microbakers - online presence and credit cards
Greetings - as I plan to go all in on the microbakery, here are a couple lingering questions (among many others):
1. What are you doing for your online presence? Just FB/Instagram? Your own website? Do you have an online shop for orders? All of the above? What hosting service/tools do you like/dislike?
2. What are you doing for payments? Do you take credit cards? If so, what credit card processing service do you use?
The 'Why's' behind all of these are important too...
The plan for me is to do a combination of farmer's markets and local subscriptions for individuals (Idaho cottage food regulations require direct sales to customers). For the farmer's market piece, I don't think I need to be online beyond FB/Instagram, but for subscriptions, it seems like it could help. Credit card processing would definitely seem important if online orders were a major part of the business (which I think would be the case when the markets aren't running all winter).
Any insights are appreciated, as always (I also think we need a conference for microbakers, as there are a bunch out there that have lots of insights to share).
Square is a really good credit card processing solution for small businesses that need to take credit cards in person and potentially online. They even provide a lightweight storefront solution that might be enough for your needs.
Though I don't personally use it often, I'd keep Twitter on your social media list too. It remains the most public popular social media channel.
Good luck!
My operation is strictly cash, and no one seems to mind. In fact, when I buy bulk grains and flours I pay in cash too and my suppliers are happy. My mail-order customers have the option to pay $20 or more in advance and get their bread for $5 a loaf (a discount of .50 from paying for a single loaf, or $1 less than buying at the market or my little shop). I keep records on Excel spreadsheets so I know who has ordered what, and who still has money on account. I try to keep costs down by not paying percentages to credit card companies, etc. so I can also keep the price of my bread reasonable and still make a decent profit.
I have a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TheLazyLoafer) and do most of my business through email with customers. I did get a bunch of postcards printed (Vistaprint.ca) and I have delivered them by hand around my neighbourhood. That has gotten me lots of customers, and has been far more effective than my Facebook page. The FB page is good mostly for posting pictures. I really like interacting directly with my customers so I don't think I'd like to sell online. I think there's a chance of ending up with too much bread that was ordered but not picked up!
Here in the UK, cash is king. Card processing is trivial today too with many solutions that link to your mobile phone for taking cip & pin or contactless cards at markets, but cash still work. I've not yet been asked if I can take a card at a market - it's simply not or my radar right now.
Even some bulk supply firms will take cash on delivery - sometimes 100's of £ at a time (although my flour company will work with bank transfer) Most wholesalers here want to setup trade accounts and give you creid too!
As for online/advertising/presence - I have my own website along with facebook and twitter accounts but most of my custom comes via local shops and word of mouth. See if there are any local papers with free (or even paid-for) listings. Make fliers for people to tke away at markets, etc. No point advertising to an audience who don't go online...
-Gordon
These initial responses reflect a similar range in a discussion over on the BBGA forum...people are doing different things in different contexts and making it work.
While I am sure I will continue to struggle with a final decision on web presence and CC's, this all leads to perhaps a more confounding logistical issue of how to handle orders (and payment for orders). How do are you all doing that? What is the medium and options on ordering and how do you process it all? Do do subscriptions and if so, how does that work? Lessons learned?
Thanks again...
My clients either tell me in-person: "Oh, can I have 3 x seeded thingys next week please", or email me. I prefer the shops to email and have given them a cut-off time of 3pm the day before. I rarely take orders for the markets I do. (Some are monthly, although I have a few "standing orders"). If the shops don't email me they get the same as last time, or what they're pre-arranged - different breads on different days, etc. - that's the arrangement.
You can do all sorts of stuff online, etc. but if no-one uses it then it's been a waste of time. I do it manually and if, when, on-day, it became too much to handle via a daily worksheet which I print out, then I'll automate it.
-Gordon
the day after I closed it the state passed a Cottage Food Law. I was prepared to go cold turkey and give up baking for the public, but it allowed me to reinvent how I could continue baking but at my own pace. The FL law allowed me to bake certain items that weren't considered "dangerous" (ie. in need of refrigeration) and sell directly to customers. I continued a weekly blog that I had been writing for the brick/mortar bakery/cafe to let my former customers know what I would be creating in my home kitchen that week. They emailed their orders in by Wed 5pm and picked them up at my house on Friday from 1-5pm or Sunday 11-3pm at a small Farmer's Market where I was a vendor. All payments were in cash or local check. Customers quickly learned to order as soon as they received the blog because I made limited amounts and things sold out quickly.
I built a new base of regular customers with this format and they enjoyed meeting each other while picking up, so there was a social aspect to it as well. I decided what to make, in what quantities, with very little unsold each week. I decided NOT to do anything on Facebook because I didn't want to increase the amount of work I was willing to do. This continued for 4 years until I moved back to NYC, which unfortunately doesn't permit application of the NYS Cottage Food Law. You can see my blog at bonnibakesbrooklyn.blogspot.com Good luck & have fun with flour!!
That is really the model I had in mind (and the cottage food laws here work well for that, and the local food co-op will let me do customer pick-ups there too).
I think a lot depends on the population (size and interest in what you are making), along with the volume you are dealing with). I plan to start at about 100 loaves per week, and potentially make as much as twice that amount if that works out...