INVESTING IN A SMALL BAKERY CAN BOOM YOUR WALLET

Plan your bakery

There’s a lot involved in starting a bakery. With Funguka Tanzania’s help, let’s get the planning process started.

1. Select the kind of bakery you’d like to open

One of the first decisions you’ll have to make is the kind of bakery you want to open. To do this, you’ll want to access your talents, budget, and goals. There are four main choices when it comes to bakeries. Take a look at the list below and figure out which option is right for you.

Online bakery. You don’t need a storefront to open a bakery. You can start out online. With a website, pictures of your work, and a way to place an order, you can run a bakery from your home.
Counter service bakery. With a small commercial space, customers can walk in and pick up baked goods from an employee-managed counter.
Specialty service. If you plan to specialize in a certain kind of baked good, a specialty service is your best option. Whether you run the business from your home, or rent a space, it’s up to you.
Sit down bakery. More owners are trying to capitalize on the sit down and dine option. It’s a growing trend in the bakery industry right now. These bakeries have an area to order baked goods and enjoy them in a small eatery.

2. Write a business plan

Once you know what kind of bakery you want to open, you need to create a business plan. By creating a business plan, you’ll force yourself to look at the business from every angle. This plan defines your business, sets goals, creates a plan to generate revenue, lists expenses, describes your customer base, and examines your competition.
Access your startup funds. As part of your business plan, you’ll dive into finances. One of the numbers you’ll need to generate is startup cost.You’ll need to compile a list of equipment that you’ll need to make baked goods. From appliances like ovens and refrigerators, to smaller items like utensils and pans, make sure you create a full list of tools. The equipment will be a one-time hit, but you’ll also need money to live on while the business gets established. You won’t make profits overnight, so you need to sit down and figure out when you’ll break even and how much money you’ll need to survive until that time.

3. Shop for space

If you’re running a bakery from your home, you’ve already got your space figured out. If you plan to invite customers into your bakery, you’ll need commercial space. Some bakers decide to rent out commercial kitchen space. It’s a good option if you don’t want customers to walk through your shop, and just need a bigger, more equipped kitchen.
Whatever your needs, be picky. Shop around, compare prices, talk with neighboring businesses, and research the area to make sure you find the right space. Do not forget to consider the legal necessaries—which will vary state to state—such as obtaining a license to bake out of your own kitchen.

4. Price your baked goods

Most baker’s base price points on the cost of supplies and the time it takes to make the goods, but this formula is flawed. Your prices should include things like clean up time, packaging (In Tanzania, Rainbow Printers Co. LTD is the best in Packaging), and time spent promoting your business on social media. The biggest hidden cost in a bakery is time. It’s very easy to forget the time you spent making flowers because you were watching TV while you did it. There is nothing worse than realizing afterwards that you earned 50 cents an hour on a fabulous creation.”

5. Have a defined friends and family policy

Before you open your bakery, be aware that friends and family will probably ask for a discount. When you’re selling cakes and cookies as a side gig, it’s fine to give the neighbor a discount, but when you start your business, it’s different. “All those wonderful people who previously bought cakes off of you for the cost of ingredients are going to need to be re-educated about what you’re doing now”. “Those who really love and support you will also understand your need to feed your family and pay your rent.” If you want to offer a 10 percent discount to friends and family, that’s fine, but whatever your policy is, make sure it’s consistent.

6. Find support

Speaking of friends and family, a support system is crucial in the baking business. Opening a bakery is time consuming. Time spent baking is only half the commitment. You’ll need to market your business, take orders, help customers, and do an array of administrative tasks that will all require your time.
If you don’t have someone cheering you on, it can be hard. Whether it’s your spouse, a colleague, or business mentor, you need someone in your corner.

Open your bakery

What’s the one ingredient every successful bakery needs? Customers. This next segment will help you find and retain customers.

1. Be original

These two words might seem like generic advice, but to survive in the bakery world, you can’t be a carbon copy of your competitors. “Be the best, the first, or the only one baking the kind of treats you make”. If you can be all three of those things, that’s even better.
Know what kind of competition you have in your area and work to set yourself apart.

2. Be prepared to market your product

You can spend all day and night in the kitchen creating the next best cake, but if no one knows about it, it doesn’t matter how great it is. That’s why you have to set aside time and money to market your business. “Being a fabulous baker doesn’t guarantee success”. “You also have to be a fabulous marketer too.” Too many bakers get wrapped up in technique, but “perfect ganached edges mean nothing if you have no actual orders on which to have perfect ganached edges.” Here are a few free marketing tools to utilize for your bakery:

Write a blog. To promote her business, Green devotes some of her time to blogging. Recently, she wrote a post about delivering cakes long distance.
Use social media. Social media is a great way to promote your business. If you’re short on time, pick one social media site and post consistently.
Join groups. As with any business, networking can bring in more customers. Join local business groups and forge relationships that are beneficial to your bakery.

3. Focus on your customers

Your customers are your key to success. Happy customers become repeat customers, so work to make each customer experience memorable.
Ask your customers for feedback, talk with them at the counter, and ask for product suggestion once in a while. “Make the customer experience count”. That’s the best way to get repeat customers and money in the register.