Give Me A Good Proposal For A Bakery...
Business By tavyheather Updated 11 May 2010 , 3:39am by tavyheather
In the process of finding a certified kitchen in San Diego...
In town there are three cake shops...one doesn't do fondant cakes (which is my strong suit); another does and she's amazing at both wedding and specialty, fondant and buttercream; and the last is great at wedding cakes but severely lacks at specialty cakes...
I'm thinking of approaching these places and asking if I can help them make some of their orders and get a percentage...and use their kitchen for my orders...
Would you allow me to do this if this was your bakery? What would you think would be a fair trade as far as pay/percentage cut would be?
Thanks for your input!
I'm an accountant by day and a baker by night. In my business experience I encourage you to act cautiously about partnering with an existing business. As an owner of the other businesses, I would be concerned that this would be a temporary arrangement for you and that you would be seeking your own space when the time was right and would ultimately leave and potentially take some of the business's existing customers. In your shoes, I would be afraid of being taken advantage of. Starting out you might be able to fill your own orders while expanding the owner's business, but that the owner would eventually begin taking more and more orders and not allowing you enough time to fill your orders. Also you would run the risk of losing some of your clients should you discontinue the arrangement. There are alot of business considerations involved, employee and employer relationships, liability insurance, independant contractor concerns, schedules, supplies, use of tools and utensils. I would think long and hard before taking any action.
Thank you so much for your thoroughly helpful response...
I would also think this was a conflict of interest but a restaurant owner suggested it so I thought I would explore it...
I would want to apprentice under the 2nd baker, who is fantastic at specialty and wedding cakes....but, like you mentioned she might be concerned of, I would only want it to be temporary until I could do it all myself........
hmmmmmmmmm..........[/i]
IF (and that's a big IF) the bakery owner would let you apprentice under her I would bet that you would be required to sign a non-compete clause.
Would you allow me to do this if this was your bakery? What would you think would be a fair trade as far as pay/percentage cut would be?
Absolutely not! What's the percentage of the business risk that you've invested? These are established bakeries that have gotten where they are without you thus far. Unless you were a contributing partner from startup, that provided money, equipment, delivery vehicles, or some similar monetary necessity of value, there would be no percentage cut of anything that you're entitled to. However, if you're looking for pay for your labor contributions, by all means, go in and apply for a job. As an employee, your fair wages would be whatever is agreed upon.
Alright, well I guess that answers that! I'll continue my search for a certified kitchen and do it on my own TY very much! 
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