know is whether or not strangers (not friends or family) will buy your product and demand more of it. You can find this out before you open, but you need to be honest and ruthless with yourself about the reality of opening a bakery. It’s extremely competitive and you need to have a special product, special location, special price, _something _ to really make people go out of their way to find your store and buy your baked goods.
If you do all the testing and research ahead of time, you should be able to build confidence that your store will sell products and not go bankrupt in a year.
P.S. In my area there is a “food truck court” that is not trucks but permanent booths offering 1 year leases. This allows small businesses like yours to test their concept for a year without taking out a massive bank loan or committing to a 10-year lease. Look for similar “popups” in your area for a lower barrier to entry compared to a regular retail location.
I’m 29 and just started mine a few months ago. It was scary at first but the response from my community has been extremely positive. I posted in my neighborhood Facebook group and offered free loaves before charging. I also posted my business page in my towns Facebook page. I was so nervous nobody would even want to sample it but it has all worked out in the end. Business has slowed down a bit in the summer but overall steady. You can do it. People LOVE fresh bread and especially sourdough. You got this!!!!! It’s a hard side gig I’m not going to lie but I’m sure you will have some interest ♥️♥️
What do you mean by micro? Are you planning to make any money on this or is this going to be a hobby?
Then you have to ask yourself some questions. Have you ever worked in a bakery before? I mean have you done it full-time and not just as a weekend volunteer? Have you ordered materials and supplies and paid them within the prescribed time? Have you sold products?
Do you know who your customers are going to be? How will you contact your potential customers? Have you figured out what you need to pay your rent your utilities your staff and your supplies each month? Do you have capital to send you through the first few months?
Do you know exactly what it is you’re going to make? Do you know how long it takes you to make it? Have you broken down the cost of each item that goes into it? Including your labor? And overhead?
A simple thing like deciding when your hours of operation are going to be can make a huge difference. If you want to be open so that people can stop in for coffee and a breakfast roll, that means you’ll have to be open by 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. that means you will have to start baking by 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. the day before. And then if you’re going to be open until dinner time, you’ll have to start preparing everything for the next day. When will you sleep?
On the other hand if you’re not open for breakfast, does that mean you will lose substantial sales? Maybe you don’t need to be open past early afternoon. And how do you know what products to focus on? There’s a big difference between making pastries and making bread. And what will you do with the stuff that doesn’t sell at the end of the day? Bread can be ground up into crumbs, croissants and things like brioche can be transformed into bread pudding. But there will be some inevitable discards. Pastries don’t last very well from one day to the next.
It is truly a lot of work. I opened a bakery when I was about your age. I don’t think I have ever worked so hard in my life. On the other hand, I have to say, it was an experience I would never want to have missed. We weren’t as successful as I wish we would have been, but it was worth every second. One thing you might look at doing is developing a list of wholesale customers. If you have a few signature items you can take around to restaurants etc, you might be able to make some money doing wholesale. That can really help because a lot of restaurants do not have in-house pastry chefs. And depending on where you are, beware of the moochers. We had people from the local police precinct come by every week with a birthday request or retirement request or some sort of party request and they expected everything to be gratis. And don’t overlook the corrupt health department officials who come and look at the place and inspect for cockroaches and bugs.
In any event best of luck to you!!
Honestly you just have to take the leap.
It’s scary, there are a lot of unknowns. The single thing that helped me take the leap was asking myself what is the worst that can happen. In my case I started baking under the cottage food laws in my state and selling directly at the farmers market.
My initial investment was small; ingredients, tent, table containers and labels. I kept my day job. For me the worst thing would be people wouldn’t like my product and I would just go back to working full-time. But at least I would have tried.
Fast forward 6 years, I have 3 full time employees, 2 part time employees, a 2000 sq ft production facility, participate in 4 profitable farmers markets, and have my product in around 200 stores across the country.
But you never know unless you take that first step.
Start with a farmers market stand and go from there. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t work with minimal financial outlay. You can also build a terrific database of customers using your point of sale.
Give yourself a couple months of that and use the data (and your feelings) to decide if you want move to something bigger (and more committed).
I started a home baking business just selling sourdough breads and bagels. It’s scary to think about not having stable income but I took my time selling to my family and neighbours in the beginning. And then I’m doing my first market this weekend. I think as long as you continue to be genuine in your product people will come back. I think maybe it’s overwhelming when you think about so many things but take it one thing at a time. Talk to someone that can listen to you. If you don’t have any, lets talk in DMs I also understand the dread you’re feeling now because Im currently going through it as I just started my business for a couple months. Stay positive xx