Lessons Learned on the Journey to Growing a Bakery from Scratch

What I thought I knew...

I thought that when I finally decided to start a bakery, that I would have rented a building to call my own. Little did I know that I would have to start from scratch and sow into this dream of mine.

What I know now...

Research pays off: vendor markets, learning about competitors, finding out what products are trending. I have to stay in the loop and that means that I have to put myself out there. I have to be bold in my networking, and this is not something that comes very easily for me. I used to be very shy as a child. I would send my 4yr old little sister (I was 8 at the time) to order my food at restaurants when it was my turn to say what I wanted. This is not exactly the strong beginning of a business woman. God always has a funny way of using our weaknesses to make them our strengths. He has blessed me with boldness to step out and grow my bakery, while my part is to be obedient when He gives me good ideas to execute. The more and more I step out with confidence, the more I am rewarded with successful encounters that aid in my growth.

Challenges are rewarding lessons: seasonal items, confronting conflict while remaining humble, trying new things. It is hard to be excited about my new business when I have moments of trial. For example, I missed the mark on my target audience at an event this year and as a result I only made about 2 sales the whole day. This was very discouraging for me. Are my customers bored of me already? Did I advertise enough? Is this just a bad location? All of these thoughts were confusing to me as a new business owner, but at the end of the day I found that I was thankful to be there. I enjoyed the company of friends old and new. I still got to make all the treats for the event, which is where my passion is fueled anyways, so I have to say that it was still a good day!

Support systems are beneficial to everyone's success, regardless of their goals. It was during the hard season that I discovered how important it is to have a strong support system. People in my life that encouraged me to not give up. My husband, children, and other close family members have been the backbone to my endeavors. If they didn't believe in me, I probably would never have even tried to start a bakery in the first place. Their support keeps me excited to move toward my goals.

Setting attainable goals is important to help see the accomplishments along the way. It can be very encouraging. Creativity can be a hard thought when it is clouded by doubt. I took this season to really revisit my ultimate goal for the year. I had set out to do as many events as I could in order to find out which ones are the most successful. These are the events that I will return to again next year. It was hard to find myself in the middle of this lesson, but I learned that it was necessary for the fulfillment of my goal.

Balance between work and life is fundamental, especially when raising a family and maintaining a healthy marriage. I am glad that I learned the importance of this before entering into the entrepreneurial world. I recognized when the boundaries were getting pushed because I felt the stress of my 'job' start invading my time as a mother. I was unable to make dinner because I had made too many commitments to orders/events. I became exhausted, which in turn led to me becoming angry or short with my family. I blamed my lack of ability to "do it all" on my husband. That was not fair to him; he is a wonderful provider for our family. It is because of his hard work to be sole provider for our family that I have the freedom to act on my dreams to one day have a bakery cafe.

"Relationships are more important that schedules." -Denalyn Lucado