Decisions, decisions...

When we rented our space, over 4 years ago, we really didn't know what the hell we were doing. I say that in the nicest possible way. I did know that I had some money - from selling the house in Napa Valley - and that I didn't want to work for someone else and that I wanted to start a bakery. What I didn't know was what we would sell, who we would sell it to, and how we would advertise. So, there were some big holes in my business plan, to say the least.

In 2005, after the 9 months of planning, purchasing and construction, we had the ability to bake things. Whoopie! But no one knew we existed. And 90% still don't even now. Being in an industrial park, our street visibility and general user-friendliness is pretty minimal. Back 4 years ago, we decided that we couldn't afford or take the risk of starting out in a more expensive, easily-findable location. So here we are, in the metropolitan center known as Sky Park Circle. I'm being sarcastic, but I must admit that I probably would have thrown in the towel years ago if our monthlies were higher. We've had time to kind of mush around and figure out what works and what doesn't. Lots of what doesn't.

The master plan is to keep an eye out for a small but visible retail satellite location, to be supplied by our big Sky Park kitchen space. As D says "someday it would be nice to have a real bakery." That way we aren't paying rent on all those square feet of sinks, tables, ovens... And in the meantime, the space here helps pay for itself with classes. So, it sounds like we knew what we were doing, but we really didn't. I'm just trying to find our niche.

The question is: how to get from here to there?