Bakers Make The Dough

Bakers Make The Dough

Bake Off

If you are looking for Premises. That is that you have come to that point, Be careful about buying some other baker’s business. You can obtain equipment from any number of sources. You will still have to get your own clearance from The Food Protection people and they will always want you to improve something or other. And The Out Going baker can not deliver to you The Customers. They like “The Old Baker” and you ain’t Him. You may have some of the same but you will have to establish a customer base of your own who look forward to sinking their teeth into your breads and sweets. You can buy his equipment. You can rent the shop he once rented but pay nothing for the business he built up because he can not promise that his customers will also be yours. So The question on the table will be, How do I gather customers. It is Vital that you gather your own customers or you will have no business. Hang onto your hat now because this will work well. I have seen it work. It sounds nutz but you can do it. The first 4 weeks that you are in Business announce a “BAKE OFF” Come in. Visit the New Baker. Have a pastry or cookie or slice of cake or sticky bun or Danish or brownie or even a small loaf of bread for free. Now they can not hall out grocery bags full of bread and sundries but they can come in on Monday and try your molasses cookie and Tuesday try your cheese Danish and Wednesday your Cream Cheese Brownie and so on for near a month and their full sized samples are without Charge. Compliments of the New Baker. This is His/Her Bake Off. All the customer pays for is the coffee or milk or Hot chocolate or chai or Juice. And Whatever they want to take home to the Family. You will have a lot of people every day come in to try something new. By the end of that 4 weeks they will have established the habit of coming into your bake Shop door and They will never mention “The Old Baker” Again. An expensive start? Well Yes and no. You’ll make it on the profit from the Beverages and the New customers will keep coming and it is possible they would have never darkened your door had it not been for your Bake Off. With the Bake Off Done. They will expect to pay Fair market price and think nothing of it. When you introduce a new cookie or pastry you will sell more for years if you give it away at first. Keep your shelves full. Always bake too much. Nobody wants to buy your last loaf of bread. You can use today’s bread for tomorrow’s sandwiches or you can have a soup kitchen or the Salvation army pick them up and give you a tax voucher for the full retail value as a charitable donation. Always bake too much. You never want to have the reputation that your shelves are empty. Keep your Bake Shop Clean. Clean your Glass . Keep your restrooms sparkling and well stocked. Let your customers see you washing your hands often. When Mixing and Baking, Clean as you go. Do not let things pile up especially in sight of your customers. Learn their names. Make them feel like a friend. Smile...When folks come to your bakery, Everything is right with the world. People like places like that. Do these things and your business can thrive. Remember,

Nothing Smells Better
Than a Bake Shop
In The Morning...
Bake Well.
~~~~~
Edward

To Market To Market

To Market, To Market

More About How Bakers Can Really
Make The Dough...

Whenever I sit down to write to you fine people I always think of the story of The Little Red Hen about how she found the wheat, Harvested the wheat Took the wheat to the mill all the while asking “Who will help me?” Not I. Said the cat. Not I, said the Dog. Not I, Said the goose. “Then I’ll do it myself...And she did. But after she had brought the milled wheat flower back from the miller and baked it into savory Bread she asked “And Who will help me eat this bread? And they all wanted to line up til she said, “No, I will do it myself.” And she did. The point is when the little red hen saw a patch of discarded wheat growing in the barnyard she saw the end from the beginning and could almost smell the fresh baked bread while the wheat was still green. You who can bake things that make folks ask for more, You know that your skills and secrets are worth Money for you and your household. You will find that many people including those closest to you may not share your vision. My advice? Be The Little Red Hen and Just Do it yourself...and you did.
But, Unlike the little red hen you are not going to get very far in this business if you eat it all yourself. So, you must find a market for your goods, Where you market your fresh baked products and how often will depend on what they are, Your current baking capacity, the time you can devote to the task at present and Just How Yummy they are. Understand that “No One Bakes as good as Grandma used to.” Whoever the customer is, There Grandma owns the Blue Ribbon. So if the taste of your baked goods brings Grandma to mind you have done well. Be happy with second place. I have often mused about opening a very small restaurant Just for breakfast and Lunch. I want to call it “The World’s Second Best Pancake Company”. I have a Very good Sweet Batter Buttermilk Pancake Recipe, But Naturally Grandma’s pancakes were better.
Well To Market. You would think of going into Grocery stores and trying to get shelf space and such but the store may be very proud of it’s own bakery and somebody already is packaging home baked cookies at the counter in the convenience store. So Where then? Well, Years ago I worked for a Baker from Austria. Because he spoke with a European accent he could charge 20% more and get all the local white collar market. He used to tell me that if there was a way he could keep the customer base he could Bake from The middle of November til Christmas, Mothers day week and Valentines day week and take the rest of the year off. Understand that and Remember that because that is Important. You may find as you are starting out that even though people do eat every day of the year if they can, there are times when you really have an opportunity to make the dough. Make your stand there if you like. General MacArthur Was the 5 star General During the Korean War. He had a motto when it came to Beach landings where an army first starts to function in a combat zone. “Hit’em where they aint.” Sam Walton who built Wal-Mart stores into the monster it is today, Applied the same Idea. Sears, J.C. Penny, Kresgee (Later, K-mart) were all in Big cities. Instead of building his stores across the street from the giants of the industry at that time, he built his stores in the small and middle sized towns. Hit’em where they aint. So where would you sell your Pies Cakes, Breads or pastries, Cookies, Brownies and such? Yard sales. Find the biggest yard sale around and offer to pay them $5 to set up a table. Flea Markets, Same deal. Farmer’s Markets, Breakrooms in offices Banks and brokerage firms...When you are in a position to be working out of a commercial Bakeshop or kitchen (and we will talk more about how to do that vert cheap in a future instalment.) You can find a catering company who wants or needs to out source their breads. Also, Believe it or not, at Holiday time Bakeshops. Many Bakeshops at Holiday time have such high demand for the menu items they are noted for that they out source for other things in quantity. The Austrian Baker I worked for so many years ago during thanksgiving and Christmas weeks he and I slept at the shop in 2 hour shifts and kept the ovens hot and full. Still, he brought in tons of French Bread and Hundreds of Pies from other baking sources. This provided Bounty and full shelves even as mountains of food were going out the door to homes of Happy customers. There are so many more little corners of your world that would Love a steady supply of the things you Bake better than anybody now living that we will have to revisit this subject real soon. Until then remember...
Nothing Smells Better
Than a Bakeshop in the Morning
~~~~~
Bake Well
Edward

Start Simply...And Simply Start

How bakers make the dough...
START SIMPLE THEN SIMPLY START

Many baking enterprises that wound up big started in somebodies kitchen. There is no reason why great success can not start there for you. Using resources you already have on hand help make getting started affordable. Do you need a licensed commercial kitchen? Yes, by and by. If you start very small most states food protection people won’t kick until you are ready to become a business. Even then there will still be options open to you short of laying out $20,000 for setting a commercial kitchen in proper order. Even that can be done for much less with a little guidance. Start with what you have. Augment it as needed and watch your budget. Too much outgo before you have income will get you discouraged. Don’t be afraid to buy used. Price both new and used equipment and sundries then choose your bargain. The important thing especially at first is “Keep A Clean Shop.” Keep a very clean shop. This includes anybody in proximity to the baker and or the food prep area. Anyone entering the Bakeshop must wash their hands well with soap and water. Clean as you go. Wash your hands frequently. Handle all product that has come out of the oven with protected hands, Use food handling tissues and or disposable food handling gloves after the product is cool enough to handle without oven mitts. As you start baking for people outside your own house it is important to practice less familiar, more professional Habits. When I was a kid growing up with 5 brothers and a sister our Mother worked evening shift most of those years but our Dad had been a Baker in the Navy during WWII. He knew his way around that little kitchen bake shop and he taught all of us to bake at a very early age so if he was busy with other things we could do for ourselves and or for each other. We used to call out who got to lick the batter left over on the beaters or the wooden spoon. Dad let it slide as it was all in the Family. I had an aunt who made wedding cakes. I remember the first time she was baking a wedding cake when I was there and I asked if I could lick the spoon. She said “You most certainly can not!” That cake was being made to sell to other people. Household habits have to make way and be set aside in a professional baking operation.
Start simple. You can start with one cookie made very well. Or one pie or one pastry or one cake or bread. What do you bake that makes people roll their eyes to the back of their head and say Mmmmm! Start with that. Make one thing professionally once a week finding a market for it, we will talk about soon in an upcoming piece but you don’t need thousands of dollars to start that way...and you can start. Start simply...and simply start.
~~~
Nothing Smells Better than
a Bakeshop in the morning.
Bake Well...
Edward

Bakers Make The Dough, The Many Ways to Turn Passion Into Profit

BAKERS MAKE THE DOUGH

This is for people who have a passion about food and how to put good tasting things together for fun, profit and the sheer enjoyment of doing something well and making good things happen that just may make your life and the lives of those closest to you better, Happier and more secure.

Normand Vincent Peal once said “Find a need and fill it.” I say Take what you love to do. That thing that you do best, and use it to generate income. Herein we will use Baking for an example but do not be afraid to ask questions about other applications regarding other activities you might be passionate about. There are always a thousand reasons “Why Not” Why you can’t do this or that.
• I don’t have enough money to start a Bakery.
• It is a bad climate for business right now.
• I’m working so hard at the job I can’t stand, that I just don’t have time or resource to do what I love, to make money.
There are always a thousand people to tell you that you can’t do it and they will help you think up the rest of those thousand reasons why you should not give it a go. They are the herd. The herd just follows the one in front of it and feels safe that way. To do what you love, to provide or supplement your families security You must have the courage to rise above the herd to a place where there are no guarantees and where success is possible . It is simply not in every body, that entrepreneurial spirit. If it is in you, you stand to gain a thing or two by reading here. Thomas Edison attempted well over 1,000 times to build his incandescent lightbulb. After the thousand failed attempts, someone asked him. “Why do you keep trying?” He answered “I now know a thousand ways how not to make a lightbulb. I only need to find one way that works.”
Welcome. Fellow Traveler. Bring your questions. Read, Learn and enjoy. Then put you passion to work.
• You can start with less money than you think.
• You Can Start with only the time you have left over from the job you hate.
• You know you are good at it, Baking, Cooking or whatever your passion is.
• Find The spark that lit that passion and start planning.

My name is Edward and I can help.