I rented a kitchen in a restaurant at night, and asked friends to help out. I had a crew of 5 people. Like little elves, we’d bake all night while the restaurant was closed. We only had one oven with 2 racks, only able to bake 48 cookies every 12 minutes. The cookies were baked from scratched, scooped by hand, packaged individually, sealed with a heat sealer and labeled – all 19,800 of them! It was the most exhausting but exhilarating experience. It was then I knew that I loved the thrill and pain that came with being a business owner. We’ve been baking Polar Express snickerdoodles since then.
2020 would’ve been our 10th year baking for the CA State Railroad Museum. In 2019, we baked 47,000 cookies for their Spookomotive Halloween Train and Polar Express. But 2020 had a different plan for all of us. All of our Fall and Holiday events were cancelled. Being in the baking business, our 4th quarter is our busiest season, and that’s when we make the most profit. Suddenly, all of it was gone.
Having survived and thrived during the recession, I can honestly say that the 2020 pandemic is a lot harder than the recession.
I’ve experienced a lot as a business owner for the last 11 years, and learned a lot of lessons too. I had a brick and mortar bakery for about 4 years. I learned retail wasn’t for me. When I closed my bakery in 2016, I remember Etsy was becoming popular then. I thought how cool it would be if there was a website that sold baked goods like Etsy. Then other opportunities came along, and that idea got buried.
2020 started off great. Even during the first few months of lock down, business was still thriving. It wasn’t until June when I realized (or accepted) how bad the pandemic would be. During a very slow summer season, this “Etsy for baked goods” idea came back to me. I always tell my kids, when something bad happens, it’s usually a blessing in disguise. True entrepreneurs find opportunity even in the worst scenarios. This pandemic gave me the time to pursue this idea.