On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:10:53 GMT
"barry" > wrote:

> Wendy has a good answer on one level; here's another take on the
> question.
>
> > > 1. What is the standard wage including benefits working
> > > in a hotel or restaurant in your city?
> > >
> Remember, baking is an hourly-wage job, and may necessitate union
> membeership.
>
> > > 2. Is your passion for baking lost once in out of school
> > > and in the real world?
> > >
>
> Think of how many people graduate culinary school and are still in the
> industry 10 years later. I have no data, but given the failure rate
> of food-related businesses -- restaurants, bakeries, etc. -- I don't
> think it's anything to write home about. The other question should


Yeah, my mother wanted me to enroll in the culinary arts program at
Utah Valley State College when i got laid off from my software job and
couldn't find another.

She's was under this impression that i could jump right from their
two-year program to a life long career with no speed bumps, because her
friend's son jumped right from their (admittedly well respected) CA
program to the head chef at a country club. Never mind that I've
eaten at said club and don't recommend it. Doesn't understand that this
sort of job probably happens to maybe the top 2% of any graduating
class, and the vast majority of graduates probably spend the first year
or so doing vegetable prep for less than you'd make at a gas station.

Of course, my mother grew up during a labor shortage in Oakland
and literally got all of her early jobs by walking around the business
district and looking for "help wanted" signs.

My father is equally warped - but in an entirely different way.
Wrangled for a summer job at a sheet rock factory when he was a
teenager, showed up, joined the union, had a day of training, and then
lived on strike wages for the whole summer because there was a rail
strike and he was at the tail end of a 70 mile rail way at the gypsum
mine and couldn't get home. Read the completed works of Shakespeare all
summer, decided he wanted to be an english major. Became an english
major, got a doctorate, got tenure, fast forward 30 years. Yeah.

My parents didn't understand what exactly the job market has been for
the last two-plus years until they decided to have some work done on
their roof, and had six estimates within two hours of posting an ad that
they were seeking bids. More than 20 estimates within 24 hours. Suddenly
realized, "Hmm, people seem to be hard-up for work." and became very
sympathetic.


> be, "Will you spoil a hobby by making it a business?" That's a real
> danger and more than anecdote. The woods are full of stories of
> people who loved to cook and opened a restaurant. Typically they fail
> within a year. Admittedly, this is anecdotal evidence, but where
> there's smoke there's fire.


Most new businesses fail within a year, there are mountains of
empiric evidence supporting this statement. Sit-down restaurants are a
particularly difficult business, often with razor-thin profit margins.
It's anecdotal, but it's said that if you have $40,000-$200,000 that you
need to shove down the dispose-all, by all means open a restaurant.

Bakeries obviously are different, but not entirely different.