Starting a Successful Bakery
A penchant for sweet treats can take you in many directions. But if that love extends to baking them, then you might be interested in opening your own bakery. You could focus on sweets, cakes, breads, or any other tasty confection to please passersby and regulars alike. Starting your own business takes more than just passion, though. You also need a plan and a process to get things off the ground. Although bakeries can be difficult to make profitable, if you plan out your business correctly before opening, you can give yourself a greater chance at long-term success. Knowing a few helpful tips to save money and maximize your dollar doesn’t hurt either.
Utilize Financing
Before investing all your savings in those confectionery display cabinets, think about other options to pay for them. A lot of companies offer financing options through their own departments, so you don’t have to extend your loan or use up your credit to pay for these big purchases. Bakeries can come with a lot of equipment such as proofers, mixers, and industrial ovens. If you opt to finance these purchases and pay the companies over time, then you can save the money in your checking account for bigger and better things.
Wait on Branding
When you first open a shop, you’ll probably feel the urge to slap your logo and business name on everything you can. Free marketing right? Not really. The costs to brand disposable items can be high and are continual. Using plain packaging to start with is a perfectly acceptable option because there’s a lot of trail and error in the beginning. This way, if you order something that turns out not to work so well, you aren’t stuck with 100 items you can’t use. Once you’ve established and grown into your brand and your ready for perfect packaging, consider luxury boxes to reinforce your brand and enhance your customers experience with your product.
Focus on the Product
Especially with desserts, costs can rack up fast. Don’t let this discourage your dream! Know what your break-even point is—the place where you aren’t making profits, but you aren’t losing money—and make sure you’re hitting it. Even if you aren’t profitable in the first few months because of supplies costs, it’s still better to focus on quality over savings. Don’t switch to the cheap flour or subpar icing just to save two cents. Your customers will show up for an amazing product and be willing to pay.
