What does it REALLY involve? (long) - Page 7

I just don't see how two people are able to do all the work to bring in $4500/week.

Your numbers wont be the same as yours. You will have all the same expenses as her and the payment for whatever you pay them for the business.
$4500 a week is pretty light for an established business. That is what we make on a decent wedding Saturday, and New jersey is mucho more expensive than North Carolina.
If you change the product mix, your revenue will go down early on, because you will lose the people who came in for pies, and won't have picked up your own new clientele yet.

The space is very nice, but don't get starry-eyed and do something that is financially imprudent.

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This is the lady that you should be listening to (snarkybaker)

(This sounds really bad---)

Grandfather's die when the business is sold. (agh!!!)

Maybe I should say new grandfathers are born.

No grandfathers for you.

Only the current business owner gets grandfathered for whatever new codes come up. If she sidestepped something building up whether she knew it or not she's gotta comply.

You on the other hand will have to comply with anything that had been grandfathered for her. That's how it is in 10C.

I still can't get over the difference in plumbing!

I wonder if you would get grandfathered if you were related... like your grandfather was her grandfather... Then...I bet you could get grandfathered...

Maybe I missed it, but my biggest concern for you still is production. You have to actually be able to turn out the volume. Beyond the $$s, have you looked at exactly what she was making to do that volume? Have you compared that with what you can turn out in that amount of time?

Yes. I mean just figure counting up the money every week, every evening. $18k in one week--think about 2.5 people packaging eighteen thousand dollars worth of product in a week. This just seems to be ambitious out the whazoo. Which I'm not exactly doubting the current owner's figures I'm just saying replicating them ain't gonna be easy. Probably ain't gonna happen.

I'm wondering if the present owner actually bakes everything she sells.......she could be buying some pre-made or frozen items from Sysco or another wholesaler.

I agree, that's a lot of product for 2 people to produce alone.

Sorry, again, I call foul. There is just no possible way for those numbers to be correct. You need to see and audited profit and loss statement for the last two years. And what constitutes " busy season" ? Is it the two weeks before Christmas, or is it May -October ( wedding season). You need a sales breakdown by item so you can decide whether or not you really want to cut some items. 25% of my TOTAL income comes from individual cupcakes. What if somebody who decided to buy my business decided the cupcake fad was over ? He would go broke almost immediately.

WAAAAAAAY before you worry about the chair situation, you have to know if you can make a living while paying off your sister, plus the previous owner. It will take you a while ( up to two years) to really find your market and get to know what you are doing on a day to day basis, and you either need to be okay earning nothing during those two years or continuing with a successful business model that is in place.

Im just sayin' it sounds like this woman is blowing a little sunshine up your skirt. Before you do anymore work on this project, I would get me some facts and figures ON PAPER from an independent auditor. A business broker won't even list a business for sale if an owner can't produce them.

JMO YMMV ETC.

To OP - what is your current weekly order status?

I know it won't be the same as when you move into the shop, but if you are used to 2-3 cakes on the weekend, having to do $18k worth of product may be a rude awakening.

Production is also my main concern. Production and marketing. When you've got bills to pay, you can't rely solely on word of mouth.

Gosh that's funny!!!! Rude awakening ah huh.

But there' s not gonna be much marketing going on when you
are tied up producing selling and raking in the money for eighteen big ones a week for 2.5 folks. Say it was three folks, $6k each for three weeks in a row--Dude after that I'm seeing Hawaiin vacation for several more weeks or a hospital stay.


Op, CakeBuddy, you're not gonna have time to pay bills, order ingredients & products, keep the bathroom clean, answer the phone, schmooze customers, sell over the counter (or loose $1.5k- $6K a week)* and do your accounting, make bank deposits, stop at Sam's, and make & bake and have any brain at all left to decorate fine cake and deliver them.

I hope the road to finding something 'from scratch' works out.

*owner states 30% of her receipts are from over the counter sales

I dont have time to read this whole thread (I am living on fumes right now and had to take a break! haha)
I dont konw if others have given you a hard time or not, but I have to say I completely agree with you.

To the OP: If you dont want to put in long hard hours, don't like to deal with Money, don't have a business head, then walk away. During wedding season, I work 100 hours a week easy, and that is every week from April to October. 7 days a week. My average day is from 6 am to midnight. That is if I actually have "days" My days kind of run together, as usualy I work 18 hours, take a 3-5 hour nap, then work 18 hours again. I know it sounds crazy, but you don't just have to be a decorator, you have to be a salesperson, a fair boss, a bookkeeper, a order clerk, a baker, and on and on. Forget about weekends off as weekends are the busy time!

On the plus side, you are your own boss. If you want to take a week off, a month off (I am not usually very busy in December, so I take most of the month off) you can. If you want to drink a nice glass of wine while working, you can. If you want to work till 5 am and then sleep till noon, you can.

But I have to tell you, you have to really really love this. I dont know anyone who has a bakery like Ace of Cakes! It isnt throwing fondant at each other and laughing and goofing off. You know why you see Duff sleeping on the couch? Probably because he has been up for 18 hours!

And I wont even get into the financing end of things in this economy! Hope your lottery ticket is a winner, because most banks are not giving out loans, despite what the media is trying to have you think.

Anyway, sorry I am being so honest as well, I just hate for you to go into something so huge so blindly..

good luck!