What I would Not do if I was starting my Cookie Business Over.
My cookie business journey has been far from linear…. I’ve done everything from sell cookies directly to customers, to wholesale, to teaching cookie classes. You could say short of learning how to design my own cookie cutters I’ve tried a little bit of everything as a home baker.
And while I appreciate all the twists and turn for teaching my valuable lessons along the way I’m not sure I’d take all the paths over again. So from one baker to another I thought it would be fun to break down for you what I would 100 do again and what I would avoid. So in this blog post we’re talking about the “Don’t List”. And don’t worry next week we will give you a run down on the things I would 100% do all over again.
Don’t List
If I was starting my business over again there are three things I would avoid doing again.
1. I wouldn’t pack my schedule so full, in my first year of business I sold one product. Seriously just one. And that was custom sugar cookies. And while I loved creating these beauties, they take So. Much. Time. And there would be weeks where I’d have 4 custom cookie orders and between by day job and decorating that is literally all I had time for. And while this gave me the skills I needed to expand my cookie business it lead to burn out so darn fast. Since then I’ve learned to take on less orders by charging a fair price for my time. My decorated cookies now cost $60 dozen not $30 and I can take on half as many orders for the same amount of income.
2. I wouldn’t sell wholesale. As a side hustler I fell into the shiny object syndrome trap thinking I’d only be a legit business if I worked out of a commercial kitchen and was selling to wholesale customers aka coffee shops in my town. And in my state that meant finding a commercial kitchen space to rent. Paying extra in permits. And paying rent for the kitchen space all while selling my cookies for less than retail. And you wanna know what happened? I spent every single Sunday baking at the commercial kitchen all while netting about $100 of extra income. The math just wasn’t mathing if you know what I mean! While I absolutely loved my wholesale customers as a side hustler I just didn’t have the bandwidth to manage wholesale customers.
3. And the last thing I wouldn’t do over (if I didn’t have to) was move across the state! I had to relocate for my corporate job forcing me to shut down by business and reopen it in an entirely new community. And if you know anything about local businesses you know that it is a mountain to climb to get your name out there and start connecting with your community. And let me tell you I did that! I had finally created a name for my bakery and then bam…. Had to pick up, move and start all over again. And although now I’ve rebuilt my brand in my new community, it really did feel like I was going two steps forward and one step back for the first year in my new town.
So, these are things to be wary of. And while they aren’t something I’d choose to do over again they have provided me a very sturdy foundation in my bakery business. And here are a few things I learned the hard way, so you don’t have to.
1. Your time is valuable. And not just the time you are being paid for but also your free time. You can’t “hustle” 24/7 and you shouldn’t have to.
2. Diversify the ways you make income in your business. My favorite way to do this is to host cookie decorating classes (we will talk more about that next week … but If you’re curious you can snag my free guide all about hosting cookie classes here!) But keep in mind that as you diversify your return on your time should be worth it.
3. Putting yourself out there in your community and building genuine connections is invaluable as a small business. Seriously. Take the time to get to know your community and give back to them and in turn you will watch your business grow and flourish.
There you have it! My “Don’t List”. I’ll see you next week for the “Do List” of what I absolutely would do over in my business and why I think it could benefit you too!
And until then – Happy Baking !