This guy is amazing! He walks, talks, works, talks and never skips a beat! I wish him the very best.

Love it Jon. You and Amanda are such an inspiration. Making things in the way they should be made. You guys are doing just fine :)

I do bread as a hobby and own/operate an engineering and construction business. Scaling is such a challenge! Love watching your journey. Stay strong!

I started using a decorative wheat pattern scoring on the bread that I bake at home because of you all! :) You all are such an amazing inspiration. I really appreciate you sharing videos of your production.

You guys are doing an amazing job in your community. Me and my kids love good hearty bread (like yours) and I wish we had a bakery like yours where I live. My family and I do our best to support our local business since they are the backbone of our economy. I hope you guys grow and thrive in your community and make it a place you feel proud of. Love you guys.

You're so easy to watch, wish nothing but the best!

Man, I just love watching your videos guys, started during the pandemic and even got complimented for noticing the diff colour between the flour you use and the colour of the starter

It has been fun watching your video and your business growth. I will finally get to visit your bakery next month and am dragging my friends with me there too.

You guys are doing SO MUCH! It almost makes me wonder if you're growing a bit too quickly, but obviously you're the ones who have to figure that out. That said, in my experience, the biggest thing any food-based business can do to improve variability of sales is to incorporate Pre-sales into their business model. As someone who has a Microgreens business, I have found it amazing that, even with supermarket and restaurants taking a cut of the profits (by buying "wholesale), it has significantly reduced the amount of "guess work" regarding how much product we produce and sell. Pre-sales not only eliminates the guess work(and stress) but, inevitably, also reduces waste of product(and packaging). We still do farmer's market, but it's nice to know that there are also more consistent and predictable revenue streams on top of what we make at the market.

@ProofBread

Жыл бұрын

We have been receiving preorder sales since 2018 and I agree that the move helped us through several chapters. However, we now have several seasons of data that shows that both Farmers Markets and retail sales are far more predictable than preorders online. Our online channel is by far the most volatile. I would argue that we were growing too quickly in years past, but we are finally able to grow into ourselves but strategically expanding retail. Preorders actually seem to harm us more often than not because of the last minute changes to production based on volatility. Whereas, we can always get within a few percentage points of farmers market and retail demand. I think the overall point is that it is hard to compare the overall needs of a baking business vs a micro greens business. We may share farmers market spaces, but beyond that the similarities diminish. The baking business is extraordinarily labor heavy with 1 day sales windows on production. In our experience facilitating Main Street Harvest we have observed that almost all the other categories of local vendors function on a weekly cycle rather than a daily one. This in and of itself is a huge difference. Proof at the moment is still functioning on a weekly interval which was our max potential from our former garage. However, we pay for the resources both human and material that allow for daily cycles. Unlocking non-Saturday demand is critical to balancing our budget. It’s not really an emotional matter. We have to follow the numbers.

@DARKLYLIT

Жыл бұрын

@@ProofBread Thanks for your detailed explanation John. Your data doesn't lie, so good on you for being so thorough. As far as pre-orders, I was referring to "bulk" pre-sales(supermarkets/restaurants), not your website pre-orders. I would never consider website-based, individual online sales to be even a "blip" as far as total sales go. I'm sure it helped-out during COVID but your bread is such a specialized, perishable product , that there's no way online sales would ever approach being anything significant. Related to this; to adjust to the challenge of COVID, in 2020 an online "farmer's market" was created called "Local Line", which helped farmers and artisans sell their products to what was then, a community in "shut-down". This supplemented producers' incomes but, as has been your experience, we also found that individual pre-sales orders were far too volatile and unpredictable for it to even be worth doing sometimes. This is much different than having restaurants and supermarkets buying specific amounts on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. You know exactly what is expected and you produce those specific amounts for specific customers. That predictability is a wonderful thing. You are certainly correct in your assessment of "cycles". As a microgreens business, there is no way we could function on a daily cycle. Many people have asked us if they can just "come and pick some up from us", but this simply would not work. As you yourself deal with Steadfast Farms, you will likely know that the grow-cycle for microgreens is 7-10 days. It would be completely impractical to even have small amounts harvested on a daily basis.The waste would be incredible. One of these days, I hope I can come sample your incredible baking. I lived in France for a couple of years(a lifetime ago) and, seeing what you produce, I can tell you that it all looks incredible. Especially having only been doing it for what, just six years now? Really "next-level" baking. You're a badass John! :)

Thank you for the updates; I can only imagine how challenging it is now with the business. Appreciate it very much, have a wonderful day.

Is there a practical way you could create a mezzanine floor in the bakehouse? It would keep your ingredients onhand and create some much needed space, the downside would be the physical aspect of storing and then retrieving said ingredients, but if space was a premium then perhaps it could be something to consider? Always enjoy your video's, wishing you all the best success.

If only everyday could be Saturday. I feel your pain

@ProofBread

Жыл бұрын

I think the issue is volatility. If a business can function on a weekly production schedule then one outlying day like Saturday is okay. This was more or less how we functioned in our former garage. However, if a business has a daily cycle, then it is not sustainable to have a day that is 6-7x all the others. The cost of creating that one day requires a team size that necessitates a higher baseline. For us as a bakery there is only one pathway. Grow the rest of the days. In an alternate universe we could stabilize with a smaller footprint by shrinking Saturdays, but we would not have a baseline business level to support ourselves.

A quick question if you do not mind. I recently took a 4-class session on recycling. One of the things they covered were the programs out there for composting. Residentially we can pay about $5/month for a composting bucket with unlimited "drop offs" to the local food bank's composter (a $100k heated/augered beast and they are going to install a second one soon!) for use in their raised garden. But they also have one local company also taking advantage of the service, a small bakery. Do you use a similar program and/or do your own composting to keep food scraps out of the waste stream? Strange part about the communal composter is they are always desperate for more "brown" material. And apparently they are quite happy to get greasy pizza boxed (heated composter, grease not an issue). I pointed out that the local college can probably provide all they need :)

Are you guys using Hayden flour for some of your stuff?

Molto bravi 👏

@ChrisBeary1

Жыл бұрын

Ti trovo qui perché sto guardando per migliorare la nostra panetteria/pasticceria, ma io e mia moglie saremmo a Roma il 7 Settembre e ho visto il tuo canale! È fantastico grazie! Sottoscrivo adesso, ora abbiamo un senso di cose dovremmo mangiare. Grazie mille, se hai alcuni consigli per nostra prima volta a Roma scrivimi per favore!! Ciao di Texas!

If there are restaurants around your bakery, you should consider staying open for evening hours. I love going to bakeries, but I usually only have time on the weekends. If you were open until say 8pm, people could stop by after dinner and pick up dessert or breakfast for tomorrow. Edit: I have no idea if it would work, but it seems like it's worth a try if you can figure out the staffing.

@ProofBread

Жыл бұрын

Our area is evening dominated so we have considered this. As soon as we feel like we can afford the extra staffing and processes this is a goal of ours.

@markgrouwe6546

Жыл бұрын

In Belgium they have bread vending machines. Maybe you can use that.

I noticed at the end you were querying your delivery manager, making sure he had all his tools. First, that's HIS job, he shouldn't need, and probably doesn't want, you looking over his shoulder. To help with that, he should (really, must) have a checklist, kind of like a pilot's, that he can work down and confirm he's really ready to go. If (when, really), that checklist is missing things, or has items no longer needed, UPDATE it. Finally (HA!!!) he, where possible, should have one or more "ready kits"; a tote or bag that has all he needs to take, just grab it, load it in, go, come back, restock (if needed) and put away. You certainly have written down your recipes...even non-bakers need clear, concise "helpers" like that.

Have you ever tried to bake real German " PUMPERNICKEL "? I would be interested to know if something like this catches on with you in the USA, especially because it is such a simple recipe! !! water, rye meal, salt......and LOTS of time, over 24 hours baking, time to be exact ;) ps. and for the people who can't stand the "pure" bread, it's also possible with rye meal sourdough.....! Helps against large amounts of "bloating"

Needed a bigger space

why are you not selling into petrol stations, convenience stores and local supermarkets?

love the whole thing but much of this seems like a low key flex. he should be happy that all his problems are good problems. it seems like he makes it seem like its bringing him down

👍👍👍👍👍

I respect what your saying but unfortunately bigger u get the less profit u will make. You’re better off back in the garage selling breads with low overhead u will make the same profit without the headaches 😊

If ever a person had the gift of teaching, John, you have it. My 2 cents: If you want to fulfill your vision for the company and spend more time doing what you love, Improve that skill by hiring people who are matched to your skillset. 1.)Those who compliment your gifting are the ones that will boost you to new levels, find out who compliments you. 2.)Pay them accordingly because they will make you money and run things smoothly. It's all about good management at this point. Side note: This video is riveting. You are a master at walking and talking. I cannot find words to describe the value I see in your ability to articulate on the fly. Couldn't have done better if this were scripted. Blessings on you and yours sir. New subscriber here.

It’s as if you and the business were catapulted into the future by one grumpy neighbor.

@ProofBread

Жыл бұрын

This is true. Oddly, if you recall some of my emotions from the forced move I was actually fearing this as opposed to total failure. I believe in our ability to maneuver through difficulty, but the move definitely put us on a multi year treadmill to regain a sustainable level. It’s incredible to reach new heights, but we knew it would take years to regain a sense of comfort that we had achieved in the smaller garage footprint. The neighbor ultimately forced us to help ourselves and to become more resilient. In the end he will have shortened the amount of time required to build our business. This being said we still must do the same amount of building in that shorter period. Grateful to be on a good path. Excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel where we can slow the growth a bit and refocus on refinement and baking. 😊

Looks to me like you spend too much time loading trucks by moving from those plastic trays a few at a time. Can you build ramps into the trucks so the whole stack goes in all at once? Can you use the aluminum racks directly so you don’t have to transfer product to the plastic trays? Can you stock the truck with the tent/structure in a box you can just roll up and down the ramp? Also, it looks from the video like that counter for customers to watch takes up more room than the revenue it generates. Is that counter space paying its way? In the software world it’s called ruthless editing. Good luck as you grow and figure it out.

John, the way you pick up and lift those baskets is very unhealthy. Your back is gonna be gone in 5-10 years. To avoid hurting your back you need to lift using your thigh muscles while keeping your back straight. Please look it up. Take care.

Good job, amazing effort !!! You are not alone with the problem of getting bigger !!! It is alive as you go on, Daily Checklists.-,Production list with date and Name of Product , Monday to Sunday Clipboard with the Order incl.shop shelfs all with Nr. will help!! Room is another issue !?? If you get another Warehouse for baking, make s special baking there, you don/t need to do here ! Just my Idea !!! Great job !