Financing Our Foodshed (8 page)
Read Financing Our Foodshed Online
Authors: Carol Peppe Hewitt
The first item was easy to find — Lynette’s Hobart mixer was for sale at a great price. Abi then chose to get a brand new double-stack range, so she could be absolutely sure there was no residue from previous non-gluten-free baking.
She needed to purchase all the regular bakery items, like butter, yeast, and vanilla, but also slightly more exotic (and expensive) ingredients, like almond and amaranth flours, and specialty baking materials like sorghum and tapioca. And then she needed all the non-edible items a bakery needs, like muffin cups, business cards, and cake boxes.
But first she needed more capital.
Julie had read an article about Slow Money in the
Chatham County Line,
a free monthly newspaper that covers local news. She contacted
me to say she was interested in getting involved, and in particular, she said she’d like to help a woman to either get started or expand her farm or food business. I immediately thought of Abi.
Valentine’s Day was approaching when Julie, Abi, and I got together to talk about Abi’s bakery project, so Abi brought along some heart-shaped gluten-free cookies with pink frosting. She discussed her vision with Julie, and they talked about the importance of gluten-free options and how empowering it is to own your own business. Julie wanted to help Abi buy her mixer and several of the other smaller items she needed. They worked out the terms of a short-term, affordable loan. By then, the cookie plate held just a few crumbs.
A few days later I got a call from Ann Bass, who was new in the area and had seen that same article. She works in community revitalization and wanted to learn more about our Slow Money project. She had also heard about Abi’s new business venture. She was very familiar with the gluten-free niche market and wanted to meet her and see if she could be of some help.
We set up a time to go visit Abi at the Center for Natural Medicine kitchen that she was leasing (sharing the rent with another industrious young woman who was making a fermented drink called
kombucha
).
Ann had worked for years with various arts organization, so she and Abi had much in common. Eventually, they got around to talking about money, and Ann offered Abi a short-term affordable loan to help with the cost of a commercial oven. Later, Ann told me:
I recently received a small inheritance from a favorite aunt. I was reticent to put it into the very volatile stock market, and CDs were offering less than one percent interest. But an affordable loan to a smart, ambitious young person offering a great product in my new community is perfect! I can’t have dairy products, so I understand the challenges of knowing that what I am eating will not make me sick. And truth be
told — bakeries are a huge weakness. My mom and I travel by bakeries — we only stop in towns that have them!
Start-up businesses can be risky, but an oven is collateral. I could have just purchased the oven and rented it to her, but I think it is better for Abi’s business to own the assets.
With her equipment in place, Abi got busy baking. It was demanding work, but her business gradually grew.
Though it offered better profit margins, she found that direct retail could be unreliable. She had tried out some of her recipes on customers at a local Greek restaurant, Angelina’s Kitchen (where she worked for a few months prior to opening her own bakery). Angelina was happy to be her first wholesale account. Then Abi started supplying the Chatham Marketplace and the Saxapahaw General Store. In addition to cookies, sweet potato bars, muffins, and breads, her several granola recipes sold out quickly wherever they appeared.
Like the majority of Abi’s customers, I don’t
have
to eat gluten-free, but my family and I still enjoy her delicious baked goods. My favorites are her Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Ginger Coconut granola.
Each month, she made her monthly Slow Money loan payments. One day, I ran into Ann in town, and we talked about her loan to Abi. “I don’t know which I like more,” she told me, “getting a check or the sweet note Abi writes me each month about how her business is doing!”
But, after about 20 months of 15 hour days, 7 days a week, Abi began to reconsider her new career. In the end, she decided to sell her business. It was not an easy step to take. I asked Abi how that came about.
For a while, I was surfing the biggest wave at the beach and it was freakin’ great! Board balanced, curl just right, wind rushing by...but then that big wave began to crash around me and I had to bail. There are many things about my bakery experience that I deeply enjoyed and that fed meaning into my life. But I couldn’t afford to pay anyone for PR, bookkeeping, website maintenance, baking, or even going to farmers markets. Though I thrive off of action and productivity, my body and mind started to break down under the weight. I couldn’t find a reason big enough to keep me devoted to the arm-long to-do lists I faced every morning.
Luckily, I was able to hire someone one day a week, and with help from friends and family — after only six months of operation the bakery was paying for itself! That’s almost unheard of in food service.
By the early fall, though, I could tell that I had a choice: take the bakery to the next level (a storefront), or back out.
Baking brought peace to my heart, and the many relationships I developed nurtured and enlivened me. I enjoyed the possibilities of owning my own business, of dreaming and then making that dream a reality. I knew I could do it, but the
truth was that I hadn’t done any art all year, hadn’t been in the outdoors, and hadn’t seen my sweetheart.
(Her sweetheart had recently become her fiancé, and at the time was living several hours away.)
As much as the bakery had become part of me, these factors were bigger. After months of wrestling with the question, I decided to return to pursuits that were closer to my heart. I felt great responsibility toward my customers, who now depended on me for goodies and who had been so outspoken with their gratitude. But the greater responsibility was to myself, my health, and my upcoming marriage.
Closing the bakery held much relief for me, but also a great amount of sorrow. It didn’t feel right to turn away from a thriving business and disappoint my loyal customers. I recognize that I have a gift with baking, and felt guilty for not putting it to use. It was like looking through a door and seeing a great feast with laughing friends and lots of sunshine...yet knowing that walking through that door would actually be a mistake.
My advice to someone starting a business is to do your footwork first. The bakery was a spontaneous decision, and I was researching permits and recipes, creating websites and deciding on my mission and vision, all while trying to make it to market on Saturday and start accounts with local restaurants. My motivation came from an empty niche, and also external suggestions. For me, I learned that the drive needs to come from within. A business requires a lot of energy, thought, passion, and sacrifice. Understanding this before you get started will help in managing it down the road.
That is so true. After running a small business for nearly 30 years, I find it still requires all that — every day. I would add “patience” and “determination” to her list as well. It also helps to have a partner putting the same level of effort into the venture that you are.
I asked Abi if she would share some of what she had learned from owning and running Abilicious Bakery that might be helpful for other entrepreneurs getting started. Her poignant response points to both the challenges we face and the long-term gains we hope to achieve as we grow the good food movement.
Opening and operating the bakery is, for me, synonymous with going to graduate school. In a very short time, I had to become adequately versed in marketing, food management, public presence, customer service, bookkeeping, permits, and more. I can’t even begin to say all that I learned, because the list would range from such hard skills to very abstract conclusions about my Self and the greater community. The best adjective would have to be “empowering.”
After stepping up to the plate, I realized I had more than straight pitches — there were surprise fastballs and curveballs aplenty! But, solid mentoring, continual self-motivation, and productive relaxation gave me the ability to deal with these issues in ways that improved my business. Even when I felt incredibly overwhelmed and frantic, I could step back and realize that I was running a flourishing business, and I was doing it myself. There is nothing to replace that.
In the future, I will be able to apply that knowledge to different endeavors that are even closer to my heart — possibly an art gallery or a cooperative art studio.
Another great adjective is “co-dependent.” My business relied on farmers and families to provide for and consume the goods I produced. As a person, I relied on my community — especially the Center for Natural Medicine — for emotional support, cheerful company, and mentoring. As the business grew, so did my awareness of how interconnected we all are. I became, and remain, much more intentional about my contributions and support of my community and its individual members. Their success is my success.
I continue to admire the courage and commitment Abi put into her business — and to us, her customers for those 20 months or so.
I was in Angelina’s Kitchen the other day, and she invited me to try a fresh batch of gluten-free pound cupcakes. We broke one in three pieces and passed it around, and there were happy hmm’s from us all. In order to keep gluten-free options available for Abi’s customer, Angelina had purchased a number of Abi’s original recipes. She now keeps a few gluten-free items baked fresh and on her menu each day. Several local food businesses have also added gluten-free options. So, although Abi has moved on to newer ventures, the legacy of her delicious and creative gluten-free baked goods still remains.
Helping Abi and other young adults of her generation become active participants in the local food movement is an integral part of what inspires us at Slow Money NC.
There is one more story (so far) about Slow Money NC bakers. And it involves Abi’s double-stack commercial oven again.
Mykal Harp makes
amazing
cupcakes. A recent transplant to central North Carolina, she started Dandalia Bakery out of her home, producing cakes, cookies, brownies, and her signature cupcakes. “I work very hard to create new flavors every week and a more upscale, unique decorating style than what you would find in the traditional grocery store,” she told me. And she succeeds.
I was laid off my “real” job in January 2011, and not having much luck finding work, I decided that what this town needed was a “real” bakery! Sanford may not be a large town, but it certainly isn’t the smallest either, and the only option for baked goods is either the grocery store or a bakery that specializes in donuts.
For 15 years, Mykal had worked as a project manager or executive assistant within several large public companies and spent over a
decade in banking in several capacities — teller, manager, commercial real estate, and residential real estate. “I have really enjoyed my career,” she shared. “It has given me the lessons and experiences I needed to finally run my own business.”
But a bakery named after a weed? “I love the concept of a dandelion,” she explained. “As a kid, I would blow the seeds of a dandelion and make a wish. It’s true that the dandelion is also considered a weed.” But when she first transplanted herself from Oregon, she
felt
kind of like that resilient weed. “I’ll grow wherever I’m planted,” she proclaimed.
When she started Dandalia Bakery in April 2011, she was surprised by the how quickly the business grew. “This town seems to be desperate for good desserts,” she offered, good-heartedly.
The bakery quickly got several wholesale accounts. Then they got a weekly order from a coffee shop about 15 miles away.
But it was when she started supplying fancy prepackaged cupcakes to a high-end gift and clothing shop that she really got busy. “They became so popular,” she told us, “that the local Hallmark shop asked if I wanted to start stocking their shelves too. Of course, I said yes! In addition, I am doing custom cake and cupcake orders on a regular basis. My business has blossomed faster than I could ever have imagined.”