Join me as I look back & reflect on an eventful 2023! It's been a year of profound changes and learning for me, both on a personal level and as a business owner. From embracing my role as a parent, to steering our bakery towards new growth with the help of my business partner ... we're unwrapping it all on today's episode! Key Highlights: The changes we made this year to manage our team more effectively, New tools that have been game changers for giving our team more autonomy and saving time on things like creating schedules, managing shift swaps, and more, How we've overhauled our compensation strategies to keep our team motivated and happy. An update on diversifying our revenue streams through new ventures like event rentals, catering, and the growth of our (small) wine program, The personal challenges and joys of parenthood, and how it intertwines with running a thriving small business! Mentioned Resources: 7Shifts for Team Management & Scheduling Enjoying the podcast? Don't forget to leave us a rating & review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Thanks for your support 💖

In today's episode, we're diving deep into the nitty-gritty of managing inventory, and practical strategies for deciding how much product you need to produce at your bakery. Picture this: it's December, we're knee-deep in the "holiday hustle", & sales are booming. Slow down there, soldier! January's peeking around the corner, ready to throw us a curveball. Inevitably, this is a time of the year when sales start to dip...folks are starting new diets, wallets are zipped up tight after holiday spending sprees, and (for us, at least) snowy weather has folks cooped up indoors. Tune in to today's episode as we spill the tea on understanding your market, decoding the secret language of traffic patterns, and being the neighborhood ninja - ready to tackle any unexpected road closures or crazy weather. We're sharing our playbook on adjusting staffing, ramping up marketing, and fine-tuning your product production. We'll talk about managing the fine line between overproducing (hello, waste!) and underproducing (um, missed sales - no thanks!). It's a delicate dance, and we're giving you the moves.! Setting your pars and creating your production plan isn't a "set-it-and-forget-it" deal. We're talking real-time monitoring, keeping tabs on sales data, and adjusting those pars like a bakery boss! We'll even discuss some creative ideas for promotions, when you find yourself with surplus goodies. Grab your apron, a cup of something warm, and let's chat bakery business! Links to External Resources: Google Peak Times Tool Free Facebook Group for Bakery Owners

In this episode, we dive deep into a common challenge faced by bakery owners: distinguishing between a revenue problem and a pricing problem. Often, bakery businesses struggle to cover their expenses, pay themselves, or grow due to low sales and/or cash flow issues. Today, we explore the importance of knowing and understanding your revenue / sales numbers, and discuss some general rules of thumb when it comes to managing your bakery budget - including how much you should plan to spend on things like ingredients, labor, and overhead. We also touch on the significance of a profit and loss statement, and the role it plays in helping you identify potential revenue & pricing challenges. By analyzing the percentage of your revenue spent on ingredients and supplies, you can determine whether a pricing adjustment is necessary to maintain profitability. Resources Mentioned: Join us for our next bakery finance workshop on October 26th! To register for free, visit https://www.bakerybusinessacademy.com/workshop

In this episode of Kitchen Notes, we're taking a listener question & diving deep into an essential business finance topic: raising your prices! On today's episode, we'll talk about... The various factors that can impact your bottom-line profitability, The importance of understanding your business costs, which includes overhead costs (rent, utilities, etc.), labor costs (employee salaries), and product costs (ingredients and supplies), Regularly reviewing your profit and loss statements, and why this is absolutely crucial for gaining insights into your business's financial health. Determining your "bare minimum" number - the minimum revenue needed to cover essential expenses, and avoid losses. Evaluating demand, sales volume, and customer feedback ... and how these can help identify if it's time to adjust pricing, or focus on increasing revenue External Resources mentioned in the episode: Recipe Costing Essentials Course: This quick-hitting e-course provides guidance on how to cost your menu items properly - including a handy recipe costing template you can use to price your baked goods. More details can be found at https://www.recipecostingessentials.com Finance Fundamentals E-Course: Our flagship e-course for bakery entrepreneurs who are ready to transform their business into a profitability machine! Join the waitlist: https://bba.bakerybusinessacademy.com/waiting-list-ff SCORE: Score provides free and low-cost classes for small business owners on various topics, including finance and accounting. You can access their resources at https://www.score.org/ Remember, understanding your bakery's finances and making informed decisions about pricing and revenue can lead to a more successful and sustainable business.

Moira Walker is a former deli owner who turned her passion for pie baking into a successful cottage bakery business. Moira began her business baking pies on the weekends, and selling from a charming roadside stand, using an honor box for payment. Her business grew through word of mouth, and the support of her local community. Before long, Moira expanded her business by participating in farmers' markets and networking with other vendors to find new opportunities. She discovered the game-changing cheddar pastry recipe during a course at King Arthur and started making savory hand pies, which helped her expand her menu and grow her business even more. Before long, Moira started putting processes in place around marketing, production, and operations that helped her scale - while staying committed to working from her home kitchen, with no employees. Over the years, she has optimized her production process by using smart planning, labeling, and automation - and has also upgraded her equipment to keep pace with the growing demands for her product. Her business, Pies By Moira, has a strong online presence on Facebook and Instagram, where she announces her weekly menu and takes pre-orders in advance of the markets she attends. Moira prioritizes efficiency and sustainability in her solo operation, allowing her to maintain her business from home without the need for employees or a brick-and-mortar location. Despite considering a brick-and-mortar shop before the pandemic, Moira realized that her current setup is ideal for her and allows her to focus on her passion for baking, serving her community, and spending time with her family and grandkids. Moira's dedication to quality, pricing strategy, and strong relationships with customers have helped her build a thriving business and create a close-knit community of loyal supporters. You can learn more about Moira here: Pies By Moira Website Pies By Moira Facebook Page Pies By Moira Instagram **************************** Thank you for listening – if you like what you hear, be sure to leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform! These reviews and listener feedback really help me know what you’re enjoying, and bring you more content that is relevant and helpful to you. Click here to continue the conversation in our Facebook group for Bakery Entrepreneurs >>

We're back! It's been a minute since we've posted a new Kitchen Notes episode, and I'm excited to be back at it. Last time I spoke with you, we were talking 2023 goals. Now that we're about half-way through the year, let's check in - shall we? I'm sharing an update on what's been happening in MY business (Spilt Milk), and some lessons learned. I'm hoping you can find some inspiration and camaraderie in today's update! Here's what we'll talk about on today's episode: Bakery Updates: What's Happening In The Business? How we're diversifying our revenue streams this year Hiring & Employee Management ... our #1 focus! Bakery Business Academy Updates ... Classes, Memberships, Workshops - yay! ***************************** Thank you for listening – if you like what you hear, be sure to leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform! These reviews and listener feedback really help me know what you’re enjoying, and bring you more content that is relevant and helpful to you. For more episodes and to learn more about Bakery Business Academy, please visit https://bakerybusinessacademy.com

Happy New Year! In this 3-part series, we’ll be sitting down to “hit the reset button” as we start a new year. We’ll take a look back at 2022 to talk about what went well, exciting milestones we achieved as a business, lessons learned, and where we’re headed in 2023. Today, tune in for Part Three, where we're talking about some of the important pillars that our guiding our goals for the upcoming year, including commitments we are making to our team, our community, and the planet. Here’s a breakdown of what we cover in today’s episode: The Triple Bottom Line: One of my favorite articles that Molly shared with me last year was written back in 2020, but really had an impact on me when I read it. The Triple Bottom Line challenges companies to think differently about how they measure success, and we are heading into 2023 using The Triple Bottom Line as a guidepost for what we hope to achieve this year in business. And be sure to check out the article here >> Our Goals for the New Year: Some of the big milestones Molly and I are hoping to achieve (and some others we don't care about anymore!) I hope you enjoy today’s episode - thanks for listening! Click here to continue the conversation in our Facebook group for Bakery Entrepreneurs >>

Happy New Year! In this 3-part series, we'll be sitting down to "hit the reset button" as we start a new year. We'll take a look back at 2022 to talk about what went well, exciting milestones we achieved as a business, lessons learned, and where we're headed in 2023. Today, tune in for Part Two, where we dig into a few things that could have been better about last year, including some valuable lessons learned we will carry with us into 2023. Here's a breakdown of what we cover in today's episode: Staff Turnover ... Turnover on our team was craaaaaazy high in 2022. This resulted in spending too much money in our labor budget, poor morale on the team that plagued us throughout the year, and a TON of growth to our HR processes. I am grateful for these difficult (although expensive) lessons we learned, and am excited to make PEOPLE a core focus in 2023. Overshot the Labor Budget ... Building off our lesson learned around employee turnover, 2022 was extremely costly from a labor perspective. We overshot our labor budget, which resulted in lower profits for the business. Whenever you overspend in a certain budget category, I think it's important to dig into the "why". Even if a problem couldn't have been avoided, we can still learn from these situations and carry these lessons with as we try to do better next time. I am grateful for these lessons we learned in 2022 and again - super excited to focus more on our PEOPLE initiative in 2023. Stepping Into Leadership Roles ... As our business has grown, Molly and I have had to evolve from generalists who "do it all" in the business to leaders who are focused on execution & growth. We learned a lot in 2022 about stepping back from the day-to-day, and letting our team grow into their roles as leaders. Our team has grown in our ability to communicate effectively & execute toward big goals, while moving quickly and being able to pivot as new challenges arise. This will continue to be a priority focus as the business continues to grow. Again - PEOPLE is a huge initiative for us in 2023, and we are excited to continue growing our team and growing as leaders ourselves! I hope you enjoy today's episode, and be sure to tune in next time for Part 3 of this 3 part series, where we'll talk about where we are headed in 2023, our goals for the new year, and what we're hoping to accomplish as we realign and continue to grow our business in the New Year. ________________________ Do you struggle with pricing your menu items, and feel there is something holding you back from building a truly PROFITABLE food business … that you actually ENJOY running? Please join me for our next FREE bakery business workshop on February 7, 2023 - Profit Boost: The 4 Major Pricing Mistakes Food Entrepreneurs Make ... and How To Fix Them! During this hour-long workshop, we will be covering: The 4 profit-killing pricing mistakes I see food entrepreneurs make on a regular basis … WHY these mistakes are SO problematic (even if they seem like no big deal) ... AND how to start really addressing & fixing these lethal pricing mistakes in your business, so you can set yourself up for a profitable & successful year. If you’re working on your menu pricing & increasing your business profits this year, you will want to get in on this free workshop! Space is limited, and these free workshops tend to fill up quickly…so be sure to register soon to snag your seat. For more information or to register for free, please visit BakeryBusinessAcademy.com/workshop. ________________________________ Thank you for listening – if you like what you hear, be sure to leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts! That helps us know what type of content you’re enjoying, and b

Happy New Year! Over the next 3 episodes, we'll be sitting down to "hit the reset button" as we start a new year. We'll take a look back at 2022 to talk about what went well, exciting milestones we achieved as a business, lessons learned, and where we're headed in 2023. Today, tune in for Part One of this three-part series, where we'll dive into: Our "Million Dollar Year" 🥳 ... Spilt Milk hit an exciting milestone in 2022. It was the first time in the history of our business that we exceeded one million dollars (USD) in revenue!! For whatever reason, this has LONG been a business milestone that I've wanted to hit. In my mind, it felt like a bit of a status symbol in a way (for better or worse!). On today's episode, we'll talk about HOW we achieved that milestone, and some of the lessons learned along the way. I'm also touching on why revenue numbers don't really matter as much as profit, and why comparing YOUR numbers to someone else's numbers isn't a useful exercise. Data, data, data ... You knew we were going to talk about this, right?! If you've been listening to Kitchen Notes for a while, you may already know how big into DATA I am. Molly and I use data to make decisions in our business every single day, and we're always looking for more ways to take the emotion out of business decisions so that we can be as objective and effective as possible in our decision making process. On today's episode, we talk more about why this was such a "win" for us this year, and how you can incorporate this into your business operations if you want to use data to run your business more effectively in 2023. The Team ... Our team about doubled in size in 2022, which is crazy to look back on! We have learned a TON about hiring and building a strong team in the hospitality industry, and I'm proud of all the work we did this year to build a great team. We put a strong foundation in place in 2022 to build on this success next year, and plan to make team building and PEOPLE a core focus in the new year. Our Roles As Leaders ... As our business has grown and matured, both Molly and I have had to do some serious work on ourselves as individuals & leaders in order to run our company well and serve our team most effectively. On today's episode, I talk a little bit about what that has meant to us, and why I'm excited to continue this journey in 2023. I hope you enjoy today's episode, and be sure to tune in next time for Part 2 of this 3 part series, where we'll talk about what could have been better in 2022, and lessons we'll be taking with us on our business journey as we plan for a successful 2023! ________________________ Our next FREE workshop is on February 7, 2023. For more information or to register for free, please visit BakeryBusinessAcademy.com/workshop. Do you struggle with pricing your menu items, and feel there is something holding you back from building a truly PROFITABLE food business … that you actually ENJOY running? Please join me for our next FREE bakery business workshop on February 7, 2023 - Profit Boost: The 4 Major Pricing Mistakes Food Entrepreneurs Make ... and How To Fix Them! During this hour-long workshop, we will be covering: The 4 profit-killing pricing mistakes I see food entrepreneurs make on a regular basis … WHY these mistakes are SO problematic (even if they seem like no big deal) ... AND how to start really addressing & fixing these lethal pricing mistakes in your business, so you can set yourself up for a profitable & successful year. If you’re working on your menu pricing & increasing your business profits this year, you will want to get in on this free workshop! Space is limited, and these free workshops tend to fill up quickly…

If you run a bakery, you know that the fourth quarter can be incredibly hectic. Everybody wants their pastries and treats and goodies for the holiday season. While that usually means a big boost in revenue, it also means a whole lot of work. In this episode, we’re talking all about prepping for the holiday season — like how to boost revenue without adding a ton of extra tasks to your already full to-do list. We also get into: Maximizing production without taking on too much. How offering presales can increase revenue without the extra stress of day-of sales. Leveraging e-commerce opportunities. Offering gift card promos to boost sales. And so much more!

While blindly running on instinct probably isn’t going to be the best path to a successful business, there IS something to be said about listening to what your gut is telling you. In this episode, we’re talking about why when it comes to your bakery business you should listen to that little voice in the back of your head telling you to pay attention — while still looking at the numbers to validate and guide you. We get into: Why we believe in trusting your gut and listening to your instincts. How data should be used to validate your gut check whenever possible. What questions you should ask yourself when making business decisions. And so much more!

Of all the things we do in our business each month, there’s one thing in particular we find is always worth the time we spend on it — the month end financial review. In this episode, we’re sharing our month-end financial review process and sharing how it allows us to put together a strong game plan based on facts based on data. We get into: What exactly goes into our end-of-the-month financial review. How we prepare for the meeting. What highlights we go over when we sit down together. And so much more!

It’s time to celebrate! Spilt Milk has been in business for six years and we’ve got plenty of reasons to jump for joy. We opened our retail shop in 2016, and it’s always fun to take a look back at the journey. In this episode, we’re reflecting back on some lessons learned, friends made along the way, keeping a business running throughout a global pandemic, and our very favorite memories. Thank you to all our wonderful customers and supporters for holding our hand on this journey. We love you - and couldn’t do this without you all!

Whether you’re making mind-blowingly gorgeous pastries or out-of-the-world ice cream, many of the principles of running a small business are the same. On this episode, we sit down with seasoned pastry chef turned entrepreneur and owner of Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Dana Cree. Dana shares her journey and the lessons she learned along the way, including: Figuring out parenthood as a small business owner and building a business that supports flexibility. How wholesale can create a new revenue stream. The unexpected bumps along the road to opening a 2nd shop. Fostering self-discovery to empower your team. And even more!

Knowing your numbers is a critical piece of bakery business success, but how do you take action to stay on top of things when you notice some gaps in where your money is going? In this episode, we’re sharing how we’ve approached tracking slow leaks in our budget. We get into: How reviewing your weekly KPI report will help you notice small leaks before they turn into massive holes. Why your refund rate is a number you should be tracking. Where we look at our reporting to identify leaks and how we take action. And more!

When it comes to money management, sometimes you just want to bury your head in the sand and avoid it — but friends, it’s time to take a deep breath and rip off the bandaid! In this episode, we sit down for a chat with financial educator & all-around cool gal Sarah Becker for some real talk on effective money management. After ten years as a wedding photographer, real estate investor, and small business owner, Sarah Becker kept hearing the same story from her biz besties over and over again. While outwardly successful in their businesses, they were utterly failing in their financial goals (if they even had financial goals). That's what inspired her to start Becker Talks Money - she believes that money doesn't have to be scary, that curiosity is more important than correctness, and that everyone can become an expert of their own money (with a little help - and that's where Sarah comes in!). On today’s episode, we dig into… Reverse engineering your approach with your finances - get ready for your mind to be blown! Why everyone should know their “enough” number Defining your money goals - and why this is important to building a business you truly ENJOY running Using data to tell the real story of what’s happening with your money …And more! Episode Links > Want to grab Sarah’s “Money Routines Checklist”? Download for free > https://beckertalksmoney.com/money-routine Follow Sarah on Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/beckertalksmoney/ Visit Sarah’s Website > https://beckertalksmoney.com/

In a time where the cost of ingredients is steadily climbing, can you run a bakery AND still make a profit? In this episode, we’re tackling this question from a community member. We talk about: •How to adjust when you don’t have a lot of wiggle room in the budget •Why closely monitoring your budget is critical to profitability •How to look for opportunities to “do more with less” •Plus more tips on keep your finances on track! Looking for more resources on running a profitable bakery business? Recipe Costing Essentials is our introductory menu costing e-course for bakery professionals, and a great place to start if you are looking to transform your food business finances. To learn more about this program and enroll today, please visit RecipeCostingEssentials.com.

When you run a bakery business, you can always expect the unexpected. In this episode, we sit down with Connie Brown, owner of The Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor and Creamery, who successfully made the transition from corporate marketer to ice cream shop owner. We talk to Connie about: The desire to create a gathering place for the community. How she grew her business and what that evolution looked like. Making the leap to bring certain aspects of production in-house. Some of her biggest lessons along the way. And so much more!

Competition is a reality when you run a bakery business. But should you really be worrying & wondering what your competition is up to? In this episode, we get real about how we deal with “competitors”, as well as sharing: Why competition in your area is actually a good thing! Why focusing on collaboration and support versus competition is a win / win Some key questions to ask yourself when you find yourself worrying about what your competitors are doing

As many of us head into the holiday season, we’re ramping up for a high volume of pre-orders. So how do you make sure you’re ready for the onslaught? In this episode, we’re talking about how to get your processes for pre-orders nailed down so that you can avoid extra headaches during what is usually a busy time of year. We share our experiences (and pitfalls), as well as: Why nailing your pre-order process can dramatically increase your revenue. How streamlining will help you maximize your ability to take orders. What our pre-order process looks like. How you may want to handle payments. Plus more tips and insights!