I've been thinking about starting a bakery, but I don't know about where to start. I've been looking online trying to find ovens and all that, but I don't even know what kind of oven I want. I was told by the bank that I needed to figure all that stuff out before I came to them to ask for a loan. I'm just not sure. I'm scared because I don't know what will happen if for some reason it went under!!!!! I just need help on where to start and what to start with there are just so many things to do. Thanks

I can completely feel for you. When I found out how wonderful cake decorating is I wanted to start up my own business right away! However, I have now realized that the best way to start (IMHO) is by renting a space from someone else who already has a kitchen. I found a baker that is willing to rent to me on a per hour basis. That way starting out (while I'm building up clients) I don't have a very high overhead and I'm legal. I can tell you it can take a decent chunk of change to make your own place.

I live in Houston. So I will try to PM you later with details on the permits and so on that is needed in my area. Some of it will differ in your area and some won't.

Also, what the bank is wanting is basically a business plan. Which I think is a wonderful idea. It gives you a realistic outlook into your future business. I have not had the courage to completely tackle mine yet but it's a wonderful tool.

Oven wise, I don't know. I just remember people on here talking about not getting an oven that has a fan in it b/c it makes the cakes bake odd.

Hope this helps!

Are you talking home bakery or storefront?

I have been in the start up faze for almost 6 months and am still preparing before I actually open. I've taken business classes and am in a self employment program at the local college right now.

Business plan... first thing to do.. banks will not even look at you for a loan unless you have one.

There are many places you can go to get help in doing one. your local college..women in business resource centre, small business through your city or state.

HTH

I would start by looking at the sba (small business assoc) web site, your states web site and even your local chamber of commerce. All kinds of paperwork needs to be filled out before you even look at ovens. Cause it is going to take money to figure out what kind of oven you can afford. LOL. And that little thing they call a business plan to guide to so that your business wont go under. That is just a sliver of the of cake. Hope that helps and good luck to you! PS There is also a article on this in the article section.

If you would like to check out equipment and other supplies for bakeries, I suggest you go to Modern Baking's website (just Google 'em). You can sign up for a free magazine that is focused on baking equipment and supplies. Even though you're just starting out, it's a great source of industry information.

There is a national organization called SCORE that is composed of retired business people who mentor those who want to start or improve a business.

You can find them at http://www.score.org

The one-on-one mentoring they do is FREE, so there is little to lose. They know the questions to ask to help you figure out what is feasible and what isn't and can help you to get started with a business plan. There are fee-based classes also, but you don't have to do them if you don't want to.

I bought a book on ebay called "How to Open a Financially Successful Bakery". It came with a CD-rom with customizable forms and business plans. It also had suggested equipment lists and supply lists. I got it at a reasonable price and it seems very informative, but I don't have a bakery or a business so I don't know if I'm a good judge. You might try it out though. HTH

Ditto on all that's been said on a business plan. At the very LEAST, it is a great exercise for you to go thru. Please know that it is not a document that you slap together over the weekend. Mine took 9 months, a CPA, an attorney, and an orgz that helps people put together sucessful plans. It ended up being over 40 pages. Unless you have a great accounting background, you will most likely need a CPA ..... a biz plan MUST have a break even point chart/info, projected income statement, projected P&L, etc. I had to provide the numbers for my CPA and he put them in the proper format. A biz plan is required for an SBA monies.

Another place to research equipment is http://www.equippers.com/ . You can download their catalog online and sign up to receive a paper copy every quarter (which I like having so I can make notes, place post-it's, etc).

The bank logically needs you to do this research so you can tell them how much you want to borrow and what you are going to use the money for. In your business plan, they want to see a list of your suppliers .... they are looking to see that you have business accounts open and checking for multiple suppliers. (During Katrina, Sysco couldn't get any sugar. If they had been my only supplier of sugar, I would have been screwed.)

You will also need estimates/quotes of any construction, kitchen design fees, etc. if you are doing any construction or build out. A floor plan of your space, rent schedule, estimated utility costs.

SCORE, SBA, and the other sources listed here are very helpful first steps.

have you worked in a bakery?

my advice to someone who wants to open up a storefront is to work in a bakery and see what it's like before you invest 1 cent.

it is ALOT of work, i worked at several before i opened my place, and it still didn't prepare me for the workload....i think some people have a "romantic" idea of what it will like, and the reality is so much different.

plus working with pros, you'll learn shortcuts and speed....its much different than decorating at home....you gotta be fast in order to make enough to pay the overhead.

that being said i love it....but i'm kinda burnt out some these days....it is really satisfying making people happy.

Thanks ever so much for all of your help. I've started working on my plans just in my head. My DH keeps telling me that I need to get my own place and I just did a 1st birthday cake for a someone I knew and his mother-in-law has a flower shop they wanted me to make some cakes and business cards to take up there, but I told him no because I'm not legal, and I don't want and can't afford the trouble that might get me in.

I've never worked in a Bakery, but my mother-in-law has and we would be doing this together. She is into the cake decorating like me, just not so much I don't think. She is more into the other aspects of the bakery. So we would make a great team. I Just hope it works out....and we would want a store front bakery not one out of either one of our homes.

My DH works for H-E-B(kinda like wal-mart just not all the junk) I have done 3 cakes for them and have been told I have a job with them whenever I want one I may go look into that, but I guess that's not really the same as a small bakery or something like that cuz the volume is different and so is the quality!!!!

bump

The first thing I did was figure out all my expenses. Rent, electric, phone, etc. and break that down into how many cakes I would have to do a month just to break even. Then think about if you have that many clients built up or are even willing to make that many cakes. I have had a store front bakery for over 7 years now, and like someone else mentioned, don't be romantic about it, it's very hard work. Sure the cakes are fun, but that's about 20% of it at best. There's the legal issues, supply issues, licenses, inspections, advertising, and a whole lot more. You become, at least at first, head decorator, accountant, office manager, stock boy, dishwasher, custodian and handyman. I worked 12-15 hours a day for the first 5 years and am only now able to justify paying a full time employee to help out. I still do 100% of the decorating and that's how I always want it to be, but I'm lucky that I don't have children that I'm neglecting and my husband also owns his own business and works quite a bit too, so we value the little bit of extra time we have. If he were a 9 to 5'er, I don't know how that would go over! Just my experience, give it a LOT of thought! Lori