Chirag Bakery

Part 1.

I am constantly amazed by the number of e books and other so-called bakery specialists on the internet who are trying to convince real entrepreneurs that the bakery, is a hard business or that the best way to get into business is via a home bakery.

The bakery has been my employment for the better part of 53 years. And, yes, there have been times when to satisfy a wife and family I have tried other types of employment. I have made side-wall hovercraft out of fiber-glass. I have built vehicle parts also from fiber-glass and I have been a welder as well as made rainwater pipe.

If you asked me, “Did I enjoy that employment”? The answer would most definitely be a very resounding NO!The work was dirty, smelly, and as far as I was concerned, a monkey could do it. It was boring!

The bakery does not pay a high wage, and that is very unfortunate. However, it is a steady employment and that beats working out in the bush three months a year under some harsh condition, or working in a car manufacturing plant like a zombie.

The bakery is not a place where an uneducated person can survive for very long. It does require attention to detail

It requires math type skills, as well as English or some other language reading skills. Without a reading skill you cannot know what is in a recipe. There are health regulations to understand and be able to read and follow.

Apart from being able to read there is the fact that every worker must follow certain hygiene specifics. This not only means neat and tidy appearance but it also means that personal hygiene must be addressed too.

Some of these people trying to convince you that the bakery is hard or trying to convince you that their e book is the best in your situation are doing a very disservice to the industry as a whole, because they really have little or no idea how a bakery works. That’s because a lot of these e books are nothing more than a compilation of generic information on how to start any business.

I was about to say that very likely most if not all have never even been inside a real bakery, but that would be wrong and make me out to be just like them.

I have, as I said, been working in the bakery trade since 1955. That is over 53 years. I started when I was fourteen years old by making Hot X Buns for family members and delivering them on the back of my bicycle on a trailer that I also built myself. My efforts made over twelve dozen in my mothers kitchen. That was before I really learn to make bakery products in a professional setting.

I can go on blowing my trumpet and giving you trade names and positions I have been employed in, but where does that get me?

All I will say is this: to really learn how to be a baker. Go to a collage school that offers bakery training. If they only offer a three month course the likelihood is that it will only offer a small portion and very likely be on just one very small subject. So you will need to enroll in a number of these type short courses.

Try to find a course that offers at least 10-12 months training. That training should be a combination of both practical bakery production as well as written bakery methods.

Of course there are also schools that just want your cash. There are also schools with poor instructors, as well as schools with some of the best bakery skills around who are trying to teach people who are merely trying to keep their unemployment benefits going too.

There are people who call themselves Chefs. Some of these people have no idea on how to make a bakery work.

Please do not get me wrong here, some chefs are really great cooks, especially when it comes to fillet steak or fondant potatoes or ice cream deserts and can operate a kitchen where one or two plates of food need to be served in a short space of time.

But most chefs that I have known, have very little or no idea on how to operate a bakery where numbers can run in the hundreds and have tight production times. I am not putting the chef down. In a kitchen they can have that job. It isn’t for me! In a bakery many are up a creek without a paddle.

Part 2

Now I started writing this article because I am amazed at the way some people are misleading you into thinking that it is easy and the best way to get into business is by starting a home bakery business.

Starting a home bakery. Most home based business are in built up areas of a community. There are usually children in the house. Often very young children.

This is often the cause of wanting to start a bakery at home. Plus, it is also a reason to be prevented from starting a bakery at home. Catch 22 syndromes.

Children also play in the gardens and roads of the area. This is a concern to local authority, because it is often considered an increase of vehicular traffic to a home business.

Neighbors complain of the increase in traffic and without your next door neighbor approving of your venture, it might just be a pipe dream. Another problem with home based business ventures, is the increase of garbage. Local authorities consider a business as extra income collecting your business garbage.

So you will pay for two garbage pick ups and your business garbage might have to be in a protected container, not the usual one bag bin as might be allowed in your community pick up.

Another reason for the neighbor to complain is these container bins attract flies, they smell terrible in hot weather and they also attract vermin in varying forms. The garbage contractor is not responsible for steam cleaning or pick up of the surrounding area either. That is your job.

It could get very messy if you leave the container unlocked. Garbage pickers will very likely rummage through for cans or bottles from which they might get a refund of deposit. If you live in a semi-detached house, an apartment, or a townhouse. There is a very real threat from a fire? Your built-in oven may have dried the woodwork around the oven to the point of combustion and only needs a certain amount of moisture and heat to actually catch fire.

Have you seen the heat generated by a compost heap? Or a pile of wet sawdust. Your neighbor would probably hear all your machinery working. And, if you started work on your products at say 3 a.m. in the morning. They will not be best pleased at being rudely woken at such an unearthly hour.

They won’t mind the aroma from your fresh product if you were allowed to make then, but they most certainly will create very loudly at your early start to the day.

There would be another problem with delivery of your ingredients. First of all there is the storage of the ingredients. These are usually delivered in larger quantities than you would normally purchase from the local super market. So your built in cupboards will not be sufficient to hold everything.

That in turn means you will require a storage area. Separate from the house. The floor in houses are not designed to support the weight of a bakery business and its ingredients, nor the machinery.

If you store flour, there are certain legal requirements. Flour is considered a combustible. Even an explosive. I have been around flour for over 50 years and never heard of flour being an explosive till recently, when my building inspector pointed out the problem to me. Yes! I have heard of flour mills catching fire, but never a bakery for that reason.

Your storage area will very likely need to be re-enforced on all sides and ceiling. In some areas that re-enforcing might be in the form of two layers of giproc, no less than five eighth inches thick and fire retardant. Your storage room might also require a fire door.

I have been asked several times over the last couple of years as to why people cannot operate a business in their kitchens. After all starting a bakery at home is easier than trying to buy a bakery. Or so most people think. What do you need to start a bakery? The idea is great; the products are often out of this world, and cheaper than what you could get from a professional bakery.

Because they might be cheaper does not mean that they are inferior. It just means in many cases that the overheads are less. Or it could also mean that the person starting the bakery has not thought the whole thing through and it could just be a hobby. It does not matter what business you plan on starting, Cookies, Cup Cakes, Restaurant or Pub.

A business plan is a “must”. OK, so what do you need to start a bakery, Do you need experience? Well yes! It certainly would help if you know what you are doing. But is it essential? Heck NO! Not every time, but the more you know the better chance you have of being a success. Of course, if you know someone with whom you can turn too and ask questions and get answers, then that would help in the success of any business. This is why I say you must have a plan! Let’s look at a few of the reasons why people are prevented from operating a bakery business from home. One of the very first reasons comes from local authorities like the health and safety departments.

We have all read in quite recent months some horrifying stories of contaminated foods, even in closely regulated establishments. Like Fast foods restaurants, contaminated milk products, dog foods. Even the Popeye food spinach. As well as fingers being lost in these same places. It is a great concern to ensure that those starting home bakeries are handling food as safety conscious as humanly possible. The handling of food is but one aspect of the health inspector’s job. Another is to ensure that the premises are safe to the businesses or homes around your home bakery.

Maybe the area you are thinking of starting your bakery is rodent or bug infested. These parasites are not good for creating a business environment where food is the product of manufacture. And it would be very difficult to get a business license too. Fire, is another hazard that you need to be aware of. That is why you need a fire inspector to approve your location too. I know what you are thinking here. My oven is metal. It can’t catch fire! Ummm! You think you are starting a bakery at home, so very likely all your tools and equipment are the regular tools and equipment found in a typical home kitchen. That means everything is; as they say Built-in!

Maybe your stove top is a classy glass electric cooker. It looks absolutely beautiful beside your eye level oven built into your classy custom made cabinets

Problem!

First the problem is the stove top. It’s GLASS!

Second, the oven is BUILT into your cabinets.

Bakery management is the means of handling bakeries. Management takes a lot of effort, but through common sense, knowledge and, of course, hard work, this may not seem to be as tough as it seems.

One of the greatest steps in bakery management is introducing cross-merchandising in the bakery. To do this, you could display fresh herb breads near fresh herbs, or you could cut up your loaves for the customer to catch the taste. Also, try cross-merchandising your bakery items with the deli and soup counters. Keeping coffee on display with the other bakery items will definitely help the loaves fly off the shelves.

The customer gets to know about the bakery through signs put up in your shops–so make sure that the customer is comfortable in the bakery by providing proper signage. Signage may be in different shapes and sizes, with small signs for cookies and muffins and bigger signs for sectioned areas of the operation. If you prefer handwriting your signs, make sure they are legible and attractive.

Another important aspect of bakery display is color. The best colors for a bakery are browns and beiges, but to liven up the operation, bright colors like red and yellow will complement any display. When concentrating on lighting, don’t over- or under-light key areas of the bakery, as lighting adds life to your products. Be certain to watch lighting systems so that you can ensure cleanliness and accuracy of the beams and so that you can identify and replace burned out bulbs immediately.

Cleanliness is an important factor in ensuring the return of customers. No customer wants to find a dusty food counter or a spotty sneeze guard, so make sure the staff wear hairnets, hats and disposable gloves while handling bakery items. Have a well-stocked shelf of favorite bakery items at all times. Try variety, as customers get bored of the same items over and over again. Always make it a point to give the best service to customers by providing staff with the required training. You could try handing out customer comment cards to get comments on your operation. Keeping sample stations in the bakery is also not a bad idea; sampling proves to be a great customer service tool. Once the customer tastes the food, their cravings are satisfied and thus, the sale is closed much faster.

The final aspect of bakery management is to keep promotions and contests in the bakery. Use national holidays for special promotion periods to have customers bursting through the door. Holding bake-offs where you could encourage your customers to show off their secret recipes is also a great idea.

An eclectic mix of a sixth sense for culinary finesse along with innovative business acumen is probably the best success-oriented pre-requisite for an entrepreneur thinking of starting a bakery business. However, simplistic as it sounds, a bakery business is just not about tantalizing aromas or delectable tastes. It requires a similar amount of spadework and planning as the other businesses do, even more at times due to the high level of customer expectation in this field.

When considering how to start a bakery business, there are a number of critical factors one needs to analyze and decide on accordingly.

The business plan

The first and most crucial step is to lay down a concrete business plan for owning a bakery. The most important aspects which your strategy must touch upon include:

1. The physical area you plan to target
2. Nature of composition of your target clientele, including gender, age and food preferences
3. Type of bakery you want to set-up. Options could include a home-based bakery, mobile bakery shop, donut shop, franchise bakery outlet, ethnic bakery, etc.
4. Basic commodities and products you intend to offer
5. Staff required for the bakery and how you intend to train them
6. An outline of cost of products
7. Outline of production costs
8. Basic strategy for marketing
9. Basic infrastructure you might require
10. Source and amount of basic capital you intend to invest

Get a license

To operate a commercial establishment such as a bakery, you will need to have a license and be certified by the state in which you are operating. Lookout for associations and bodies relevant to the bakery business and ensure that you have the required memberships and affiliations from the same.

Get the equipment

Whether you are pondering over how to run a small bakery or planning to establish a bigger unit, the equipment you use can determine the success of your venture to a great extent.

The most important equipment that you will require, at least for the startup includes:

1. Ovens and mixers of different powers and for handling different specialties
2. Cooling racks for managing the produce post-baking
3. Baking dishes of various dimensions and sizes
4. Mixing bowls to suit ingredients of different materials
5. Assorted utensils and cutlery
6. Attractive packaging supplies
7. Extensive raw material supply
8. Cookbooks, manuals and recipes booklets to keep you updated on the latest trends
9. Sanitizers and other chemical detergents
10. Attractive display cases for your finished products, along with tables and chairs for your customers who might want to eat on the spot
11. Packaging material so clients can take their baked goods home

Starting a bakery business can often be a significant entrepreneurial decision. Apart from the basic training, work area, cost of products and other such aspects, one of the most crucial requirements is to ensure that you maintain the quality of the bakery products you churn out. In addition, when adequate attention is paid to all of the above factors when planning how to start a bakery, the results are generally effective, making the venture surely a profitable one.

Good quality bakery packaging supplies are necessary for safe and damage-proof packing of baked goods. If you run a bakery, it is very essential to have a ready stock of these supplies for ready use. In view of the needs of the bakery industry, numerous stores and online dealers offer a wide selection of various brands of these products.

Essential Bakery Packaging Supplies

Delivering baked foodstuff in a safe and attractive manner goes a long way in enhancing their appeal and attracting customers. Some of the useful options available to achieve this are:

Cake and Pizza Boxes – Foodstuff like cakes, pastries and pizzas are prone to get easily damaged if not properly packed before transportation. Attractive bakery boxes come in various sizes and styles to suit your needs. Honeymoon Paper is a brand offering eco-friendly bakery boxes made of prime grades of clay coated recycled material. Most can be custom-printed with your logo and branding messages. Southern Champion, Bellarico and BVT Chef Revival also have functional donut, pizza and cake boxes.

When it comes to packaging pizza dough, you need quality boxes that prevent crusting and increase the storage life of your dough. Cambro’s pizza dough boxes meet these requirements. They can be stacks securely, loaded or unloaded, and come in a rigid polycarbonate construction. Moreover, they are reinforced on all sides, dishwasher safe and do not break or sag easily.

Source Supplies from Reliable Dealers

It is best to source your bakery packaging supplies from reliable online dealers. They stock a wide selection of boxes to suit various needs and offer great discounts on bulk purchases. They also deliver right at your doorstep. To get quality bakery packaging supplies, all you have to do is browse through the website of the dealer and place your order online.

Running a bakery requires a lot of things all coming together at once.

I prefer the term, “The Daily Operational Requirements of a Bakery” rather than “how to run a bakery”.

The word “running”, is a term used in the sports field and though we as bakers do a lot of fast movements and it might seem to some that we are literally running from place to place. It is structured and designed to make as much use of our production time as is humanly possible.

Also running in a bakery business is one of the top reasons for professional accidents. The only time anyone should be running in a bakery business, is in the event of an emergency!

Now as far as the heading is concerned we are running a bakery but of course as I have explained my preferred term is the day to day operations of a bakery.

For some, it is also going to be a headache. It is certainly going to be a fun and rewarding experience to others. But it can also be your worst nightmare!

I am telling you this right up front…

…NOT to scare you into giving up your business venture, but to open your eyes, so you can see outside the box.

You have heard that statement many times i am sure. But, if you can think outside the box then many of the challenges will seem like an easy crossword puzzle. (Unless you hate crossword puzzles of course).

YOU!

YES you!

Whatever you do will be imprinted onto your business and whatever your employee does will also have a bearing upon “YOUR” business. It is therefore up to you to know as much about that business as is humanly possible.

What you don’t know can be purchased, such as managers, accountants and lawyers.

You will need to oversee every aspect or employ someone with whom you have complete trust and I do mean complete trust. This person will be spending YOUR money. They will be operating YOUR business. They may not be writing the checks, but they maybe designing the production flow and controlling your staff so that is where I say they are spending your money.

So, just what is involved with how to run a bakery?

Or as I have already said, arrange the daily operation of the bakery production.

One of the first operations is to cost your purchases and then cost the recipe’s you will use to acquire a sale price to pay all the expenses of your business.

Of course I am assuming here that you have already written your business plan and you have arranged an ingredient supplier, these are the steps to become a profitable bakery business.

The daily operations of the bakery are going to change every day. This is because production will change daily. After-all the chance of selling out every product every day is unrealistic – NOT impossible, but not likely.

We of course strive to produce just enough so that few pieces are left over. That way the product is at its freshest.

In the bakery we produce bread dough’s, and some of those bread dough’s require a bench time and some bread dough’s are what we call “No-Time” dough’s. So it is important that we arrange our time to work all these productions times into a standard operation for optimum use of every piece of equipment as well as utilizing our oven space appropriately.

Besides the bread dough’s we also make cakes and cookies, pies and other products that require different operational procedures. They also bake at different times and temperature.

Breads bake at a temperature of 400 to 450 degrees. But if you were to put a sugared top puff pastry product into that same oven, three things will occur.

1. The sugar will burn
2. The puff pastry will not cook correctly

3. The time, ingredients, labor and product are wasted!

Similarly, if you make meringues, the oven temperature will be 150 – 175 degrees so trying to bake a sponge

cake or bread at that temperature will be the same result of number three above.

In most bakeries, that is a small bakery with just a few employees will use a system called “baking down”.

Baking down is a way to run a bakery by baking all the highest temperature products first then the cake production then the cookie products and finally the meringues.

Does the thought of being surrounded by sweet sugary smells, hot bread coming out of the oven and customers drooling over your cupcakes sound appealing to you? Do you enjoy baking these tempting treats? Well owning a bakery business would allow you to enjoy this, but it can also a very expensive undertaking. Before you make your decision to open a bakery, you will need to make a list of the pros and cons, and the costs that it will involve to start a home based baking business.

In order to run a successful, legal bakery business, you will need to have the proper licensing from your state or city. Even if you are working from home, you need to check on the proper licensing and on zoning issues. In addition, a bakery business needs to be in full compliance with health, safety, and fire codes. You will need to have your business inspected before you can open.

By starting a home bakery business, you could create recipes, prepare and cook sweet treats and other foods from your kitchen to sell either online or to the community. Having a home based bakery business like this would allow you the benefits of not having an expensive storefront and overhead that comes from renting or buying a commercial building. This could also give you more personal time by being at home with family, along with the family’s help in preparing or packaging items, which would help the business grow and generate steady income.

As a home based bakery business owner, you should understand that the initial start-up costs are higher for a home-based bakery business than most others because of the expenses of ovens and food ingredients. Commercialized ovens are costly, and some can run between $10,000 and $20,000. Finding a used oven from a website will help reduce the costs. Many ovens are cost-efficient, but these may be offset by a significantly higher electricity bill because the appliances are constantly running.
If you to offer a delivery service with local orders, you will need to add the cost of gas and insurance to the business plan, as these expenses can cause expenditures to fluctuate.

Make sure the proper licenses to create and sell food to the public are in place before opening the business. Check with the FDA’s website for information on how to obtain proper licenses and tips on following the laws in your state.

Overall, a home based bakery business may help you make enough money to clear a profit while delivering satisfying food to customers. Being able to remain competitive with other bakers will be essential for the survival of the business. You must come up with solid business skills, preparing orders in time and producing top quality with every order to guarantee long-term success.

When starting a home bakery you need to bear in mind, first of all, that baking bread, cake, pie or cookies for a special occasion can be great fun. But to make money in a home baking business you have to bake your specialty many times a week, over and over again. In other words, you must first come to grips with the fact that “commercial” baking is work, good and lucrative work, but quite different from once-in-a-while party baking.

Starting a home bakery business is relatively easy. Let’s say your specialty is a delicious, rich cheesecake. The first step, before soliciting one order, is to figure out exactly how much one cake costs you. This means calculating every ingredient, including the fraction of a pound of butter you use to grease your cake pan and the cost of power to bake your cake. Breaking costs down to the price per egg and the price per cup of flour is more complicated than it seems at first. And once you’ve figured the exact cost of all the ingredients you’ll probably be surprised to find out how expensive your cake has been, not counting your labor. Now take the cost you’ve arrived at and double it. That will be your selling price. Don’t be shocked to discover that your selling price for one cheesecake could be as high as $6 or more, and don’t be discouraged. People expect to pay more for homemade baked goods because there is just no commercial product that can compare.

Your objective in selling your baked goods is to line up as many regular customers as possible. This means your primary effort should be directed to local restaurants, delicatessens and small groceries. The idea here is to line up customers who will take a weekly quantity of your product, as opposed to individuals who buy one cake at a time for a special occasion. Once you’ve established your “institutional” buyers then there will be time to think about advertising for direct sales to consumers.

Visit restaurants and stores with your samples in hand. You will get more attention from the owner of the establishment if you visit during the quieter hours of the day (not at mealtime). Offer to leave one of your products as a test. If your cake is as good as you’ve been told by family and friends you should get a large order when you call back in a few days. Once your baked product has become a regular feature in several outlets, the biggest problem you’ll probably be facing is how to keep up with the demand.

At some point you will have to come to a decision about how large you want your business to be. The danger, of course, is the loss of home-baked quality. Don’t be tempted to “cheat” on the ingredients, even slightly, because discerning customers will catch on soon enough.

With a modest start in your own kitchen, using the cost structure outlined above, you should be able to earn $100 a week or more after paying for ingredients. When you get to the point of adding commercial ovens and a staff of helpers your income could jump to $800 a week or more.

A final suggestion: Stick to baked goods you know are proven winners. If your specialty is a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate layer cake, don’t assume that anything you turn out of your oven will be an automatic best seller. Venture into related baked goods cautiously and only after careful taste-testing.

If you run a bakery, regardless of its size there are a few steps you can take when it comes to taking payment that could increase your turnover.

Accepting card payments

It might not seem to be the most obvious business to associate with accepting card payments, but when you consider the amount of money some people are prepared to spend on card this could be the best move for your business.

Merchant accounts

A popular misconception is that you can only get merchant services through your bank. In fact there are a number of providers of merchant services who will manage the process of transferring funds directly into your business bank account.

The rates that you are charged for this service are often lower with an independent payment processor because they have the ability to focus on SMEs (small and medium enterprises). SMEs are often over-charged by banks as they are given a flat rate opposed to rates dependent on the volume of transactions and turnover made. Independent providers have the buying power to negotiate lower rates which are then passed on to their customers.

Opening an Merchant account

Opening an account should be pain free with rates quoted to you over the phone. Some providers will have you set up within a matter of days.

Why accept card payments in my bakery?

The primary reason to accept card payments is that people prefer to pay with by card. Paying by card allows the customer:

• Instant access to the funds in their bank account
• Security and safety. Chip & PIN technology has helped to combat fraudulent behaviour.
• The ability to buy on impulse.

Debit card usage alone has risen fourfold in the last ten years; which is twice as much as overall spending. Payments by card are therefore fast becoming the preferred payment method for consumers.

Small businesses such as bakeries will still benefit from a card terminal. If you advertise that you accept card payments and display your card terminals on your counter top you’ll find that more and more customers will choose to pay this way. This will inevitably increase customer spending and will open up your business to a broader market.