Hello friends and neighbors.
Having staggard through the holidays, over-baking for ourselves, friends, and family, we are taking time to reflect as we start the new year. The major thing we discovered in our first year of business is that we have only scratched the surface of what we don’t know.
Below is a list of the top 5 things we learned in our first year of business:
- One regular weekly customer is worth twenty first time buyers.
- We will not trust market/festival managers—we need to do real research on markets.
- Uncertainty is constant in doing markets and we take a major risk at new ones.
- Gamers like sweets, but not every week.
- Keep track of all transactions, purchases, sales, etc.
If small business is hard—we feel cottage baking is harder.
There is a lot, and we mean a lot, of cottage bakers out there. A few seem successful while most are struggling to discover how to make a go of this business. With your help, we hope to stay successful in 2026. There is no doubt that there is a saturation of sourdough, cookies, and regular bread bakers out there in areas that support it. We are working hard to find our niche, but croissants are a real challenge and sourdough is everywhere.
Now, in January, we enter the slowest month for our business. We will use this time to explore new recipes, best-baking-practices, and do our taxes. We truly enjoy baking good food for you, our friends and neighbors. We might have to dial back the intensity this second year, focus on quality, and find our niche. We’ll look forward to seeing you all soon.
-Sourdough Dad
P.S.: We wish you well on your New Year’s resolutions and we’ll be here with these “healthy” sourdough cinnamon rolls when you are ready.