Bob (this one) wrote:
> My oldest granddaughter has decided to do wedding cakes and other
> celebratory baking and asked me a lot of questions about getting
> started. My first bit of advice was to tell her to get a job in a place
> that does something like what she wants to do. Otherwise, it's guessing.
> And a good way to lose a lot of money. She's been to culinary school and
> has a notion about commercial versus domestic cooking, but she asked me
> a lot of the wrong questions. Premature stuff - what kind of pans should
> she buy, should she offer delivery (!), how much staff should she
> have...? We talked about kitchens, storage, budgeting, inventory,
> pricing, staffing, etc. I deliberately befuddled her because, while it's
> good to be upbeat and energetic, it leads to a false sense of security.
> I tried to give her a sense of what she doesn't know and needs to research.
>
> Check the health department laws where you are before doing any baking
> for money. Check local prices and charge more, not less. You're making a
> premium product and people should pay for it. You can't be bashful about
> money. I know about all these pitfalls because I've fallen into them at
> one time or another.
>
> Good luck with it.
>
> Pastorio

Thanks, Bob. It's pretty much a pipedream now. I may initially just
sell to my friend who has a restaurant downtown.
-L.