Successful Small Business Tips to Take Your Pastry Shop to the Next Level. Opening a brick-and-mortar business today can be challenging, and it’s arguably more challenging when you’re in the business of making food. In part, this is because food is something that’s very personal; we all have our individual likes and dislikes when it comes to food. And this includes pastries and baked goods. But if you’ve taken the brave step to open a pastry shop or bakery there are things that you want to do to set up your business for success.
Table of Contents
Focus on Customer Service
The importance of good customer service cannot be overstated. Indeed, whether customer service is good or bad can be the life or death of a business. This is because business isn’t just about the products that you sell, but it’s also about the connection you have with your customers and how you make them feel. Even if the quality of your goods isn’t the best in town, great customer service can earn you return customers.
Customer service begins with how customers are treated by the front-of-house staff. These are people whom customers see and interact with, so they’re basically the face of the business. Note that a welcoming attitude and friendliness should be parts of their job description. Customer service also entails making sure customers are satisfied with your goods and with how problems are resolved.
Utilize Online and Street Promotion
It really doesn’t do any good to have a business if no one knows you’re there, so you want to make sure that advertising is a part of your business plan. Since we live in the digital age, make sure that your business has its own website and that you have profiles on social media sites. The great thing about online advertising is that it can be free. Paid online advertising is also effective for getting people in the doors.
As a brick-and-mortar business, you don’t want to neglect street-level advertising. This includes things like putting up flyers around town and even on people’s windshields if you get permission from business owners. Because you own a business that people can actually walk into, you want to make people feel like you’re a part of the community. This means inviting people to get to know your business.
Produce Quality Goods
The quality of your baked goods is also a factor that can contribute to how successful your business is. It seems people are searching for quality products and services like never before, and this includes food. So making pies, pastries, and bread that are outstanding in terms of how they taste and appear can put you ahead of the competition.
Quality begins with the ingredients and appliances you use. Let’s say you have several pastries on the menu that use whipped cream. Instead of relying on store-bought whipped cream how much better would your desserts taste if you used freshly-made whipped cream? It’s an additional step, but your customers would probably notice and appreciate the difference.
Maintain a Clean Establishment
Making sure that your shop or store maintains cleanliness is something else that is important for your pastry shop or bakery, especially if it’s a sit-down establishment. Cleanliness not only shows customers that you care about the appearance of your business, but it shows that you care about their health and wellness. This became even more important during the global pandemic.
And keep in mind that cleanliness doesn’t just count for the areas of the establishment that the customer sees. Cleanliness should also be an overarching concern in the making of food items. This extends to the cleanliness of food preparers and other staff who handle food, too. Clearly, cleanliness is an aspect of the restaurant industry that goes well beyond how clean a dining room appears.
Opening a brick-and-mortar business comes with its own challenges, especially if the establishment is in the business of selling food. If you desire to open a pastry shop or bakery, there are certain things you should do to set yourself up for success. These include focusing on customer service, using advertising, making quality goods, and maintaining a clean establishment. These things could be the key to sweet success in your business.