I was immediately intrigued when I came across The Grand Bakery on Twitter.  I mean really…who wouldn’t be?  Krista makes cupcakes.  Rich, gorgeous, droolworthy cupcakes.  The cupcakes are made to order, using all natural fresh ingredients…no preservatives or trans-fats.  Gosh…that practically makes them health food, doesn’t it? :)   After you’re finished licking the computer screen, make sure you also check out Krista’s Zazzle site for fabulous Cupcake Swag as well. 

The Grand Bakery specializes in Cupcakes-over 50 flavors on the current list!  While I don’t have a store front, I am lucky enough to be renting my kitchen space from a fantastic lady www.buttertartstodiefor.ca at Dees General Store and she has offered to sell my cupcakes for me, in addition to my custom orders. 

“I am 35, Married for 10 years, 2 stepkids 14 and 12, and 2 children 4 and 2.  My office is at my home, but I do all my baking/food prep out of Dee’s General Store in Valens, Ontario. “

1 ) What inspired you to start your own business?

Wow, thats a loaded question!

After having my daughter Amelia in November 2004, I went on maternity leave and was laid off immediately upon returning to work in Noember 2005.  My husband and I decided we might have another baby so we weren’t in a huge rush for me to go out and find another job.  Lo and behold, my son Lukas was born in September 2006.  So the past 4 years have given me plenty of time to think about what direction I wanted my career to take.  The one thing that kept coming back up was cooking-and more specifically, baking.  I have always been an avid cook–entertaining for our family (over 40 people at a time!), friends and co-workers is second nature to me. So I thought-why not? 

Tied into that was the added bonus of The Self Employment Benefit Program, which I applied to, and was accepted for! It is a huge help for Canadians looking to start their own business.

2) What do you love about running your own business?

I am able to do things according to my schedule.  I haven’t had to hire childcare-yet-because I am able to do my work in the bakery when my husband his home, and do all my internet marketing/test baking/paperwork from home.

 I am creating cupcakes the way I always imagine them to be-quality fresh ingredients, no preservatives, no trans fats.  Nobody to tell me to cut corners with cheaper or lower quality ingredients!

I am doing something that makes people happy.  Desserts make people happy.  Parties make people happy.  Good food makes people happy!  I serve my cupcakes with a smile.

 3) And what do you find the most difficult?

I can only do things according to my current childcare schedule (yes, the opposite of question #2!) and around my husbands work schedule.  He sometimes works odd hours, so I have to try to plan around that.

 4) Where do you find your inspiration?

A few places.. first and foremost, my own family’s traditions and recipes play heavily into my recipes.  I am blessed to have a mother and grandmother who have always baked and who are great cooks, so the stuff I saw when I was only a little girl and pestering my mom in the kitchen while she baked, its what shapes my vision the most. Like when I thought of an apple cupcake, I could only think of my mothers Dutch Apple pie, and so I translated that into a cupcake–the crumble topping on the pie became the crumbles on the frosting. 

Second, food trends and ready-made foods inspire me.  Terrys Chocolate Orange-yum!  So I just thought about how I could put that into a cupcake. 

Third-suggestions from friends and family.  I always get calls and emails from people saying “Hey, you don’t have XXXX on your flavor list.  I think you should do one like that!!”  So besides the more than 50 flavors on my website, there is at least another dozen on the To Do list.  I do a lot of test baking here at home as I work out recipes, and obviously those can’t be sold–so family, friends and my husbands co-workers are the Official Taste Testers! 

5) Which of your products is your favourite?

Currently, its a three-way tie.  Dutch Apple, S’Mores, and Hostess with the Mostest.  And the Strawberry is SO good. I  And the Luscious Lemon is SO sweet-tart and refreshing.  Ack, do I have to pick just one?!

6) Do you have any advice for others still in the “dreaming” stage of starting their own business?

Write a business plan.  It might sound silly, but if you are serious, getting it all down on paper (or on the computer!) helps you to be objective and will ask you questions you might not have thought about before.  A GREAT resource is the Canadian Interactive Business Planner: http://www.canadabusiness.ca/ibp/eng/info.cfm.  You can work on your business plan right on their site and it guides you along the whole process- at no cost. 

 Be flexible.  You might have an end-goal in sight–for me, I want to have my own storefront–but maybe it can’t happen that way right away.  So I explored other options, and went with renting kitchen space out of a bakery.  It saves me a ton of money right now, and lets me get my feet wet and my name out there.  I still want to have my own shop, but its babysteps.  I will re-evaluate at the end of the year and decide what direction to go in.  Your business plan is fluid and will always be changing and evolving.

 Know your laws and by-laws!  For anyone considering anything in the food industry, in Canada that pretty much means you CANNOT cook/bake from home unless you have a seperate, sectioned-off, no access from your home, kitchen!  I could have built a kitchen here in an outbuilding, but that would be almost as much as renovating a storefront.  Not to mention rezoning, property taxes…a lot of headaches!  And if you aren’t sure what your local regulations allow, call your local County office or Board of Health.  They can give you the answers you need.

*Thank you so much, Krista, for sharing such a fabulous insight into your business!  Best of luck in all your Cupcaking Endeavours!** — Beth