Back again but no cutting for a while

Hey Dennis, I'm sorry to hear of all the pain you've gone through. Good side, looks like tomorrow and everyday thereafter are going to be better. I haven't been on here for a long long time and this is the first thing I saw. You got to get better so you can keep teaching us all how it's done right I just picked up a load of Mulberry yesterday. Maybe as a tribute to you I'll try that "vertical" thing for splitting. Take it easy for now. Your plenty ahead of the game anyway.

 

I wish I could say great but I've been so busy at the bakery I can hardly find time for sleep. I've decided for now to just do what I can and if I can't keep up I can't. I've gone almost 2 years with hardly any sleep to speak of and my body can't take much more. I need help at the bakery but I run too quickly into two big problems. First, I can't pay enough to keep someone interested long enough. I totally understand that. Second, in order to pay more I would have to raise prices and I'm already expensive enough I'm at the point now that all I'm praying for is some sort of new direction for this country because every company I come across is crying the same thing. Most of them use to think just voting opposite would do the trick but I think by now most of us realize that isn't true anymore. I honestly don't have a decent idea left except one. So for now I'll just call it a day when I'm tired and work my frustrations out on gathering firewood. I like getting firewood. It never argues with me or tries to tell me what to do Vertical, I'll have to let you know how it goes.

 

That's a tough situation, just my .02 but I think this is why a good deal of retired people are a great benefit for a business. When I retire and I found a job that I truly loved, it wouldn't matter how much I was paid and I wouldn't need any health care etc etc. Hang in there.

 

Andy, as a fellow small business owner I am with you man. First off, I have never baked a day in my life but I can only imagine the hard work it takes to be successful. In my business, construction the customer is looking at my results but in your they are not only looking at it they are tasting it. Wow.. Secondly, no business is worth your health no matter how much effort you have put into it. I had the wake up call of my life last September when I was hospitalized with congestive heart failure due in part from Sleep apnea. I went and got it fixed and I sleep better, sometimes thru the night and have the energy needed to take on the day. Not sure how old you are but I am 62 and I love my work but I have learn I need to pace myself. Maybe, I don't take the large projects like we used to. I concentrate on the smaller niche jobs that still pay well and people are willing to pay me for the quality work I do.
I don't know in the bakery business, but just my opinion/suggestion on were you might begin to look for the change that you desire. Yep, firewood is a nice relief, I cut or split or stack wood for an hour 4-5 times a week. Sometimes I get my best ideas in the middle of a long stacking session.
Lastly, I will pray for you. Because at the end of the day that is all I can really do for you. Best of Luck,

 

I feel your pain man. At the end of the day I hang my hat on the idea that I tried to do my very best that day. That I treated my customers and employees in a respectful, caring and honest way. My conscience is clear and that helps me sleep, and even through difficult times I try to remember that each day is a gift from above and a chance to do better.



Take care man.

 

Now we know the real culprit-Your PT Mr. Savage will begin with horizontal lunges...

 

The crutches, how about that redhead!

 

Oh man, Burnout. Hard to be everything to all of it. We had a wonderful bakery in town that was there for years. There was a very tight family that kept it going. It took the whole family. When the men folk burned out and there wasn't a son to step in, the bakery sold. The new owner tried, but the wake up call of the demands was way to much. They little blue bakery now sits empty. There are no good full fledge bakeries around for miles. What we see are specialty shops.\ shops for pastries. Now we have to get our bakery products from the big grocery store or Panera. Some local restaurants They have specialty shops in them but it isn't the same. Bake offs etc. I miss the ladies that used to put up the orders, box the goodies and tie with string. I miss the aroma, and things like coconut macaroons and date filled cookies, and of course the éclairs and cream puffs and French horns.

 

It's sad but this is the way a lot of shops have gone. I'm trying to find help myself. I've gone through a few people this past year and none have worked out so far. I know I have to reinvent how I do this. There are several problems a bakery faces when looking to train a baker. First, like the new owner of your old bakery in town, can they wake up or work all night. Can they work, no breaks, no lunch, work fast and work long hours. Yeast waits for no one and neither does something in the oven, when it's done it's done. I'm taking a break this summer from all those long long hours. I'll work my 8ish hours and try to get out. I have a few days here and there that still run long but I've cut back considerably. Anyway, the second problem and probably more important than the first is pay. How much can you pay a baker in small type family bakery? And what about benefits? Not being able to do either of those puts me in a bind. Health care is probably the biggest issue. I know a lot of people don't like this Obama Care, including myself, I don't trust it, but I do think the idea merits thought and direction. In Canada everybody is covered, period. Maybe the coverage for what is paid isn't as good as here and maybe the lines for care is longer, but everyone has the same coverage. At least this is what I'm told from my baker friends in Canada. When they go to hire someone that is not an issue. Now they can focus on trying to pay enough to keep them. Can we do this here? I don't know. If we don't I see bakeries like mine just dying off as well as many of the small shops you see around. So I keep pressing on, trying to stay healthy as I can and plan my future best I can. Sorry for sounding off like on a soapbox. Your quote Savemoney hit a nerve.

No bacon flavored items at my shop. Time plus I think it's more a fad that will burn out.

How you feeling Backwoods? Glad to hear the back is on the mend. I did try your method of splitting in honor of you. I'll write more about that when I have time to upload the pictures off my phone. BTW, I need a stronger milk crate.

 

Good to hear from you Dennis. Here's a bitter sweet story. I stop by a friends place one day and he's not there. I talk with the girl out front and she is so full of energy and when she finds out where I'm from she said she had applied but got no call. She said she was getting her hours cut there so I told her to talk with my friend to see if ok with him if she come talk to me about working at my shop. Next morning she is there at 7am sharp with a full resume and ideas of what she has done and so on. I hire simply because I like her energy and she was so personable. She said all she wants is to one day open her own bakery. I told I can help with that and I'll teach as much as I can about the business. A year later she is burned out from decorating. Too hard on the hands and feet. Over all I saw she was fading and wasn't going to last much longer. I figured my work at this end of it with her was done so I ask her to take over the store as manager. She came back in a couple days and agreed to do it. She was so good with customers and employees, organization, the whole lot. I gave her more freedom to do as she thought than I had ever given anyone. Within six months I think my business was up 25%. After another six months the results of her efforts out there got to her and she ended up having to quit. I ask her if she still wants to open a bakery. Her answer immediately, NO! She was a rare find but the point is and I see it all the time, so many people think a bakery is such a romantic idea. LOL Everyone my dad or myself have been able to show the business to couldn't run away fast enough. On the other side of it. I have never been without work for a day in my life and I've learned over time that life is what you make of it. I think we spend most of our life reacting to or responding to the choices we make. At this point in my life I try now to make very good choices. Like my dad always said, "Too soon old, too late smart"