How to Start a Bakery: The Ultimate Checklist

Ah, the bakery. 

It's as American as baseball and apple pie. In fact, it's the best place to get an apple pie. 

Baking is an industry powerhouse in the United States. There are nearly 3,000 independent bakeries lining Main Streets across the country and accounting for $30 million in sales each year. There are another 6,000 retail bakeries that generate another $3 billion of sales every 12 months. 

Yes, that's billions, with a "B."

And yes, the baking industry offers seemingly endless opportunities for people with refined palettes and appreciate the art and science of baking. 

And many bakers own their own bakeries. If you are interested in opening, owning and operating your own bakery, keep reading--because you are about to see the ultimate checklist for starting your very own bakery.

Step One: Get Passionate

Owning your own bakery isn't all about cookies, cakes, and biscuits. It requires a lot of hard work, creativity and business acumen. 

You need to be precise. You need to picky. And you need to have passion. 

The hours can be long and the personal and financial investments can be significant. The best bakers are those who have a passion for the profession. They love producing bread and confectionery products--and they love doing it to perfection. 

If you are passionate about baking, you just might be on your way to an incredibly rewarding future. 

Step Two: Get Educated

You might be a prodigy. You might have outstanding skills when it comes to working with an oven. You might even be the rare individual who is ready to go on Food Network's "Holiday Baking Championship" and win the whole thing.

But you are still going to need to get educated. 

It's one thing to be able to bake an amazing Bundt cake. It's another thing entirely to be able to build a business that sells Bundt cakes--and cookies, pies, cakes and doughnuts--to the masses. 

Successfully running your own bakery will require you have a firm understanding of food science, culinary techniques, presentation skills, and business principles. 

You are going to need to know how to bake, and you are going to need to know how to run a business. 

These are skills you can learn by enrolling in a culinary arts degree program. You'll have instructors with real-world experience. You'll get to practice and perfect your baking techniques. And you'll get to make contacts that can help you get started once you have graduated. Combined, all of these factors will play important roles in your success as you start your own bakery. 

Step Three: Get Real-World Experience

Nothing can prepare you for owning and operating your own bakery like working in an actual bakery. 

If you are lucky enough to be in culinary arts school and land a job or internship at a small, independently owned bakery, you'll get to experience the long overnight hours. You'll get to experience the precision it takes to deliver high-quality products time and time again. And you'll get to experience the exhilaration of watching customers purchase your product with smiles on their faces. 

If you are lucky enough to land a job or internship with a large, industrial or retail bakery while you are a student, you will get to see what it is like to bake incredibly large quantities of product at once. You will learn how to manage inventory. You will learn how to package products for mass consumers. And you'll get to see firsthand how bakeries help feed Americans on a daily business. 

Both experiences yield practical, real-world experience that could shape the way you run your own bakery. 

Step Four: Find Your Niche

Starting your own bakery will require education, experience and connections. You will also have to find your niche. 

Do you want to run a doughnut shop? Are you a wedding cake wiz? Or maybe you want to run a bakery that makes bread that is distributed to supermarkets across the country. 

One of the most important parts of the process of starting your own bakery is to determine what it is you want to do. It has to be something you are good at doing. It has to be something that is in demand. And it has to be something that banks or investors are willing to support. 

Baking and pastry (@ Culinary Institute of Virginia - ECPI University School of Culinary Arts) http://t.co/SnVWvc1V

— Katie Reams (@kataytastic) March 8, 2012

These are questions that you can answer in culinary arts school. To learn more about how to turn your passion for baking in to a future with a Baking and Pastry Arts degree, contact ECPI University's College of Culinary Arts. It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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