The mention of homemade bread gets everyone excited. Serving it  hot out of the oven will delight your family and win you accolades. . That’s great, but we all know baking bread takes time. With this recipe,you can spend some time making the dough and freeze it to bake later.

I had a question about whether you can freeze bread dough? The second part of the question was if you can, how do you do that. If one person asked the question, I decided that there are others who would like to know about how to make frozen bread as well.

Make Bread the Easy Way

If you want freeze your bread dough you mix the dough as usual and then after a  short rest, form it into loaves, and pop it into the freezer covered with saran wrap just until it freezes hard. Then you take each loaf out of the pan and put it into a plastic freezer bag and keep up to four weeks.

When you are read to use it, put it in a greased bread pan, let it rise, it may take several hours to rise and thaw. Once it has risen, put it in a preheated oven  (350 degrees) and bake about a half an hour. When light brown, brush with melted butter and bake about another five minutes until it is golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

I want to let you know that not all recipes freeze well. I will post other freezer recipes for you to try. I would love to hear what you think. I also want to let you know that I welcome your questions and comments. If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share, please let me know that and I will share yours here too. Enjoy

I seems that the bakers in the Lone Star state need our help. Texas passed Cottage Food Laws and there was a statewide celebration of bakers ready to fire up their ovens and start the engines of new small businesses. The cheers were quickly silenced however when the realization that the law left the drafting of the rules up to the state regulators and gave them unlimited power. As we all know, ultimate power is never a good thing.

The intent of the law was to make it easier for solopreneurs to start a new business and supplement their income without having to make the huge investment in a licensed commercial kitchen or storefront.  Cottage food laws make it possible to test the market, generate income and make it possible to grow a budding baking business slowly .

Leaving room for regulators to write the rules is where the legislators made a mistake. For instance, now there are rules that the home bakers are finding really difficult. An example of one is the strict labeling rules they have put in place.  For a Cottage Food label in the state of Texas, the regulators have decreed it must:

 

have a list of ingredients in descending order of predominance by net weight, including a declaration of artificial color or flavor and chemical preservatives, an accurate declaration of the net quantity of contents including metric measurements and allergen labeling that complies with FDA regulations, a statement that the food was not inspected, suggesting a lack of fitness for consumption, and the usage of permanent ink, ruling out many home printers. The regulations are so riddled with technicalities that many home business owners might also incur legal fees just to ensure compliance and avoid harsh fines or future inspection by the government.

 

 

Now I don’t know about you, but that would be tough make a label that meets all the specifications they require. It seems to me that home bakers in Texas might be really frustrated. Since the FDA has set the precedence for non hazardous food production in home kitchens, making a label that suggests you might possibly be harmed by consuming that food seems pretty unfair. I believe that in the research I have done, not many people have gotten sick from the bake sale cookies they bought from their youth group. Therefore, suggesting there is a likelihood of danger is over the top.

Three cheers to the Jason Foscollo law firm for standing up for the home bakers rights. You can read the article he wrote in it’s entirety. He suggests contacting the state law makers to  revise the laws to limit what the regulators can require so that the law really does help the economy, access to local healthy food, and the growth of start up businesses.

Cottage Food Laws became official this week when  Govenor John Hickenlooper has signed the “Local Foods, Local Jobs Act” into law. Bakers across the state are celebrating. You should visit their Facebook page and read all the posts. Websites are being launched, customers contacted, social media is alive with messages of people announcing they are “Open for Business”.

It started with one woman who declared she was going to fight for her state to adopt Cottage Food Laws. She started with a Facebook Fan page and it went from there. Boy, they are giving each other a lot of support there. One of the posts that I found interesting and would like to make all of you aware of is that if you start your business, you need to make sure you protect yourself and your assets. Make sure you get the proper insurance. On the Facebook page they were talking about State Farm offering policies starting around $325 . My American Family agents writes the policy for my in home commercial kitchen.I would advise you to shop around so you can find the best policy in your state.

 Start a movement to get Cottage Food Laws

Colorado has those laws in place now because a hand full of people were passionate about wanting to be able to bake at home and make money. They started using social media to get the word out. News spread, people wrote numerous letters to their legislators, and they had a lot of conversations via social media.

I am sure it took some time on the part of the organizers, but they can pat themselves on the back. People all over the state should be grateful. There is a cap on their income potential, but hopefully sometime in the future, that will also change. So if you live in one of the eleven remaining states without Cottage Food laws, what are you waiting for?

A Bakery can enjoy great success if it adds Social Media to it advertising recipe. As a matter of fact, the restaurants around the country that are making social media a priority are reaping the benefits of their efforts. Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and more are where people are plugged in, and businesses who are there, are getting attention.

I spend a lot of time keeping up with the baking world, I get emails all the time about it. I read everything I can find. Yesterday, a bakery in California was featured. It was struggling with the daily challenges of inventory control, and then unavoidable loss that limited shelf life presents. Faced with those losses, they decided to try out an entirely different business model. They closed their doors to the public, and went online.

Sure it was risky, but it paid off big time. They now take their orders online & get paid [Read more…]

A bakery has to deal with the reality that it’s products have a limited shelf life. It is a difficult balancing act that all bakeries have to deal with. You need to bake enough product to serve your customer base, yet the potential for loss is inevitable. No one can predict the flow of business on a given day. Each time you have any products left at the end of the day, it ends up as a loss for your business.

There are ingredient and labor loss with each product left over. It is a constant challenge of owners to predict the amount of product they will need for their shop each day. If you have been keeping an eye on the bakery business, you may have noticed that some of them are struggling to keep the doors open.

Inventory Management for a Bakery

Because it is impossible to guess what product will be the choice of the fickle public on any given day, some bakeries are taking long look at a new business model. They are closing their storefront and transitioning to completely online selling. One such bakery in Sacramento is enjoying great success doing just that. They were struggling to make their bakery work, but it was a daily challenge – until they decided that they had to find a way to eliminate the uncertainty of what would sell.

They found the answer in deciding to work solely online. Who would have thought that had a chance of working? Well, it has been a huge success. They have formed a joint venture between their ovens and their computers. Both are equally important in this type of business. They have to produce great products and they have to have a way to reach a “hungry market”.

A well built website that combines well crafted content, enticing pictures, and strategic use of SEO makes it possible for their customers to order online to be delivered anywhere in the Continental US. How smart is that? They have the order and it is paid for before they ever even turn on their ovens. They now bake only what they have orders for.

They bake their products as always. When they are ready for the customer, they are frozen, put in a protective foam shell and then packed on dry ice for delivery. It is then shipped for next day delivery. If it is local, they deliver it promptly. They are still able to serve their previous customer, they just deliver it to them.

Another benefit to that business model is that they don’ t have to pay top dollar for a desirable location. In-home commercial kitchens could really make it big following this business model. You would just have to find the right shipping materials for frozen baked good. I found one place that has them called Thermosafe. Once packaged, you pack in dry ice and ship.

You can read the entire story about the bakery that reinvented itself by going online. Maybe it will spark some great ideas of how you can tweak an idea to make your business more profitable.

 

If you want a home baking business, you need to focus on the word business. I have talked a lot about baking, and laws changing, basic bookkeeping, but there is a lot to running a business that needs to be done. Remember, as a solorpreneur, you get to wear all the hats. If you want to give your ego a boost, just do a quick review of your new titles.

 

• Owner
• CEO,
• CFO,
• Sales Manager,
•  Director of Marketing,
• Head Baker,
• Webmaster,
• Head of Social Media Department,
• Customer Service Manger,
• Order taker,
• Supervisor of Maintenance
• Packager
• Administrative Assistant
•  Blogger
• Scheduler
• Shipping Department
• Etc.

Yeah, I realize that some of those titles are a bit over the top for an entrepreneur, but the point is that you will have to learn how to do a lot of things moderately well. In addition to that, time management is something many work at home businesses struggle with. Distractions abound when you work at home, so having the discipline to stay on task is a battle we all have to face. So, what do you focus on first?

Obviously you have the product you would like to start with in mind. We really don’t have to review the baking procedures, recipes or any of the baking how to’s. I am assuming at this point you have all that down. Running a business with baked goods as your product is most likely what you struggle with.

Running a Home Baking Business Requires More Than Baking Skills

The point is that there is a lot more than just doing the baking that is involved in business management. If you want to be successful, from day one you have to be in the mindset of operating like a true business. If  you are a homebased business, you will operate differently than a brick &; mortar store.

You have to think through getting your space ready for business. Even if you are operating under Cottage Food Laws, in most states the Heath Department will require that you keep the supplies you are using for business separate from the supplies you use for your family. You will have to have  separate space to store those supplies. “Having a designated storage space for your business supplies is really important. Consider investing in commercial shelving units from Schaefer Systems International to keep your home bakery as organized as other businesses.”

You are going to have some challenges that the retailers don’t have. For one thing, your zoning may prohibit your customers from coming to your location. You will have to set up some form of delivery. That can also be a benefit. It eliminates the importance of location, location, location. Getting the word out about your business is critical. Since you are home based, customers won’t know you are in business merely by driving past your store. Zoning again may prohibit you from even putting out a sign with the name of your business. You are going to have to have and execute a plan to advertise that you are open for business.

One of the mistakes a lot of people make is thinking you can simply buy an ad and that takes care of the problem. Years ago, when we first opened our business, we purchased a very pricey ad in one of the yellow telephone books. It ran for a year, and we got one or two calls total. What we found out in hindsight was our business was generated from the networking we did, and the reputation we built. Referrals were the lifeblood of our business. Once we had that in place, the business grew steadily.

I hope that as you grow your business, you will have a wonderful time getting to know your customers. I had a great time doing just that.  Till next time,

Grace

P.S.

P.S. From time to time I sell some advertising on my site. I spend a lot of time working on this website, so I have chosen to monetize it with occasional advertising. I recommend products and services I believe in. Although I try to keep those annoying banner ads to a minimum, occasionally I will recommend a product that I think will be beneficial for you

 

 

Pie consumption is way up as the nation celebrates Pi day. That means it is payday for bakers. If your specialty is pie, you could be baking your way to the bank. If you have been reading my blog here, you know that it is true. The laws in your state might allow you to be building a baking business and you can do that in the comfort of your home kitchen.

It is really getting easier all the time to make money doing something you already love to do. There is a growing demand for homemade food that is not available in retail stores. That means that by simply getting the word out to family, friends, and neighbors, you could start raising the dough.

What could you do with that extra money? Get out of debt, build up an emergency fund. Dave Ramsey fans all over the country are looking for a way to make that happen. That is one of the things I did. Well to be perfectly honest, first I made the huge mistake of borrowing a ton of money to open a retail coffee shop. That was a really bad idea, but I recovered by working hard baking to pay off that huge bill.  It worked for me, and I know it can work for you too. Once your [Read more…]

A commercial kitchen for rent can be an alternative if your state or city does not have Cottage Food Laws.  Although Cottage food laws may be the answer for a lot of entrepreneurs, they are limited in their scope. Anyone wanting to prepare anything that is considered potentially hazardous is out of luck. You know, every day as we prepare dinner for our families, we are working with potentially hazardous food- kind of scary.

Because of that, the Health Department monitors preparing food for the public that could make people sick. When you are working with meat, fish, dairy products, things that must be kept cold or hot to prevent food borne illness, it must be make in a licensed commercial kitchen that meets the licensing requirements of the local HD. Unfortunately, setting up your own commercial kitchen requires a large investment beyond the reach of many budding entrepreneurs.

Check Out an Incubator Kitchen

The concept of an incubator kitchen is spreading across the county. Basically it is a shared use commercial facility available for start up businesses. In many cases, it is part of an entire program to help launch start up food businesses. An incubator could be the perfect solution to someone wanting to start a food based business. It is more than just a commercial kitchen for rent. Usually it is paired with an educational and mentoring aspect.

In the incubator kitchens the tenants have  access to commercial equipment in a licensed facility. [Read more…]

I am a good baker- I pretty much stink at bookkeeping. One of the problems is I just don’t like math very much. Oh, I do okay with numbers, and am actually good with everyday math. I just don’t enjoy the tedious task of detailed bookkeeping. I do however, enjoy using my computer. I am finally getting around to learning how to use spreadsheets. I think my kids learned that in grade school,hmmm, maybe I need to enroll in fifth grade again, ouch.

That said, as a business owner, you have to keep track of your money. With the catering company I hired a bookkeeper. She was great, but expensive. If you are just starting out, you may want to keep your expenses lower by using some software to just keep your business accounts accurate.

Basic bookkeeping

When callers to the Dave Ramsey show ask about starting a business, he gives them advice about very simple bookkeeping.  here are the steps her recommends:

1. Open a business Checking Account
2. Deposit your start-up money in that account
3. Deposit ALL the income from your business in that account – just business related income
4. Pay ALL the expenses from your business account
5. Only use the business account to pay business expenses, do not ever use it to pay personal expenses
6. Money in the business account after paying all expenses and taxes is your profit
7. Remember to reimburse the initial start up money before realizing a profit

Basically, the business account if managed properly will provide a place to start a bookkeeping [Read more…]

Pay Attention Californians, if you have been waiting for the opportunity to bake at home for profit, you need to mark March 27th on your calendar. If you are not sure what the cottage food laws are, you can read a lot about it here on my blog.

A lot of people will benefit from making it legal to bake from home and make money doing it. It is a great business for stay at home moms, baby boomers, and everyone in between. For those of you who live in California, it could soon be legal to do just that. If you haven’t made your voice heard, now is the time to speak up. You can sign the California Petition by clicking on the link.

I have a quote for the Sustainable Law Center the tells you the details about why March 27th is so important to their movement. [Read more…]