Baking Good Business

You need to give away your product. Really, give it away. While this seems counter intuitive, acts like giving away a cookie, a cupcake, or even a whole cake can do a lot to build up your customer relations, an important intangible asset in any business, but a particularly important one in the business of a retail bakery. Intangible assets are the non-physical, non-monetary assets that bring value to your business, even if you don’t see them on the ledger. Customer relations can come in many different forms. It could be a small act to make someone’s day better. It could be doing what you can to fix an issue. It can be going above and beyond to help a guest. Taking these steps may take a small bite out of your bottom line in the short-term, but the long-term benefits are well worth it. Some of the best interacts we speak of at my job, are those moments of just making someone’s day better, simply because we can. I think back to the bride I was working with on a wedding cake. She called...

The whole point of a business is to make money right? The better the financial health of the business, the more assets you have. The thing is, tangible assets like income are not the only assets that are important to a thriving business. Intangible assets are an important, but often overlooked element in building a good business. What is an intangible asset? They are non-physical, non-monetary assets. In other businesses, this would be things like patents, or copyrights. An intangible asset would be the trademark on your businesses name. It doesn’t have a specific physical presence or monetary value, but it does have a value to your business. In the bakery world, intangible assets are often things like customer relations, charitable giving, and any other goodwill that your business can earn, are an asset and should be considered an important part of doing business. Especially in today’s age, where so much information is available online, these intangible assets can have a deep and ...

Welcome to Baking Good Business, a blog dedicated to the truly fun side of baking, the business side! Why spend your time in a boring kitchen, decorating cakes, when you could be in the office making spreadsheets? All joking aside, the business side of the baking world is an important part of finding success in the industry, and it doesn’t always have to be boring. Now, to who I am. My name is Megan Paonessa, and I bring over 20 years of experience in the baking world. Over the course of my career, I have worked my way up the ranks to become a head baker. I later took on a corporate role in guest relations, before moving into R&D and training. My experience in all aspects of the industry, but particularly in management, guest relations and training give me special insight into the different elements of the baking world. Many people get into the industry with little knowledge beyond the mechanics of running a bakery, and don’t understand what other elements that come togeth...