Sunday, February 3, 2013

on baking for money

I've been rolling the idea of opening a bakery of sorts around in the back of my busy little brain for quite some time. In fact, one of my brothers found my eighth grade yearbook recently and discovered that I proudly announced in said yearbook that when I grew up, I wanted to be a baker. Well, a month away from 29, I'm hardly a grown up, but I do spend a good chunk of my paycheck on butter and sugar.*


While I have the menu planned, the space decorated, the beer and bourbon list drafted, and the craft & cookbook library envisioned all up in my head... I'm not terribly sure I'd like it. I love the idea of it. But the day-to-day: getting up early in the morning, baking the same thing over and over again, not having days off, dealing with paperwork :: the stuff :: of a baking business doesn't sound totally appealing. When I was little I loved setting everything up to play. I built the lego houses, set up the dolls' tea party, bushwhacked the prickers to build a fort, and then moved on. I didn't like playing in the fort, pretending to have an actual tea party, or move my lego men around their house. I liked creating the vision I had in my head, but then I got bored. I'm afraid opening a bakery might be a lot like building a grown up fort. And, what if my goods aren't any good?  I know my friends and family love me and are kind, supportive people, so of course they say my cookies are the best. What about mean old strangers? Can they be wooed to part with their hard earned cash in exchange for a pie of my creation?


Well, the chance to test my dreams and my doubts has fallen into my lucky lap. From a casual conversation with a new friend has sprung the opportunity to bake for one of the great coffee shops downtown, Uncommon Grounds. Reliably busy, and with a pastry case full of diet-breaking-worthy treats from a slew of local bakers, it's my perfect test lab. About once every two weeks I bring in a batch of whatever they ask for. So far, there's been a "non-apple fruit pie", which resulted in a local cranberry pear ginger pie with a crumble top. There have also been two orders of my mini chocolate walnut pies. Baking a few times a month, out of my home, means I get to learn the dreaded 'stuff': costing out ingredients, pricing an order, creating an invoice, what the heck 'sole proprietor' means... as well as start to answer the all important "is this fun for me?" question without quitting my day job or investing any real money. 

Though I've only filled three orders, I've already learned a few lessons: I figured out what a sole proprietor is. In fact, I've just sent in the paperwork to become one. Calculating how much it costs to make a batch of cookies involves multiple spreadsheets and is actually really fun. It's hard to make money off of a single pie. You need to make many pies. Microsoft Word make some great invoice templates. I'm not so sure I like being told what to bake... I'm not not sure I like baking the same thing each time. I like the creativity of figuring out a great new recipe. But, perhaps most importantly, it feels pretty dang awesome to cash a check I earned baking pie while drinking wine with girlfriends on a weeknight.... and promptly spend it on butter, without any guilt. 


*the rest of that paycheck goes to beer and wine and cheese and chocolate. see what I mean about not being a grown up?

4 comments:

  1. Your quest for life lessons is admirable. And your scientific method through wine-drinking and spreadsheet-making is clearly what sets you apart from all other humans. Keep up the good work, grown-up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think my quest for life lessons is fueled by my winter wine consumption. The spreadsheet making.... that just needs an intervention.

      Delete
  2. In moments like this, boy do I wish I lived next-door and could drink wine and chat with you while the house fills up with the scent of your delicious pies baking in the oven :) I am jealous of your roommates!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish you lived next door, too! one of the hardest parts of baking for the coffee shop is not being able to eat any of the pies!

      Delete