How to transition from home baking to a bakery setting
I need some assistance, please. I am working on setting up my own bagel-artisan bread bakery once my family returns to the U.S. from my wife's overseas tour of duty. I can bake just fine in a standard oven and making batches for the home and friends. However, I need to know how to set up and bake for a business when it comes to larger quantities of items. Unfortunately, my only bakery experience had me making primarily pies and cookies which we not as time intensive as breads can be. I'll be starting out as the sole employee until I can get things started and can afford to hire assistance.
I've tried asking local artisan shops, but the owners refuse to offer any assistance. I don't know where else to turn for help.
I am very open to constructive advice and willing to learn from you as you are the experts.
Thank you.
Two things to consider:
1. What equipment is necessary?2. How much time will it take? Do you have commercial space available to you? For me, I needed a large deck oven, ample refrigeration, and counter space. I was able to purchase a location that had all those. For bagels, you will need a boiler (or use a deep fryer for boiling maybe). For 2, you really have to think it through. Will you be able to get everything done in a shift, or will you need split shifts? I am able to manage my schedule by retarding dough in the fridge or freezer which allows me to make some products up to a week in advance, while some are only a day in advance and some are same day. A sensible bread schedule for a typical sourdough is as follows: Mix tomorrow's doughBake yesterday's dough from the fridgeShape and proof tomorrow's dough in the fridgeClean upPack and deliver today's bread For my oven, which has a decent capacity, it takes about 4.5 hours from turning the oven on to pulling out the last of 120 loaves of bread. To mix and shape that dough takes about 4 hours. Cleanup takes about 45 minutes. Packaging takes about a half hour or so. Delivering takes 30-90 minutes depending on the day. If I made less bread, I wouldn't make much money. I had other things to do, too, like accounting, invoicing, setting up new accounts, babying new accounts, going to the bank, buying ingredients, running a limited hours storefront, hand rolling croissants and other pastries, and more. I didn't sleep much, it was interrupted, and it was at work almost all the time. Decide what you want it to be. Have a plan. Have a vision. Is this something you want to do as an augmented hobby and break even? Then it is easy. Do you want to build a business? If so, then why this? There is more money in other jobs. If you have a passion for the work and you want to build a business in this industry, it can be done and it is not easy if you approach it alone. You need to have a strong desire and some goals because it is rather draining. Bakery is perishable and the work is every day, and it is long work and toilsome. I spent 18 months working 60-70 hour weeks every week, usually 7 days a week. I was able to reduce it to mid-50s and now, after almost 2 years, I am still in the high 40s to low 50s, 6 days a week, including working over 200 days in a row. I have 4 full time employees now. I am saying it can be done, I am glad I did what I did, I liked a lot of aspects about it, but it was much harder than I anticipated. I probably would not do it again. Ps I love working and baking. I've been wanting to do bagels as well, but they sell for so little that it hasn't made sense to add yet. Bread also doesn't sell for much. Pastries are a real good meal ticket. People buy like 5 of them at $3 or $4 apiece, but only one $5 loaf of bread. Insider secret. Good luck and keep gathering information beforehand! It is not an easy process.I'm reposting, hoping to have appropriate paragraphing
Two things to consider:
1. What equipment is necessary? 2. How much time will it take? Do you have commercial space available to you? For me, I needed a large deck oven, ample refrigeration, and counter space. I was able to purchase a location that had all those. For bagels, you will need a boiler (or use a deep fryer for boiling maybe). For 2, you really have to think it through. Will you be able to get everything done in a shift, or will you need split shifts? I am able to manage my schedule by retarding dough in the fridge or freezer which allows me to make some products up to a week in advance, while some are only a day in advance and some are same day. A sensible bread schedule for a typical sourdough is as follows: Mix tomorrow's dough Bake yesterday's dough from the fridge Shape and proof tomorrow's dough in the fridge Clean up Pack and deliver today's bread For my oven, which has a decent capacity, it takes about 4.5 hours from turning the oven on to pulling out the last of 120 loaves of bread. To mix and shape that dough takes about 4 hours. Cleanup takes about 45 minutes. Packaging takes about a half hour or so. Delivering takes 30-90 minutes depending on the day. If I made less bread, I wouldn't make much money. I had other things to do, too, like accounting, invoicing, setting up new accounts, babying new accounts, going to the bank, buying ingredients, running a limited hours storefront, hand rolling croissants and other pastries, and more. I didn't sleep much, it was interrupted, and it was at work almost all the time. Decide what you want it to be. Have a plan. Have a vision. Is this something you want to do as an augmented hobby and break even? Then it is easy. Do you want to build a business? If so, then why this? There is more money in other jobs. If you have a passion for the work and you want to build a business in this industry, it can be done and it is not easy if you approach it alone. You need to have a strong desire and some goals because it is rather draining. Bakery is perishable and the work is every day, and it is long work and toilsome. I spent 18 months working 60-70 hour weeks every week, usually 7 days a week. I was able to reduce it to mid-50s and now, after almost 2 years, I am still in the high 40s to low 50s, 6 days a week, including working over 200 days in a row. I have 4 full time employees now. I am saying it can be done, I am glad I did what I did, I liked a lot of aspects about it, but it was much harder than I anticipated. I probably would not do it again. Ps I love working and baking. I've been wanting to do bagels as well, but they sell for so little that it hasn't made sense to add yet. Bread also doesn't sell for much. Pastries are a real good meal ticket. People buy like 5 of them at $3 or $4 apiece, but only one $5 loaf of bread. Insider secret. Good luck and keep gathering information beforehand! It is not an easy process.How are you at sleeping during the day? You'll be working late at night and early mornings, sleeping during the day.
I could never work in a bakery again, it was like living a sleep deprivation experiment.
Check licensing and health & safety regulations where you are planning to set up shop. Some regulations differ depending on what kind of equipment you have (commercial versus 'domestic') and your premises. Having employees is a whole different game too (payroll, benefits, taxes, other regulations, etc.). If you are planning on selling to other retailers the requirements may be different than if you are selling direct to retail customers.
I sell in my tiny home-based shop (only open half a day a week) and at a small local summer market. Other than that I bake for a subscription list. This takes care of the problem of baking a bunch of bread and having a slow day with a whole lot of leftovers. Think about that - what will you do with 20 or more loaves of leftover bread? Throw it away? Donate it? Sell it at a discount (you'll already have small margins, probably).
Be ready to track your costs very carefully - all of them, including ingredients, packaging, marketing, equipment and supplies, etc. and be aware of your margins. How much are you making on a loaf of bread? What if you change ingredients? What if the cost of flour goes up? You need a steady supplier of your key ingredients too - wholesale or a distributor you can trust.
Be careful that your love of baking doesn't become a chore! If you need the income to live on, you might find another line of work might be more lucrative. Me, I'm retired and the bread income is supplemental, so it's much less stressful.
I'm not surprised local bakers refused to help you. It's a competitive business with small profit margins, where everybody guards their recipes and trade secrets. Instead of asking them to help you start a new business, you should ask them to offer you a stage/internship. If this unpaid work leads to paid employment -- even better! Spend at least a year working for somebody else, pay attention to how the production cycle is set up, what equipment they use and how it's maintained, etc. But most importantly, you will develop SPEED. It's hard to explain just how fast professional bakers work, especially when it comes to scaling and shaping, and how essential it is in keeping the business afloat.
I wish you well with your pursuit in the baking business and I offer a few things for consideration.
As with most businesses, in the end profit will be a factor. That profit could be as small as enough to buy another bag of flour or it could be enough to support a family. Only you can decide how much is enough. I'd start there and then work backwards.
If you need a $50,000 a year income from your bakery business then it should be fairly easy to run the numbers and predict the amount of product you would need to sell to in order to make that much after-tax profit. That will key you to the amount of time needed to make that much product, and set into motion how you might go about moving all those baked goods.
Unless you are moving into a bakery-barren zone the market is probably saturated with existing product, therefore you will have to displace other bakers to create your own niche. That usually comes down to pricing or uniqueness. You can then predict how much "unique" costs, and then figure out how many of those items you need to sell to make your after-tax profit. Now you are narrowing your market to customers who will both recognize and pay for the added value, and my experience has shown that the market shrinks dramatically and quickly. Lowering prices is usually an easier path but that means less profit or more product. Your competitors are not going to roll over and die so you can expect a price war, or what I call the race to the bottom. Mature business can generally outlast a newcomer when it comes to this type of price war, and they have the war chest to lose money for quite some time.
I know this all sounds pessimistic but these are the realities of making a profit. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Licensing, taxes, code compliance, employees... each one of these things will require a lot of attention. Buying or leasing a location, equipping a space, arranging for supplies and suppliers will all take time and effort.
Is it worth it? Again only you can answer that question. I read a piece written by Jeffrey Hamelman that said the baker was more akin to the farmer, and not the retail business person. The hours are brutal, the conditions tough and there are no vacations. As farmers say, the cows won't milk themselves and in our business the bread won't bake itself either. Customers become dependent on a specific product at a specific time. However, Mr. Hamelman also said that, like a farmer, you can go to bed every night knowing that you brought rich and nutritious food to many people that day. Unless you become an industrial farmer, or an industrial baker, the money really isn't that great. But then the guys who create industrial farms and bakeries really don't farm or bake for a living - they manage businesses.
So, talk to your family and decide what you will expect out of your new business. Speak realistically about the sacrifices that everyone will have to make to secure your/their futures. Don't bite off any more debt than absolutely necessary. First and foremost, develop a written business plan. It will confront you with the stark realities of building a business and maybe expose you to some benefits and pitfalls you were not expecting.
Jim