So... How's Business?

Well, we have completed a second month of business.  Two binders worth of daily cash register balancing, two months of daily sales tax calculations recorded in the ledger and we are still learning something new every day.  Some of those lessons can be painful when you are operating on a shoestring budget like we are.  So now I’m getting asked every day, “How’s the Business?”  I realized that we are so busy trying to run the store now that we have forgotten to document it the way I intended when we started this blog.  So let me catch you up…

We opened October 8^th to the public after a ‘trial run’ the Friday before with friends and family.  We had 4 employees, two that worked during normal business hours with Jimmy while Tiffany and I are at our paying jobsJ, then two others that alternate evenings (my son and niece).  We started off rocky because we had decided on a ‘soft’ opening.  That means that we didn’t advertise it and hoped that word of mouth would drive people in but not rush us on the first day.  In that way, we could all get more comfortable in our duties without the pressure of having 10 people standing in line.  It was a good theory.  The problem was that we had almost no business.  That was really scary.  We now had payroll to consider.  We were paying labor and weren’t generating sales.  We had to send employees home early on several occasions.

So a couple of weeks later, we had our Grand Opening, where the Chamber of Commerce came out and we did the ribbon cutting.  The local paper took pictures.  We were excited because we thought that once it got in the paper, we would start seeing more customers.  Well, it took weeks for the paper to print the notice.  By this time it was November and we were more than a little frustrated.  So it finally came out and we did see more folks come in, and then it just seems to have died.  We were doing less in daily sales in November than we were in October.  So what’s up?  Frankly we aren’t sure.  We did really good business the day before Thanksgiving with people ordering whole pies and cheesecakes but the lunch sales were way down and dinner sales had all but dried up.  The word we’re hearing is that the sandwiches are good, the cheesecake is good, the cookies are good, the soup … well its hit and miss.  Some are more popular than others, which is fine, we’ll learn what works and settle on a solid selection.  So then, why the drop off?  It’s hard to say. 

As I said earlier, we are operating on a shoestring budget here.  What I mean by that is that all our money went into getting the business open.  There is no stash of cash in the bank accounts of the business, Tiffany or Jim and me to keep it afloat.  It has to make money every day to pay the bills, and payroll, etc.  Neither Tiffany nor I take a salary and Jimmy doesn’t either at this point.  So the company is not paying us anything , and it’s very difficult for either of us to add any additional funds to the business to keep it in the black right now.  So every day is full of stress.  We finally sat down and gathered all our bills, including rent, utilities, insurance, credit cards, packaging, and food costs, etc. and worked out how much per business day a month on average that we would need to make to pay those bills.  Then we added our expected daily payroll expenses.  That gives us a target every day we are trying to exceed.  I think it’s a great tool.  Some days we are over that magic number but more often than not lately, we are under it which is not good at all. 

So, how do we hit the magic number or God willing, exceed it?  WE DON’T KNOW!!!  Maybe it’s just the economy, everyone may be feeling the same tightening of the financial belt that we have recently, maybe it’s just the holiday season and everyone is cutting back because they have so many other things they have to budget for, maybe we don’t have enough variety of lunch items to keep them coming back, maybe our menu is too confusing, or maybe our pricing is not in line with what our customers want to pay. 

So, we had to do a very tough thing and layoff one of our employees.  It's now just Jimmy and one other handling it during the work day.  That was really hard but we couldn't support the expense.  Also, today we introduced a new sandwich to the lineup, a Turkey Bacon Swiss Panini which has mushrooms, fresh spinach leaves and avocado slices which has already become the favorite of Tiffany and Jimmy (I’m still holding out for the Chicken Zucchini).  We’ve also introduced two new cheesecake varieties, Eggnog and Peppermint for the holiday season.  I think the eggnog is wonderful but I’m told by my 10 year old daughter, that only OLD people like eggnog.  So I guess that tells you how old I am.  And finally, we adjusted the pricing on several of the items including the pie and cheesecake slices.  Lets hope these changes will see an improvement to our daily sales.  Maybe we can hit that magic number more consistently.

Well, this is getting too long so I will stop here.  Next time I will fill you in on the total dollar cost to get this thing up and running, and talk about finding payroll software.

(PS:  My daughter denies the eggnog comment)

M

The Forgotten Utility

So, we just found out this week that our gas had never been turned off by the former tenant and apparently they just realized it.  Everything we cook with is electric, so we weren't planning on worrying with it until winter because the only thing gas is used for is to heat the building.  Well, it's winter (close enough), and it never even crossed our minds until the "gas man" turned up, letting us know that we needed to call and set up our account right away so he wouldn't have to disconnect us. They're about as bad as the electric company with their security deposit, but we learn by experience, so the first thing I asked was if there was any way it could be waived.  As expected, there was...by a Letter of Irrevocable Credit from the Bank or a Surety Bond from our Insurance Company.  Again, from experience, I knew the letter of credit wouldn't save us any money, so I called the insurance company.  Thankfully, they will do multiple surety bonds, and they're all on top of it.

Little by little, everything is coming together.  We finally made the paper, and more people are coming in that never even knew we were here in Sheridan, and open.  A lot of people also don't realize we're locally owned; they think we're a franchise - I guess because of our theme-y look.

We're still kind of watching the sales.  What days/times are best, etc.  We're planning on giving it to the end of the year to see what our final hours will be, but we appreciate all of our customers, and we want to make sure you have a tasty experience with us.

I'm adding a new poll, so vote for your favorite soup!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy the holiday and God bless!

Tiff

Step by Step, Day by Day

As Melinda mentioned, we are novices at the whole starting-a-new-business thing, and it's been a roller-coaster of emotions.  From exciting to stressful, then looping around enlightening several times, but it's nice to be open and past the construction.  

I really can't express how great it is to have Melinda as a business partner.  We seem to fit so well as a team.  I'll go nuts with stress over some things, and she'll be as calm as stilled water.  When she's flipping out, it's usually over something that doesn't seem as important to me, so we're constantly talking each other down.  We've both kind of taken certain things under our wing as well throughout the whole ordeal.  She's got her cheesecakes and cookies, obviously.  I've got the cupcakes and candles.  (I tried branching into helping with the cookies, but got fired from that real quick!)  She's added cinnamon rolls, and I've added brownies.  She did all of the paperwork for the sales tax permit and getting setup for Coke and Sysco; I programmed the cash register.  The latest of these are paying payroll and sales tax.  It seems as though she's got Payroll under control, while I'm tackling the Sales Taxes.  The stressful part is just making sure it's done right.  So, with it being the end of our first month, I sat down last night and calculated our Gross Sales and Taxes, and the total was shocking.  None of us realized how much we'd made, and therefore didn't really know how much taxes would have to be paid now.  I've been pushing separating taxes and payroll on a daily basis for a while, but we've needed the money to replenish inventory.  Now, I think we see the greater need to put the money back as we get it.  It's difficult as a new business to do payroll bi-weekly and taxes monthly without depleting our bank account.  As a matter of fact, with the economy the way it is, I'm sure that's been difficult for even established businesses.  But here we are: alive and kicking.

Another epiphany were our Hours of Business.  Before we had opened, we researched and found statistically that Mondays were the lowest sales days for a business, so we decided to close.  Jimmy has still usually been there baking, and noticed customers trying our doors, wanting some lunch.  I've stopped by the store myself the last couple of Mondays during my lunch hour, and there were people planning to eat, and unfortunately disappointed.  I hate losing sales!  We've noticed slow times as well.  Sunday after lunch is dead, and so we've decided to tweak our Hours of Operation.  Sunday we'll be open from 12 to 3 instead of staying open until 5, and Monday we will be open 10 to 3.  So, don't be shy, come on by!

Tiff

Are you guys a chain?

Apparently our little bakery has a very theme-ish feel to it.  I don't know how many people have asked if we are a chain!  I wish.  I've started saying "Not Yet".  Wouldn't that be awesome?  But first, we need to pay our own bills and keep our inventory supplies up before we could ever consider opening another store or franchising.  Still, it would be awesome to see our logo on shops on every street corner LOL.  Right now I guess I will settle with what we do have.  Now that the ball has started rolling, we are getting more and more business.  Last Friday (October 22nd) we had our grand opening where the Chamber of Commerce came out, and the local paper and we did the whole ribbon cutting and everything. 

That was kind of cool.  Our sign did get there the day before and Jimmy put it up at 9:30 that Thursday night so it made it in time for the pictures as you can see above. 

We will add a post soon about the day to day operations and how we are faring with those challenges like running out of to-go boxes, handling time cards and payroll, sales tax, etc.

M

All signs point to...

Well it’s been a while since we posted anything.  That is mostly because we have been so busy everyday that we just fall into bed as soon as we get home and then grudgingly drag ourselves back out when the alarm goes off.  These 7 days a week up at 5 and home at midnight or later have been a real struggle for Tiffany and me.  I am hoping that things will calm down eventually and we can get into a routine that allows each of us a bit of time for ourselves and our families.  That time is not now.

We are in our second week of business.  It has been hot and cold.  We decided to have a soft opening the first week to work out the logistics of running our own business since we are complete novices and give us an opportunity to build up our inventory levels as well.  We’ve been partially successful.  Every day there is something we realize that we forgot to do, or make, etc.  I was really worried that our opening day, Tuesday, would be frantic and that we would sell out of everything and disappoint our new customers.  The last thing I wanted to do was make a bad first impression.  I needn’t have worried.  There was practically no one there.  My new worry became whether or not anyone would ever show up.  If we would make enough money to pay the employees we’d hired.  I have to confess that I have been more panicked since we started than I ever was leading up to the opening.  I guess it’s my turn.  Jimmy and Tiffany did all the pre-open panicking.

The response to those that have come in has been positive but the thing we hear from almost everyone is “I didn’t know you guys were open!”.  The problem?  NO SIGN.

We spoke with a company about our exterior lighted sign.  He assured me that it would only take 3 or 4 days to complete once we got our logo to him.  So we did that, then nothing.  Since then, we’ve had a lot of trouble getting the company on the phone or email to respond to our inquiries about the status of our sign.  So here we are in our second week of business with no sign outside.   We finally got the guy on the phone yesterday and he tells us it will be ready this afternoon.  Hmm…. it’s almost 3pm and no word yet.  Our Grand Opening is tomorrow.  I would really like it if we actually looked like we were open for business and not still under construction.

So, as I said, our Grand Opening is tomorrow starting at 10 am.  Tell your friends that ‘that place’ is actually open for business.  Come see us!


M

Hello Sheridan!

For those of you who have been keeping up with our blog, let me make it perfectly clear, we are officially OPEN! We had a trial run last Friday night to train the new employees and smooth things out a bit, see what to expect, and it went well, but now we are open to the public and ready to fill your stomachs with some wholesome food and sugar!

So, just in case you don't know, we're located on the end of the Mad Butcher shopping center (other side of McCoy-Tygart) and our cheesecakes and cookies are calling your name!  As much as we pride in our desserts, that's not all we offer.  We also sell paninis (pah-nee-nees: hot, pressed sandwiches) as well as soup for lunch and dinner, so if you're looking for something other than the "same ole, same ole", come check us out!   In a hurry? Call in your order.

Tiff

No Sleep Til...

I'm sorry for the long delay in posting again.  Things have started moving at a frantic pace the last few weeks.  It's funny, Tiffany and I have been complaining about how slow the progress has been going with construction up until this point but now it's all coming too fast.

We had the health inspection scheduled last Tuesday and had to cancel because we weren't ready just yet, so we rescheduled for this Tuesday.  We were at the 'D' then until midnight the night before trying to get everything ready and done last minute.  Then the inspection itself.  We were all really nervous about this because we have never faced an inspection before.  What if everything was wrong and we were going to be delayed again getting everything compliant? 

I asked Tiffany to be there, so she took her lunch hour at 10 in the morning.  She stayed up late studying the rules and regulations book that night and was terrified that she would not be able to answer questions correctly and cost us our certification.  :)  So, at 9:59 I got a text from Jimmy that said "SHE'S HERE!" You could hear the panic coming through the phone.  Then it was my turn to panic.  I tried to work for the next hour or so while dying to know what was happening and if it was going well back at the store.

WE PASSED!!! So relieved, all of us.  That night Tiffany and I conducted interviews until 8:30 (a bizarre experience for me, I have never been on this side of the table LOL).  We found two people that we are really pleased with and feel confident about.  That means the only thing left is training and baking the initial products pretty much.  Well, and some final, last minute construction details.

It's been late nights every day this week then but we can handle it (I hope), things will calm down eventually.  Stay tuned for our big OPEN announcement.    :)

M

Mona Visa

You know Mona Lisa...the not-so-pretty lady with a smirk on her face saying, "I know something that you don't."  I think she's been staring us in the face since we started this thing.  Keeping all the knowledge to herself, and having a hee-haw-slap-your-knee kind of time watching us, shocker after shocker.  But really, these surprises just keeping coming and it's becoming so ridiculous, it's actually hilarious. And so, here's our latest:

Mel applied for a company Visa card, for a couple of different reasons:

1. To build credit as a company 
2. We still needed money for supplies

Happily, the application was accepted and we were granted a modest credit limit; we were just waiting for it to arrive in the mail.  So, after work yesterday, Mel went home to check the mail.  I can only imagine her opening her mailbox and a bright light and angelic music protruding from it as the envelope lay there, Melinda's face in awe.  She came back to Honey D's immediately and asked if I wanted to go to Sam's Club to pick up some ingredients in order to pass inspection next week and begin the initial baking. (Yes! We're that close!) It was already 6:30pm, but we were both a little giddy about buying other things for the bakery, so I agreed to tag along.  (She would have went without me if I hadn't and I couldn't let that happen.) Mel made the quick call to activate the card and we were out the door.

We walked down aisle after aisle finding a few pretty good deals along the way.  I was impressed at how restrained we were at buying things.  There were several things we would really need in the future, but not for next week, so we didn't get them, or we almost did, but then put them back.  It probably helped that we set a limit for ourselves on the way up there that was well below the credit limit of the card.  After all, we knew there would be more things to purchase as the Opening Date approaches.  We checked out just as they were closing.  We found that it'd been so long since I've been to Sam's Club that my Sam's card didn't even work anymore.  I knew we'd have to renew it or something, so they took care of that.  No problem.  But when it came time to pay, Mel swiped the Visa card and it said: Invalid.  Ok...not to panic.  It's a new card.  Maybe since it's a substantial amount for the first purchase, we'll need to call and get the transaction approved.  But then came the shocking news.

"Oh! You're using a Visa card?" the cashier asks.
"Yeah..."
"We don't accept Visa credit cards.  We'll take debits, but not credits."

Wha?  Complete confusion!  I mean...who doesn't take Visa cards?!  SAM'S CLUB! That's who!!  That was a downer.  I personally thought Visa was the one-world-currency the Bible prophesied for the end times.  You can go to Europe and use the Visa card; it does all the currency exchange for you, but I must be wrong because if you go to Sam's Club?  No way!  Those two families must have a three-generation-old feud going on or something.  To not take Visa....there's got to be a story behind that!

Mel and I just could not wrap our minds around it.  Of course everyone we told usually shops at Sam's Club so they already knew this rule.  We went to a convenient store to pick up a couple of cokes, and the Sam's cashier came in as we were leaving.  She apparently was still feeling bad about the whole scenario.  She said they really needed to put something on the door or the cash registers or something.  I mean, how else were we supposed to know?  Sam's Club doesn't take Visa!  (I still don't get it!)

Needless to say, that was the talk of the night after that, and we had plenty of laughs on the way home.

Tiff

Full Speed Ahead!

I don’t know about Red Light, Green Light, to me it feels like trying to run up the down escalator (incidentally, I watched someone attempt to do this once, hilarious).  You’re running as fast as you can but the top is always one step away and you’re tripping and stumbling trying to stay ahead of the constant downward motion.  Tiffany told me yesterday that she just wants it to be over with.  Nice enthusiasm LOL, what she meant of course was for the construction to be complete so we can get on with the business of running a store. 

But all the recent blogs talking about and groveling for money is depressing me, let’s talk about something different.  Food!

Jimmy and I had the opportunity to go to a Food Service Trade show this last Tuesday in Hot Springs.  I’ve been to trade shows before but not for food.  Our Sysco rep suggested we go since we are totally new to the industry.  We literally got our account open the day before.  He thought we could get some great ideas for our store. 

What a blast!  They should just put a plastic bib on you at the door with your company name instead of the nametags and give you a pen with a spork on the other end.  I only got halfway through the hall and couldn’t eat any more.  He was right though, there were so many vendors there with great food and we left with bags full of brochures and our minds full of ideas.

Jimmy was laughing thinking some of these people were probably wondering why a cookie company was sampling all the cooked meats but hey, we’re making sandwiches at the store!  Besides, it was so good.  Tiffany couldn’t go and she really missed out.  What a treat!

Anyway, an update on our progress:  We will FINALLY complete construction this weekend and we have scheduled the health inspection for next week.  Our first order with Sysco will also be next week.  That means we are very close to actually baking cookies and cheesecakes, which we have almost forgotten in all this construction and paperwork.  We put a help wanted sign up at the store and an ad in the local paper for next week.  It’s feeling imminent now.  I just hope we are at the top of the escalator and there isn’t another step coming out to trip me!

M

Red Light; Green Light

Picture this:  Four children are outside in the backyard, playing a game.  Huge smiles on every face.  All but one are staggered, facing the other child, who is yelling at them.  "Green light!"  The children race as fast as they can to tag the other child first.  The child in charge waits a few seconds, watching to see who's the fastest. A sly grin stretches across the young face.  "Red light!"  In a split second, the children freeze.  One of them, having trouble balancing since they were in mid-stride, trying not to fall.

We've all played the game.  Good, fun memories even.  But this illustration is exactly how our journey has been, and at least for right now, it doesn't seem very fun.  When Mel first asked me to be her business partner, all of our ideas came together.  Obvious green light.  Running smooth, right? Sure, until we had to come up with money. Red light! 

Ok...no big deal.  We knew it would take money.  So, I take out a loan and Mel sells a couple of vehicles.  Green light!  We're able to buy several big ticket items: Down payment on Rent, Refrigerated Display Case, Tables, Chairs, Prep Tables, etc. Finally finding a steady pace.  But, after you buy all of that, were running low on money, and there is still a substantial amount of construction work to be done. Red light!  (Starting to see a pattern?)

We were running out of options, but Mel's family stepped up and steadied us with their financial help.  Green light!  The pace speeds up tremendously.  We even think that we may have an open date on the horizon.  Construction is happening; painting is being done.  We're close to the finish.  I can feel the anxiety of opening.  Then...  Red light!! 

I'll give you one guess.  Yep...money factor again.  It's driving us crazy!  We're so close, and yet so far.  Construction is coming to a close, but we now have monthly utilities and rent to pay, and we still have to buy ingredients and other supplies.  So, right now...we're just teetering...our ears open...waiting on the next Green light!

We'll keep you posted!

Tiff

Keep the cookie dream from crumbling!

Well, I just launched our project on Kickstarter tonight:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/515841504/keep-the-cookie-dream-from-crumbling?ref=email

What's Kickstarter?  I'll let Liz Chou tell you in her words on her blog Life With Cookies and Other Sweet Surprises!

"Basically, people with a cool idea or cool project, but not enough money, meet people -- local or global -- who can fund it, in small pieces, with the twist that the money they pledge will be collected from them only if the project reaches 100 percent of its funding goal."

"In essence, Kickstarter allows people with creative projects to build pages on the site to describe the work they hope to do and the costs they face, and, crucially, to offer various rewards and benefits to potential backers in exchange for pledges of support. They share samples of their previous works, describe their new projects with audio or video clips, and provide links to more robust websites related to the project at hand. The hope is that their fundraising effort will go viral, providing them with capital and their backers with some nifty goodies and a sense of a communal job well done."

I stumbled on this website by accident when I was reading an MSN article related to new business owners.  I never knew such a site existed but what a wonderful concept! Ms. Chou's project was successfully funded and she is on her way to re-launching her company The Cookie Chew.

As most of you know if you're following this blog, Tiffany and I are close to completion on the construction.  We have the funds to get the building completed, my worry now is that I won't be able to purchase the last of the items I need to get open.  They are mostly small ticket items but still essential to the success of the store.  For instance, Tiffany purchased forks, which was fine if we were only offering cheesecake or cookies but with soup on the menu we will need spoons as well, and while we're at it, bowls would be nice too.  I have a wonderful refrigerated display case and another case Tiffany's husband is making for the cookies but I haven't purchased the trays that hold the cookies yet.  I'm discovering that all these things add up to more money than I think I will have left over.  In addition, I need to purchase the initial product supplies like packaging and ingredients. 

I sure could use some breathing room here so if you think you would like to help out, check out the link.  It's set up for 30 days, if after that time we haven't raised the money, you're off the hook, and I'm not out anything either.

Either way, we will get there somehow!

M

Honey-Do List

If you've ever heard me talk about my husband (on a day he hasn't been on my bad side), then I've probably told you how talented the man really is, despite what he'll admit to.  A man that can do anything.  I'm truly amazed. Room by room, he's remodeled our house, doing everything himself with little help.  From plumbing to custom cabinets (which is what he does for a living with his dad).  Clayton can do it all!  Jimmy, Mel's husband, excels in drywall, but I've come to find he dabbles in a bit of everything too.  I can't tell you what a blessing it has been to have husbands that can do anything they put their mind to.

Our blessing is their curse.

When Mel and I said we decided to do the construction work "ourselves" to save money, what we really meant was, "Honey-do for Honey D's?"  So, Mel and I weren't the only ones that have been hit with a few Un-Expectations. (Yes!  They went into it, knowing that Jimmy may have to put up a few walls and Clayton would do the cabinets.  We aren't evil!)  But for Jimmy, what started with a few walls being put up, and a couple of walls moved turned out to be a public handicap accessible restroom: ramp included.  And for Clayton, what started with a few cabinets, turned into merchandising shelves, a display case, and menu board.   But they've had great attitudes about the whole thing.  Clayton even stained my shelves twice to make sure it was the perfect deep black that I wanted!

So, here we are throwing out a big THANK YOU to our Honeys who have worked so hard on Honey D's.

Tiff

You're kidding right?

Alright this isn't going to be a progress report but instead more of a rant I suppose. You've been warned!

Now that we are closer to opening, more paperwork has to be filled out with the state in anticipation of hiring our first employee. That meant setting up our business with the Arkansas New Hire reporting site, downloading forms like I-9 and W4 forms and printing off documents that must be displayed somewhere in the store for employees detailing their rights, the current minimum wage, and also workers compensation information.

Workers Compensation, not all businesses are required to carry this insurance. For instance, if you employ less than three workers you may be exempt. Each state may be different and you can look up the requirements for your state at this site which has general information as well as links to each state including phone numbers for the worker's compensation department in your state.

So I went to download all the required forms and documents etc. For some reason, I was under the impression that workers comp. insurance was like unemployment insurance, meaning that I believed it was a payment I made to the state monthly, quarterly, etc. based on the employee payroll. NOPE! It was insurance I had to take out from my insurance provider just like my liability insurance. Ok, no problem. Tiffany called our insurance provider and they quoted her a price and told us they needed the whole year's premium up front since we hadn't been doing business with them for at least two years! Give us $1200 please.  Uh...pardon me?

This was not the first time I'd been blindsided by unexpected expenses. It’s basically happened at every turn. For instance, when we were negotiating the lease, our new landlord asked for two months rent up front, which is not unreasonable, it simply wasn't something I thought of beforehand and included in the start up expenses. So a large chunk of startup money went to that. Then we went to get the utilities turned on. Entergy is great and I’m aware there is a deposit for utilities, but for business accounts they wanted roughly $1000! Are you kidding me?

So I shopped around for workers comp. insurance that I could pay out monthly and got a much lower quote and on a monthly payment plan. Thank you! As for the Entergy deposit, I asked nicely what my alternatives would be to the $1000 deposit. She tells me we can get a Surety bond from our bank or insurance provider in lieu of the deposit. Sounds good, what’s that? Basically, it’s a promise by the bank or insurance agency to pay the deposit amount if we fail to pay our bills etc.

We contacted the bank first. Sure they do Surety bonds, but here’s the rub, they want us to deposit the $1000 into an account that we can’t touch, and in return, they will charge us a monthly fee for the bond. REALLY?!?!  Hmm…exactly why would I do that? It would be cheaper to just pay the dang deposit right? So next, the insurance company, bingo, finally what we were looking for. A monthly bill for the bond that they take out at the same time as our liability insurance, SOLD.

I just hate not knowing these things in advance. These surprise expenses are killing me but I guess the point is; that in many cases, you can work something out if you shop around, and hopefully, if you have read this blog before starting your business, you won’t be as naïve as I was…am about the true startup costs.

M

Baby we were born to run.....

Is it a bad sign when your husband (the baker) tells you he’s thinking of running away?

Something about putting paint on the walls has all of us saying, ‘We really are gonna do this huh?’ As if the huge financial commitment we’ve already made to this endeavor meant nothing up until this point; suddenly a little honey colored paint and it’s starting to feel real. I guess it’s that we can finally visualize the actual space and us in that space doing the real work.

Jimmy is freaking out about moving from the construction industry to the food service industry. (He tells me that he has never been more scared about a new job in his whole life). Tiffany is freaking out about how much of her time will be taken up running the store after our other full time jobs and families responsibilities, and me? I’m freaking out about hiring people who I will then have to manage. Pretending like I have all the answers and know what I’m talking about when I really have no clue. Logistically, I am not sure yet how to distribute hours and job duties, how busy we are likely to be during the lunch hour, etc.

This whole process is totally new to each of us. Each and every step has been a discovery and a learning process. Most importantly we have learned that we can be flexible! With all three of us sharing ideas and encountering obstacles, we have learned to adapt our plans as we go. And sometimes, one small change creates a tidal wave of changes. Which brings me back to the paint; when that color went on the walls and the baseboard was painted black, the whole feel of the place changed. My niece came in and said it looked ‘sophisticated’. I don’t know about that but It did have a different vibe that what I initially thought. Tiffany began to think that our original logo didn’t go with the feel of the store. She asked me if I thought the logo was too ‘cartoonish’. Uh Oh!

So, yesterday she showed me a new logo she designed. I have to admit that I liked it a lot but I have always had a bear with a honey pot as my logo and all our literature, etc. had the original logo. The good news was we hadn’t ordered the sign for the store or shirts, hats, aprons yet. I told her to put it on the blog as a poll and see what others think and so far it seems obvious that the new design is the favorite.

So that same paint color has now been splashed across the blog and our store website as well, giving everything a more uniform feel. I like it, but tell us what you think by voting in the poll. Remember it’s not too late, we still haven’t ordered those shirts!

In the meantime, we will still be scared, excited, and plowing ahead!

M

Desserts spelled backwards is Stressed

So, the paint went up and we're actually seeing some progress. It's kind of freaking me out! Supposed to be having another 'labor day' weekend on the horizon very soon to paint the kitchen and bathroom. But even after that, there is so much to do, so many things to purchase, and then we still have to buy supplies, hire a couple of part-timers, cook everything, and finally open (and I'm sure I didn't cover everything). We only think our lives are hectic now. With Mel and I already working full-time jobs, doing this on the side will make our current life look like a piece of cheesecake!

When we first started this, we were losing sleep due to all of the excitement and constant ideas that would pop into our minds, only leading the path for more ideas. We couldn't shut our brains down long enough to rest. Throughout the initial stages of starting the business, I was in awe. "We're really going to do this, aren't we?" I kept asking Mel. Now, I can't sleep because I'm stressed. Frequently thinking about what all still needs to happen. After we open, I'll probably still have lack of sleep because I'm doing laundry at midnight. When else will I have time to do it?

The stress, though, actually brings me closer to my faith. Troublesome times seem to do that, you know. So, I keep telling myself that God will get us through. The Bible tells me to do all to the glory of God and that's what I'm trying to focus on. It helps calm me, and maybe I can get some sleep and dream about DESSERTS, and not about being STRESSED.

Tiff

Labor day weekend spent laboring :)

Well, FINALLY we got a chance to really get involved in the construction.  Tiffany and I spent the better part of our holiday weekend elbow deep in paint!  It really transformed the place though.  I'm getting really excited now.  Take a look:

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The Monsters Within

Definitely, the construction has been a thorn in our side!  We actually had the opportunity to let the landlord do the construction and increase our rent to pay for it, but decided against it.  We were trying to save money by doing the labor ourselves, but for a while there, we wondered if that had been the right choice.  Sure, it may have saved money, but when we didn't have any money, we were at a complete stand-still, and that became very scary.

Things seem to be picking up pretty fast though, and we're planning on painting over the Holiday weekend.  I'm getting very excited again!  And when we get excited, we go overboard!  Here's an example:

I've mentioned 'The Spreadsheet' only once, but it has played a major role in starting our company.  What started with a list of items, prices, and estimated sales grew into a monster spreadsheet.  It currently holds 16 tabs (which includes a list of investments, checklists, equipment, materials, supplies, and MORE!) and I really think we're holding back. There is so much information to track and manage, that it just seemed convenient to have in all in a centralized location, and since we didn't have an office up and running yet, it made sense to put it in a spreadsheet.  I don't think we realized how massive it'd become until it started taking about 15 seconds to attach it to an email that we were passing back and forth. Can't wait to get a computer in the office!

Tiff

The Construction Curse... Or Cursing Construction?

Tiffany getting excited about winning an eBay bid for a bunch of forks really did crack me up. I mean they’re forks! But I had a similar geek out moment when I secured a slicer for my cheesecakes. I knew you could get machines that made nice even slices for your cakes and pies, the ones that put the papers between each slice. It was one of those items that was on my wish list; not an immediate necessity but something I would dearly like to have once we were up and running and could afford one. I looked them up online and they're manufactured by a company called FoodTools. When I inquired about the price it was well out of my range, so I started looking for used ones for sale. Turns out, there happened to be a man selling one on Craigslist out in San Diego for a steal. I simply had to have it, because it was nearly 90% off list price! The gentleman who was selling was an incredibly nice guy as we tried to work out how to ship it from California to Arkansas. It ended up costing more to ship it than the machine itself cost me but it was still an incredible deal. So I am now the proud owner of a CS-1FP model Round Product Portioning machine! I’m so thrilled to own it that I actually get giggly every time I use it. The folks at FoodTools are exceptionally nice as well and helped me with parts and supplies even though I didn’t purchase the slicer from them.

The problem we had with this spending though, was that we hadn’t really sat down and put together a construction list. We had a general vague idea of what we needed to leave for construction but it turned out to be a gross underestimate. So we were spending money on equipment for the store, furnishings and such but hadn’t finished or even fully realized the expense of construction. So what we were faced with then down the line is that we were short on money and couldn’t finish construction.

Sure we had table and chairs, we had a refrigerated display case (another great buy on eBay), but we sure as heck couldn’t open since our kitchen was only half constructed! This caused some substantial delays as we scrounged to come up with construction money. My husband left the bakery idle for almost two weeks to complete a drywall job just to have more money to finish construction on the bakery. Last week it became obvious that we were still much too short on funds, and we had our first monthly lease payment due on the building. We had already spent two extra months on construction than we anticipated and so incurred two months of electric and water bills that we had to pay out of pocket. This was getting serious. It looked like we would fail before we ever opened.

It was time to lose my pride and ask for help. Up until this point, I had, for my part, funded the bakery completely, out of pocket. Now I was going to have to go, hat in hand to my family for help. I really loathe doing that. REALLY LOATHE IT, but I was in trouble and I couldn’t throw in the towel and fail before I ever even opened the doors! I just couldn’t have it. So I put out the call for help and I have to say I have the most WONDERFUL family ever! They came through for me. I am so very grateful. Thank you Dad, Janet and Pam, sincerely, thanks to you, we are back on track now and are in the final push to get open. Just a few more weeks…

M

Confessions of a Shopaholic

You know when you finally have some money, the first thing you have to do is: spend it!

So, we finally got a list of the equipment that we needed.  That was a bit tough at first because we weren't sure what all equipment was mandatory to past initial inspection, but were able to get a requirements manual from the local Health Department, which helped.  Once the list was in hand, we went shopping.  We checked the internet for used restaurant equipment and local auctions.  We were dead set on getting everything as cheap as possible, but still clean and reliable.

When you start surfing the web for restaurant equipment, you find out quickly that you only thought you had your complete list.  There were things that we never even thought of that we still needed to get.  We were fortunate to find a restaurant closing and were able to buy some used tables, as well as prep tables, a 3 compartment sink and many other things.  Those are the places you want to find.  Talk about some good deals!

So, we purchased most of the things we needed, and saved the biggest expense for last...the chairs.  We looked at some used furniture but with mine and Melinda's (well, we call it a slight case of OCD), but since there weren't enough chairs that matched exactly, I just couldn't bring myself to buy them, no matter how cheap they were (and they were going to be a steal).

Looking through the internet, I found some plain black metal chairs for fairly cheap, brand new.  I actually found them on two or three different websites, some at different prices.  And then I was enlightened on what my hidden talent was: haggling.  Price guarantees are awesome, by the way.  When one company will give you a better price, the other company will give you free shipping, and then the last company will give you a better price PLUS free shipping.  It was marvelous, and I think I got high on it.

Probably the funniest story (at least for Melinda) is my experience with Ebay.  I've always had a strange fear of that website.  (Something to do with buying things from people I don't know, and paying them online.  How can you be sure it's not some kind of scam?)  Anyway, one day I got tired of asking Melinda to buy everything for me, and did it myself.  I bid on a package of forks, and remained the highest bidder throughout the life of the auction.  I watched it to the last minute, and noticed some sly little foxes trying to outbid me. I had my auto-bit set up higher, so I'd refresh my screen to see if they outbid me.  30 seconds, 29, 28...  My internet connection was slow, too, taking some 15 seconds to reload.  They were still upping their bids, trying to win it, but as low as possible.  The final refresh, and the screen told me I won!  I WON!  I was elated, had to call Melinda immediately, not only to gloat, but also ask, "Now, how in the heck do I pay this guy?"

Tiff

Let the Paperwork Begin!

Before you can even open a business account, you need to decide on what type of business you will form. A partnership, a corporation, a sole proprietorship, etc. and for that we needed the help of a lawyer or an accountant to explain the differences to us.


We met one Saturday with a local accountant who was very helpful and didn’t charge us anything for the consultation visit. (We will definitely be doing business with her once we are actually open for business). She suggested an LLC (Limited Liability Company) and urged us to create a Partnership Agreement.

I didn’t even know what that was, but especially because Tiffany and I aren’t related, she expressed to us how important it was for us to formally agree on what we expect from each other as it related to the business and what would happen to the business if one of us wanted to leave, or retire, etc. These were things we hadn't even thought about.

We searched online for a template form we could use to draw up this contract and went from there. It took us several hours and was eye opening. We had to hash out things we had never considered. Going in you think that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but what if Tiffany and I started to hate each other? What would happen to the business if we could no longer work together? Who would get control of the company? Would the other partner be able to compete in a similar business if they left? What if I wanted to buy her out what would be the rules set for that? If one of the partner’s retires or becomes deceased, will the business revert to the other partner in total or will our heirs be able to assume our share in the business? What role or claim, if any, did our spouses have in the business? These were tough questions that we had to work through, but hours later we had an agreement on paper and we had it notarized and each got a copy.

Then we had to actually apply for our business name and file the paperwork with the Secretary of State. This is required unless you are a sole proprietor. The Arkansas Secretary of State website has lots of helpful information under the Business and Commercial Services tab:

There you can search for business entities by name to ensure that the name you wish to use for your business is available and download forms required for business filings. With my paperwork in hand, I went to their office in Little Rock and filed for roughly $50.00 and we were officially in business!

Now we could file for our federal tax id number, open a bank account, get a lease, etc. and we had found a place we really and truly were excited about. The FOR LEASE sign went up almost as soon as we agreed to be partners. I took it as a sign that we were truly meant to start this business. Now if we could just afford the rent. We had to seriously and realistically identify what we thought our potential earnings would be and what, at the bare minimum, we would have to sell each day/week/month to stay in business.

I had negotiated a good deal on the rent partly because our husband’s would do much of the renovations inside to make it ready for a bakery so that our new landlord would not have to do them himself and then charge us a higher rent to cover his expenses. This proved to be a blessing and a curse.

M

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Before we really knew what we were doing (like we do now?), we were so enthusiastic about everything.  We set up a spreadsheet and made estimated sell projections to be sure that our income would be enough to pay the bills.  We added an item listing with the prices versus cost.  What the profit dollars and profit percentage would be.  I personally love working with numbers so it was the high point of my day.  We were so consumed with the money we supposedly would be making, that we put off finishing the list of necessities' expenses (materials, equipment, etc.).  If we would have done this first thing, that would've been a light shed right there on what our estimates were rather than actual cost.

Melinda had been using a bear and honey pot as a logo, but felt we should have something more original...something we could call 'ours'.  So, I offered my limited artistic abilities, and drew up a few different  pictures: a bear peaking behind a honey pot, a hive with honey dripping out of it, and a few more.  We stuck with the bear and the honey pot, and tweaked it a bit.  Found the perfect font that looked like honey dripping to add our company name to the pot.

The most fun of all was looking for the perfect place for 'Our Store'.  Don't you just love the ring of it?  Melinda and my visions were very similar about a storefront.  We actually preferred being on the court square.  The thought of foot traffic was intriguing and we knew we'd get a lot of business during Timberfest or Christmas-on-the-Square.  But the place we wanted most was already rented out, although being used more as storage than anything, and other spots just didn't seem to fit our setting.  So, we ventured out looking for other places, hoping to find somewhere big enough, but affordable.

All of this, and we haven't even started the actual business process yet!

Tiff

We need some money honey!

Once Tiffany came on board with the idea, things really started to move swiftly. First things first, we needed start up money. While small business loans are available, don't be fooled into thinking that you can simply finance your entire business and not have to have some money of your own to invest. And you can forget right now the idea that somewhere, somehow you can get a grant to start your own business. I don't care how many sites out there say there are grants available and that Uncle Sam just has money available for the taking; you will quickly learn that the government is not giving away free money, or at the very least, you won’t qualify to receive it. Don’t pin your hopes on this or fall for the scams out there telling you to order their tell-all guide/e-book/exclusive membership for the low low price of $24.95 and get your FREE MONEY today! If you really want to start your own business, you’ll have to have some skin in the game as they say. So, back to what I was saying, we needed money and there was no hope of grants or business loans.

In the History page, I stated that my husband and I were coming off some difficult financial times and certainly didn’t have piles of cash stashed around so we had to get creative. Since my husband was no longer in the drywall business and he was going to trade in his sheetrock mud for sugar and flour, we decided to sell most of his drywall tools. We also sold two older vehicles and some other odds and ends, mostly on Craigslist but also through the local paper. It turns out we had more cash available than we expected to have which was a good thing since the actual expenses for getting this business off the ground were more than we initially anticipated.

That is really the first warning I need to give you (well besides the grant money scams which I hope you weren’t foolish enough to fall for). It will cost about twice as much as you initially estimate to get started. I know you don’t want to hear it but in our case it was absolutely true. There are so many additional costs that just blindsided us but we’ll talk about those in another post.

The second warning or bit of advice I will give you is to go ahead and open a business account and put all your startup money in this account and not your personal account. We ended up spending some of the money earmarked for the business simply because it was in our personal account. Operating even before the business opens with a business account makes all the expenditures transparent and easy to track.

Now with our funds in place, we were ready to begin right? Not quite…

M

You've Got a Friend in Me

Sorry about the title, but for some reason at the end of your post, the 'Toy Story' theme song just popped into my head.

It's funny Melinda should mention faith because honestly, that's exactly what it was and still is.  Throughout my life, God has placed certain people there at a time when I really needed them, and many blessings have come from it.  I truly believe He put me here to help Melinda fulfill her dream.  Emphasis on her.  My dream has been to own a Bed & Breakfast or an Inn of some sort when (if) I retire.  When I decided to go into this, I didn't do it for my sake.  Not for me, not for the money (although that is a small bonus), but for Melinda.

I, too, worked at a bakery for about 6 months, my very first job, but I wasn’t hands-on like Mel (She hates people calling her that, btw, but I do it anyway). Although my husband and I have decent credit, I still consider us poor stewards of money. I can make a mean budget and stick with it, living paycheck to paycheck with no overdue bills, but saving anything for the future is completely out of the question.

So, when Mel asked me to go into business with her, I was initially dead set against it. It seemed out of order to me. I don’t even own my home home yet, and I’m supposed to start up a business? No way! But I went home and presented the craziness of an offer to Clayton (husband) anyway.

Much to my surprise, he said, “You know…if you really want to do this, we can do it.” Deer caught in the headlights! Wha?

Again, no money saved, so where were we going to get this money? Well, a line of credit and a little help from Dad and we were well on our way…

Tiff

Cookies!

My mother had a recipe for honey cookies that was my favorite growing up.  She didn't make cookies very often but when she did, these were the ones she always made.  It was a family recipe that was handed down to her.  I don't really know it's origin but you can search the internet for a recipe like it and not find it.

When I grew up, married and had children of my own, this was the only cookie I ever made.  Friends asked for the recipe all the time.  They really are good.  So when I was looking for a new source of income I could do part time, I thought of these cookies.

I’ve seen at least two articles of women who have turned to baking to keep themselves out of foreclosure.  I was in a similar situation.  I thought, why not me?  I have a product that I think beats anything on the market.  I can make money at this.  One brand of cookie though wasn’t enough so I started to develop other cookies, mostly using the same basic honey cookie recipe my mother used.  I modified it slightly then began adding items like chocolate chips and toffee, pecans, white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, and instant coffee and caramel chips.  I sold them to family, friends and co-workers and then on ebay.  Soon I started getting requests for specific types of cookies like ginger and oatmeal raisin.  That’s when the real inventing began.  I was no longer simply adding onto my mother’s recipe, I was developing my own unique recipes.  As a result, the ginger and oatmeal raisin cookies have become two of the most popular flavors I sell.

It continues to expand and I recently added a peanut butter cookie, brownie cookie and a banana nut cookie and I’m working on a lemon one.  All of the cookies have to have honey as a key ingredient.  They need to be soft and chewy too.  I am not interested in a hard, crisp cookie.  It can be really frustrating throwing out batch after batch of cookie dough that doesn’t turn out quite right but I really enjoy the challenge and the process of coming up with a new cookie recipe.

Now I was selling cookies pretty regularly and it was a nice added boost to my income but it wasn’t paying my rent.  It bought my gas maybe, which would be fine if it was simply a hobby, but I wanted it to be a career.  A business that I could develop and grow, that I could make money at, which could employ my husband and later my children if they wanted.  So it was time to get serious about this.

The next question was how do I start?  I knew what I wanted but had no idea how to get there.  I searched the internet with search terms like ‘how to start a bakery’, ‘small business startup guide’, etc.  Some of the information I found was helpful but most just pointed me to a site where I could purchase their book(s) which would give me all the tools and information I needed to start my business and be successful.  It wasn’t what I was looking for.  I wanted someone to tell me what it was really like getting started.  What they did, step by step.  What worked and what mistakes they made along the way.  I didn’t find it.

So, I decided I would write it myself.  Maybe someone else will find it useful.

Tiffany and I will both be contributing to the blog with our different points of view and tell our story from our respective sides though the beginning was mine to tell.  Tiffany comes in when I decided to get serious about jumping from hobby to business.  It was an act of faith on her part and I am very grateful she threw caution to the wind and decided to take a chance on this.  She gave me the courage to believe it was possible.  She is a truly a great friend.  Here’s hoping we can stay that way!

M