2007 Year in Review

Thankfully, as far as the bakery is concerned, 2007 was only 4 months long. I know I may paint the following picture in a dreadful light, and it really isnt. It can always be worse than it is. But I tell you, making it to the end of December 2007 was not easy. The bakery suffered. Our personal finances suffered. Our family suffered. This is sweat equity, blood, sweat, and tears, and numerous other cliches. I get it.

We took over an existing cafe near the end of August. We had financial statements from the previous owners, supplies and inventory stocked, and we were ready to go. From the day we took over, running the business EXACTLY as it had been run under previous ownership, sales dropped in half. For no apparent reason. We assumed that the previous owners told their customers over the course of the month prior to the transfer that they were leaving and the customers, fearing change, stopped coming. Same menu, same ambiance, same staff -- just half the sales. Overnight.

So that set the tone for the next four months. Ann's dream has been to operate a bakery, full of cookies, cakes, coffees, and to keep it affordable. We thought there must be room for a small locally owned business in this sea of overpriced chain stores. So we pressed on.

We began to implement changes to incorporate the new bakery into the existing cafe. We felt an easy transition would be best -- using the same name and menu as the previous owners, then a period of co-branding the old and new, and finally moving into a new brand of just the bakery. It did not go well.

To add the necessary bakery equipment (an oven, mixer, display cases, etc) we needed to expand the kitchen and, as we found out later, add additional power to our space. The kitchen was full of existing equipment, covered over in grease from grilling the gyro meat, and difficult to move around in. We came up with a plan, contacted a contractor, settled on a price, and away we went.

** NOTE: I updated this entry on 6/16/06 based on threat of litigation from Marc Labate. **
I have no shame in saying the contractor we found on CraigsList was Marc LaBate from Allied Construction, LLC. *** COMPLAINT REMOVED *** I will, however, say that I would NEVER use Marc Labate / Allied Construction again.

We hired three electricians in the past 4 months to get us up to code. The previous owners seems to do their own electric work. We added power to support the new equipment, cleaned everything up so things are safe and up to code, and finally reopened in an environment where our employees and customers will be safe.

We had to drop our best seller, the greek gyro, from our menu. Why? The previous owners installed a residential hood over their griddle, which isnt up to code. And the city knew it. We were faced with a decision -- we could keep the griddle and be forced to install a grease trap and a type 1 commercial ventilation hood to stay open, or remove anything on the menu that required it. The repairs would cost $10,000-$15,000. Already over $100,000 in debt, we had no choice but to drop the items.

With the removal of the greek gyro also went more customers. We were told, over and over again, that we would not survive without it. By customers. Wishing us bad luck! Some even left notes taped to our door demanding we bring it back, which caused numerous breakdowns for both Ann and I. We wanted this to be a bakery, and we had to keep remembering that. We could only hope with the loss of gyro customers would come bakery customers.

Not all our customers left us. Many stuck with us through this all. Some even helped get us back in good spirits. Our staff has been great, especially during the uncertain times when we had to be closed for so long. In early December we had to let one of our staff go. That was hard for us and the remaining staff, who feared their own demise. We knew we couldnt stay afloat if we kept her on. Letting her go meant we extended our life a few months with the prayer that business would be better.

On the bright side, December's losses were half as much as November's. Our daily sales have not increased substantially at all since we took over. There have been some days where literally flipping the light switch cost us more than what we brought in that day. In January our personal finances will take another hit as Ill have to empty out a retirement fund to keep the business going.

The outlook for 2008 doesnt look promising. But honestly, that is only because of the baggage we carry over from 2007. Ann and her dad are at the bakery every morning at 5am, preparing all the baked goods for the day. We now have scones, muffins, cookies, cheesecakes, cupcakes, brownies, curry puffs, gingerbread, organic coffees and teas, all in additional to sandwiches, soups, and bubble drinks.

We are trying our best. Even if we continue to have no customers all morning, it is all we can do to keep moving forward.

An update long overdue

When the time between posts grows so long, it is hard to even know where to begin. So I will try to summarize activity in the past few months and go into more detail in a separate post.

Maddie. Sweet little Maddie. Maddie the golden/lab puppy we adopted rescued from PawMatch at the end of the summer, brought back from her death bed to a full recovery, is now in a home with a family and children and constant attention. She was sick for so long that once we were thrown into the new bakery frenzy, her miraculous recovery offered us no chance to give her the attention she needed. We still feel good about rescuing her and giving her another chance at life. She is missed. Her pee stain still darkens part of our carpet.

In August, we took over a cafe and there really is no short way to explain everything that has happened since then. Some key events to spark your interest until the next post: construction, getting screwed by the contractor, having to let go one of our employees, construction again, having to lose one of our best sellers on the menu, arrival of the oven, construction yet again, and a pretty bleak outlook on the new year for us and the bakery.

I will say that unless you have money -- loads of it -- or you have the backing of a monster chain of franchises, starting up a small, privately owned business is one of the most finanially and emotionally taxing events we've ever faced. In today's world, with greedy landlords, suit-happy lawyers, and fickle consumers, it is naive to truly believe you can successfully operate a small business based on a dream of doing so *unless* you or someone you know has deep pockets. It is a sad reality.

More in a bit.