Micro Bakery - from personal consumption to sharing with neighbors??

So - how does a person bake and sell and move from an 'advanced hobby' to a small business?  What does it take??

A business has to make a profit - in order to replace your salary from your old job, to pay for equipment and ingredients and operating costs.  So, there must be revenue from selling the product and a markup within that revenue.  But, the revenue means that people have to desire and actually purchase the product.  The customer has to get value equal to or greater than the price.

So, what makes a bread with 'value'??  Different bakers have different views on this.

Sourcing - Some bakers are linked to a source of grain - organically grown and often local so that the link to the farm can be made in the materials about the bakery.  The bread flavor, texture and look are not the prime item - it's the heritage of the grain.  This appeals to people who like that 'cottage feel' - from farm to table and often they are willing to pay a premium for knowing where their food comes from.  It just makes them feel good (and maybe it adds a bit of a 'brag factor' when they tell their friends what they are doing.

Sugar and Fat - Many bakers depend on sugar and butter for their products in the form of pastries.  It is not hard to understand that people will often pay more for a quarter pound of pastry than a 2 pound loaf of bread.  Sweets sell.  To me, this is odd.  I run into the anti-carbohydrate folks that either restrict their purchases (or don't make any at all) because of the carbs in bread - but still, sweets sell volumes.  Sweets full of sugar (i.e., simple carbs) and fat (butter) are super carb foods and almost put the carbs in my lean breads in the diet category.

Why Do Sweet Pastries Sell??

• Maybe people seem to think that bread (of any sort) is an everyday thing while a sweet pastry is special treat.  
• Maybe it is the 'special skill' that it takes to make the sweet pastry - flaky, sweet and exciting to the taste buds - Is this a skill that is worth extra cost?  
• Maybe it is that, like donuts at the shop, we are overwhelmed by the number of choices of a pastry display, and we taste them with our minds, while they are still in the glass case.  Then, we are willing to pay the premium to actually taste them.
• "Fleeting Factor" - maybe the pastry sells because everyone knows that the pastry in the case is at its prime - it will never taste as good as it is now.  The freshness is fleeting.  We know that it won't be as good tomorrow as it is right now.

Perfection - Some bakers strive for 'the perfect bread' (a combination of great grains and great technique) and that's it.  They (and their fans) declare it to be 'the best' and the baker demands a high price for the loaf.  It is what it is.  It is consistently good.  It is probably different from its competitor baker products.  It sells for a premium price.

For Me...

I like pastry - but I realize that the butter and sugar are costly in terms of calories and fat - which I am eating selectively these days - so I generally pass on the pastry, trading it for permission to eat bread I really like.  

I like variety - so the idea of eating the same bread all the time (even if it is the 'Best in the World') doesn't appeal to me.  Sure I am curious to see whether, in my opinion, the title is justified, but as I said, I like variety.  And, for what it is worth, I often question anything (including bread) that is labeled 'the Best in the World' with the understanding that this label in the past was unwarranted - the 'best' always disappoints, it seems.  And, if one needs to put a sign next to a product saying it is the best - it probably isn't.

Snobbiness - I am not emotional about grain.  Sorry.  While I have great appreciation for wheat, I am not convinced that the field of its source needs to be within X miles of my oven.  I love that the farmer cares, but I suspect that the ounces of grain in the breads I make really didn't get much of the farmer's attention during its life span.  And, that grain, either in the form of wheat berries or flour, travels extremely well.  And, finally, I understand that some climates are extraordinarily suited for growing wheat - but that the locale I choose to live in may distant from those growing regions.

Therefore:  I evaluate the factors above with:
Pastry= Limited consumption;
Best in the World = not Best for me;
Local = not premier.

Well Then, What ARE the Factors That I Seek?

Fresh Tasting is Premier - Like the donut that was made earlier in the morning or the pastry that came out of the oven in the few hours before I visit the shop, I value Freshness, a very fleeting attribute. It affects texture of the crumb, crispness of the crust, the smells - and, I think, the transmission of flavor.  But, the entire package of fresh bread is outstanding- for a few hours after it emerges from the oven.  

• I have to mention that like pastries, cookies or cakes (or virtually all baked goods), there is a large variety of breads - and ALL breads are not created equal.  So, yes you (and I) may have had 'bad bread' fresh from the oven that did NOT meet my 'fresh tasting' criteria.  I agree that fresh bad bread is still not good - nor to be sought.   BUT, I think of all the 'experiment breads' I have made in the last year that didn't come out the way I wanted them to be - while they may have needed correction the next time (or identified as a 'no next time' variety) - almost all tasted great.  The flaws were in the texture or looks (or both) and not in the taste.  
• Fresh good bread is a treat to many senses.  
• Fresh good bread is hard to find - unless YOU are baking bread in your home.  

It also needs to be noted that there are some breads that come from the oven that don't appeal to me.  Sourdough varieties (not necessarily sour tasting) seem to be more commonly in this category.  Though fresh from the oven, the gelatinous texture is not appealing to me.  While taste may be complex and wonderful and the crust wonderful, the texture is off-putting to me.  And, the claim that it will last in my bread basket for a few weeks without spoiling is of no comfort.  Why do I want a bread that I don't really like to last a long time??  Maybe if I was in survival mode this would be a good factor - but that is not the case.  At the extreme, I would rather have a small portion of very fresh bread every day than a large loaf of unattractive bread that will last and last.  

While the analogy is not ideal, I have come to think that the "Hot Light" at our local Krispy Kreme would be a great addition for a bread bakery.  Though bread needs to cool (some say completely) to finish cooking and 'set', and "Hot" is not the proper term, some kind of light would let people know when bread is at its super fresh stage.  

For Now -  For now, I am baking bread for neighbors who subscribe for a loaf or two a week.  Quantities are fairly small but it affords a canvas for experiment of techniques and ingredients.  I have over 20 varieties of loaves - most are determined with minor ingredient variations.  None have eggs nor preservatives added.  Most don't have dairy or fats added.   The more subtle flavors are created by long fermentation periods.  I am struggling with trying to use stone ground whole wheat flour as a component in order to add fiber to some varieties while not destroying the super fresh taste and mouth feel of the breads made with only unbleached white bread flour.  

And, why all these "I statements"?  Am I the determiner of all these issues?  

A - Frankly, the reason that I am making bread for others is that I think that the 'super fresh' bread from my oven is the best I have tasted - and YOU will never taste it without making it yourself.  

I make small batch loaves in my home kitchen.  While I cannot make large numbers of loaves available at this peak stage, I can make some - and I want to share them.  For some reason, it is very gratifying to me when the recipients agree that the super fresh bread is outstanding.  

Why not just give the bread away?  

A - I have found that many people often take free things whether they value them or not.  And, if they are not valued, they are probably not used (or eaten in this case) and wasted.  By putting a price on the loaves, the 'waste' is generally avoided  and, I cover my costs.  Of course, charging for some loaves doesn't preclude me from giving away others - and still, about half of what I make is given away - much in the form of sandwiches in a 'feeding' program.