starting a business from scratch
TRANSCRIPT
Spoonful of Sugar, Sweets and Such
Mt. Sterling, KY
Danielle King and Donna Cassidy – Co-Founders
Stephen Powell – Executive Chef
Starting a business from scratch
● Lack of knowledge
● Lack of finances
● Lack of customer base
● Lack of real estate
Why did I do it?
● No local bakery (Big
Box companies only)
● Pan au chocolat was not
on the top ten wanted
items
● Mt. Sterling Population
6895 (2010 Census)
● Downtown had
● 1 restaurant
● 4 retail shops
● 3 Lawyers offices
● 4 Banks
● 17 empty storefronts
IF YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN MY BANKER.... you
would have told me NO!!!!!!!!
What makes you successful?
● Passion
● Understanding your vision
● Sustaining your business of at least 3 years
● Appreciate no sleep
● Appreciate working harder than everyone else
around you
● Good support system
Formula for a bakery???
● Mt. Sterling needed a bakery +
● Downtown needed life +
● I loved to make bread and pastries +
● Donna Cassidy loved to make sweets +
● = Successful Bakery
The struggles
● We both had full time
jobs
● Was afraid of more debt
● We had to become
experts in pastry and
dessert
● How could a bakery be
sustained
● Lets do one day a week
● Bought all used
equipment
● Went to French
Culinary Institute, NYC
● Goal was to cover
expenses
● 2010
– Purchased a building that had been unoccupied with a
business since 1997 (Took 2 years to complete)
● 2012 Opened Bakery
– September 2012
– Worked on Wednesday afternoon preparing
– Thursday 4 am – Opened at 8 am till sold out
2010
2012
● 2014
– Hired full time chef, Stephen Powell
– Expanded hours to Tuesday through Friday 8 am to 2 pm
● 2015
– Purchased sister building to make dining area
– Expanded then to Tuesday to Saturday and extended
hours to 7 pm.
● 2016 – We are still here..... with 6 employees
Challenges after opening
● It took 2 years for some people to know we existed
● Needed help getting our name out there
● Managing employee time to cover peak hours
● Offering competitive pay to keep excellent
employees on a “survival budget”
● Educating customers on fresh (increased cost) vs
frozen
What I learned....
● Community support is key
● Advertising budget is important
● Banks are your friends
● Be prepared for catastrophe
● Don't underestimate the power of signage
● Be okay with keeping in simple