Customer Reviews

How to Open a Financially Successful Bakery : With a Companion CD-ROM

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"How to Create a Financially Successful Bakery" bakery by Sharon L. Fuller and Douglas R. Brown is an excellent choice for anyone thinking about opening up their very own bakery. It presents a number of things to consider. From weighing the pros and cons of different bakery locations to selecting a menu and from possibly serving meals, coffee, and ice cream to deciding to buy or lease baking equipment, the authors of this book gave me a plenty to think about before I dive into the food industry. It is a great basic resource for anyone looking to own their own food industry business.

In addition to bringing up several points to consider, the authors also direct readers to a number of helpful resources and they guide readers to seek out individualized information from local sources, such as the local health department, fire department, and more.

I found the chapters on hiring the staff and getting set up with suppliers to be the most helpful. Sometimes when you are new to an industry it can be hard to know where to start. Thanks to "How to Create a Financially Successful Bakery" I now know what needs to get done.

The accompanying CD-ROM is also a great resource. On it are a number of sample business plans and related Microsoft Word documents that anyone can alter and use for their own start up business.

While the book does offer great insight into the industry, it is by no means an in-depth, step-by-step guide to owning your own bakery.

"HOW TO OPEN A FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL BAKERY" by Sharon L. Fullen and Douglas R. Brown.

From start to finish this book will help to solidify your view of opening a bakery and the work that it will require. The authors do not sugar coat the process of opening and running a bakery. They give honest straightforward information to help you be as successful as possible.

This book is comprehensive look at the bakery business. Starting with the financial and real estate technicalities. Then moving into more technical aspect of running a bakery business. The section on customers was especially interesting. Many people want to start a new bakery and are unprepared to identify whom their customers are; this book is excellent in helping to narrow down your customer base. The authors also talk about ways of getting new customers in your doors.

Beyond marketing "How to open a financially successful Bakery" goes into public relations and even menu planning to help make your newly opened Bakery an absolute success. This is a great overview of all the areas of concern when opening a new bakery. The authors have gone to great lengths to provide the highest standard of information.

To make this book even better, it comes with a CD that contains over 30 forms for the operations of your new financially successful bakery. There are forms on general management issues, food safety issues, and even employee training. "How to open a financially successful bakery" is a great starter book for anyone considering opening their own bakery business.

Opening any new business is a daunting task and there are always a myriad of informational sources from which to choose. This self-titled "A-to-Z guide" is a great first step. Although the text size is perhaps slightly too small for those of us over 40, the information is worthwhile and practical. Packaged with a CD-ROM, this book should be treated as a bound check-list rather than an actual instructional manual. The flow is smooth and the transition from subject to subject is carefully orchestrated. The most helpful chapters include "Successful Employee Relations & Labor Cost Control", "Your Customers", and "Public Relations" - as these subjects seem to be glossed over in similarly promoted texts. As someone concerned with our environment, I was certainly pleased to see a section on incorporating green materials and designs into a new or renovated bakery. Any soon-to-be bakery owner will find the best feature of the CD to be the Bakery Plan section. This document outlines valuable information on pricing & sales strategies as well as advertising and marketing considerations. The Sample Business Plan is an excellent template for those uninitiated with basic business forms. I was excited to find the Bakery Supply List, also on the CD - but was disappointed in the structure; this alphabetical list would be more user-friendly if the items were categorized in a more organized manner. Overall this book is certainly worth the asking price but could be slightly improved with minor modifications.

Though this book is packed with loads of information, the layout is not as simple to use and understand as it could be but still packs a punch. Much of the information that is given is useful in any business that is opened. The test at the beginning to see if someone is cut out to be an entrepreneur is very valuable. Explains the ends and out of how to start a bakery from the beginning, starting with the initial investment and helping the reader to understand how to get others to invest in their idea.

It lays out the basics of writing a successful business plan and how to deal with both the employees and the customers. Also, it goes into detail on how what equipment a bakery needs and marketing strategies as well as how to make the environment safe and stand up the health inspections.

Though the CD-ROM has many forms and other information that can be used, the book lacks details that are readily understandable on pricing and on how to use some of the forms. The section on pricing is easy for someone who has been in business to understand but for the newcomer, it may be slightly confusing. This is the problem with the forms also.

Overall, the book would be very beneficial to someone who is looking into starting a bakery. There is enough information in the areas which seem to be lacking to get a person started in the business. The areas lacking mean there will be slightly more trial and error when opening the business.

The collaborative work of Sharon Fullen and Douglas Brown, How To Open A Financially Successful Bakery is enhanced with an accompanying CD-ROM and provides the reader with a complete "how to" instruction guide and reference to the operating a profitable commercial bakery operation. From finding an optimum location for one's business, to pricing formulas to follow, how to hire and retain a high-quality professional staff, successful budgeting, tips, tricks, guidelines, and much more, How To Open A Financially Successful Bakery walks the reader through virtually everything he or she needs to know. A superb guide, filled with basic information valuable to any would-be small business owner, and an absolute "must-have" for anyone seriously considering a bakery business.

This book is a great introduction to the myriad of requirements for running a successful bakery. I would have liked more specific examples throughout the book; however, they somewhat make up for this by suggesting other sources for information. All in all, I find it very helpful.

This book gives the basics to running a business... business plan, budget, etc. I could already do all that stuff and was looking more for something to help me with a bakery. Honestly, I stopped reading. I will pick it back up when I have more time. The book also talked a lot about financing and investors. I just want to run my own bakery without going into debt... do it the Dave Ramsey way, if you know what I mean.

If you are opening a bigger bakery or baking isn't your passion, but you think you can make money in it, then this is the book for you. If you don't have a lot of business experience, this is also a great book for you.

I have not looked at the information on the CD yet. Sorry, I cannot give feedback on that.

This book covered everything a small bakery owner would ever need to run a financially successful business. All of the information was invaluable and I recommend this to anyone who is serious about owning their own bakery.

Super helpful book full of good advice. Knowledgeable and very organized making it easier to turn back to certain areas when you need help!

This book came in excellent condition, and is just exactly what I was looking for. The only issue was a manufacturing flaw, where the edge of the accompanying CD was bound into the spine a little bit - I managed to remove it from the book without damaging the CD or book itself.

As for the contents, this book is outstanding for anyone looking to open a profitable bakery. I'll be using this to build a business plan, and as a guide as we get off the ground and running. An outstanding book!