Hiya!

I was wondering for those of you who own your own cake decorating business or a bakery/pastry shop and you have your own original recipes that you developed over the years and stuck by in your business, how do you go about hiring bakers who will later see and use your recipes? If they end up leaving or are fired, can't they just take your recipe and use it elsewhere? Do you make them sign a contract that they cannot duplicate or use your recipe once they leave your business?

Thanks for your feedback

You can have them sign non-compete agreements. Or if you are really paranoid, you should mix up all the dry ingredients yourself and only allow the baker to work with the "mix".

Personally, I plan on hiring people I like, pay them awesome wages and treat them with respect. I think if you treat people well, they won't "steal" from you. And if they do, well - let God or karma deal with it.

You can have them sign non-compete agreements. Or if you are really paranoid, you should mix up all the dry ingredients yourself and only allow the baker to work with the "mix".

Personally, I plan on hiring people I like, pay them awesome wages and treat them with respect. I think if you treat people well, they won't "steal" from you. And if they do, well - let God or karma deal with it.

Any baker that has a clue should be able to figure out a recipe, and what's in it. Personally I don't think it's an issue. Some people do though. After you have a basic clue of what percentages go with what percentages, and how ingredients work together there isn't a recipe that can't be duplicated.

Mike