Hailey Kurtis

[haileykurtissourdough]

Week # 13 Progres

Wow this has been a wonderful and wild ride.

This week has been a learning week. My dough really did a nose dive and flopped hard this week. The weather has been so cold that it has been effecting the fermentation of my starter, which then makes for uncooked, not rising, and really awful bread. Needless to say my starter needed some tender loving care this week.

So this week I have made a change and I was focusing on something new with some new sourdough discard recipes. There was a ask for English muffins, so I dove into that this week.

Overall they turned out pretty well. There are some changes that I would like to make but the feedback overall was good. People enjoyed them and bought them.

So this was a good test to see if I make changes to things that customers are still interested in what I am providing. And it was successful.

I am enjoying acknowledging the challenges and the successes each week because it really shows the growth, development and grace that comes with business.

I have also learned this week that getting messy and just embracing what comes in a week is all good, because next week is going to be new and difference and messy or just wonderful!

[haileykurtissourdough]

Week #12 Progress

What’s working? Trying new recipes! Doing a trial on English muffin dough this week. So that’s super fun. I really enjoy trying new doughs and items. I’ve had a request for this so answering customers suggestions and requests.

What’s not working? Weather is not working in my favour. Sales are low this week. My social media page is lacking right now I need to up the attention on that, post more picture and do more stories.

How do you feel the project is coming? I feel like there is progress and growth and the excitement of this project is still there. But the reality of how much work and prep everything is, is starting to weigh on me this week.

What are you learning about running a business? I am learning that there are some weeks ( like this one) where my motivation is low. That life, other jobs and time is taking priority and making it hard to focus on my project.

What are you learning about yourself?

I am learning that I need to give myself grace. Grace that it’s ok to have slow weeks, it’s ok to low bake weeks, it’s ok to have different focus and it’s ok to still want to run a small business and be successful.

[haileykurtissourdough]

Week 11 Progress

What’s working?

Baking and selling is working. I have been baking and bread has been purchased and consumed and customers are happy. So that’s a really great feeling.

What’s not working?

Still a struggle with the weather, stand, bread not freezing. I don’t have the space to be indoors or even have a house pick up due to my schedule so drop days have been shifted a little due to weather.

How do you feel the project is coming? I feel proud of how this project is coming together. I know that I can do hard things and I really enjoy challenging myself. But when I started this project it was very outside my comfort level. So it’s amazing to see the project come together. What are you learning about running a business? Time is money! So being efficient is key! What are you learning about yourself?

I am learning that being humble is important. That when you engage, share your passion, have a great product you can do amazing things and make some money.

[haileykurtissourdough]

Week #10 Business Progress

what is working? Prepping 8 loaves per drop day is working well. I really love making dough and look forward to those dough days.

what is not working? Having 2 drop days is a lot, it would almost be better time wise to have one big drop day, or have a big drop day and a smaller drop day. Which might be better for sales as well.

how do you feel the project is coming? I feel good about this project. I am learning lots, still excited about the project and see the potential long term.

what are you learning about running a business? I am learning that it’s hard to run a business. I am grateful that it’s just me. At this time I couldn’t imagine having employees and having to manage all of that.

what are you learning about yourself? I am learning that being in the kitchen is my happy place. I am learning that I really love being busy. I am learning that I love showing my son how important it is to chase your dreams and live with passion and getting your hands dirty.

[haileykurtissourdough]

Online Customer Showcase

[haileykurtissourdough]

Week 9 - Progress

This week has been busy with mom life, illness and holiday hangover.

what is working?

Well Eden my sourdough starter is doing well and is ready to be made into dough so that is working this week.

what is not working?

Finding time to make dough is not working this week. It has been super busy coming down from the holiday highs. With that being said even putting out less loaves, bread seems to be low on people’s purchasing list as they have indulged over the holidays.

how do you feel the project is coming?

Overall I feel like this project coming along well. Each week there are sales and starting to build a following.

what are you learning about running a business?

I am learning that bread, business, growth, profit are always on your mind. I am learning that I am constantly thinking about my business. When you have a business it is constantly on your mind.

what are you learning about yourself?

I am learning that business is interesting. That with knowledge about business I can engage in different conversations that I would have been nervous to be apart of before. Also that as I start to go down this road I start to think about how to better the business. I am learning that I like these thoughts and that I really enjoy learning.

[haileykurtissourdough]

My Progress- week #8

This week has been busy with baking because of the holidays. I had a few custom orders for Christmas Eve which was very exciting.

What’s working? This week I had a lot more time at home with made it a lot easier to prioritize making dough and baking bread. I also tried something new with packaging and wrapped all the loafs in tea towels it was very cute and seasonal. I got really great feedback. I also loved that the packaging was sustainable.

What’s not working?

The weather is very interesting with having the loaves outside with these freezing temperatures is a new challenge.

How do you feel the project is coming? I feel this project is coming along well. I’m learning each week and enjoying making bread more than I ever thought. There is so much love and passion that goes into this. And I love that portion of this business.

What are you learning about running a business? I am learning that it’s hard to make money. Starting is hard. Love and passion don’t make money. But love and passion make you continue and push through to make money.

What are you learning about yourself? I am learning that I am really interested in business. I am interested in learning how people grow and build their business, so that I can learn to grow and build myself and my business. I learning that I really enjoy learning.

[haileykurtissourdough]

My Progress- Week # 7

This project has been a really interesting way to learn how to start and run my business. It has always been something I have be interested in doing but was nervous and didn't know where to start. This project has really built my confidence in understanding the ins and outs of a small business venture.

What is working?

Perfecting and experimenting with my sourdough recipes. I have been getting a lot of really great feedback with flavours and how great the quality of bread I am making. I am managing my time well with creating prep days, bake days and drop days.

What is not working?

Finding the time for social media posts, stories, reels and making sure that my social media presents is continuous present.

How do you feel the project is coming?

I feel this project is coming along well. I am really excited to be baking weekly and sharing my new passion with friends and family.

What are you learning about running a business?

I am learning that there are so many working parts of having your own business. There is always something to be thinking about, creating, and executing. But it is so rewarding having something that is your own.

What are you learning about yourself?

I am learning that the busier I am the happier I am. I am also learning that I really enjoy working with my hands, being creative and that being in a kitchen baking and prepping is my happy and safe place. This process has created a weekly family time that is active and inclusive.

I am so grateful to be challenging myself and providing for myself in a way I've never done before.

[haileykurtissourdough]

Where will I get the money?

I really like the idea of grant money as another financial source to pair with my personal investment in my company. 

I understand that grant money can cause a little bit of a headache to apply for, but I like the idea of the government invest me. But there are a number of factors that could be working adjust me, “research/project does not meet eligibility criteria”, what if my proposal is weak and base on their criteria my location could be ineligible. I will need to do a little more research in regard to that specifically. 

But after that as long as you are using the money with their guidelines you don’t have to pay it back, and I do like the idea of that. 

I think for a fall back option it would be interesting to look into the financial angles. It’s a neat concept and would be interesting to have a mentor like person that is invested.

But in the end, ideally I would like to have this as my own, so I hope that grant money would work out. 

[haileykurtissourdough]

Purchasing and Overall Vision

Shopping is not my ideal way to spend my time. But when it comes to shopping for ingredients knowing that I am going to be baking at the end of my shop it brings joy to my heart. My purchasing list is fairly simple:

Bread ingredients (which Costco will always be the best place to purchase these items and always seem to have what I’m looking for and with so many locations you can always find what you need)

I have been looking into simple but cute and cost effective ways to package my bread. Amazon is an easy place to purchase these items for my start up. There is always way to improve and different packaging ideas I have but to keep cost down and time simple Amazon is my best place for purchasing. I believe that sourcing and receiving my items in time to open is be very feasible. My overall vision is to make a little sourdough shack as my home stand. I would like to create my stand with repurposed materials lowering my overall cost but creating stories around my location as well. This build would be my largest under taking as my start up, but would not hold me back from opening (so it doesn’t have to be first on the list).

Which this all being said my items needed for start up would be simple:

Bread ingredients

Oven for baking

Bread making tools (bowls, whisk, scale, tea towels, Dutch oven, parchment paper)

Bread bags

Voila!

That’s my list of tools and items. Keeping it simple to start is my key for me!

[haileykurtissourdough]

Persona

Working Mom- Susan

About her:

Susan is a working mom in a small town. She enjoys good quality and flavourful foods

Benefits:

Bread that is organic, hand made, naturally fermented and is full of love and quality ingredients.

Use case: 

Susan is trying to achieve a balanced food diet for her and her family, incorporating whole grains and health benefit foods that make everyone feel good and taste delicious. 

Previous Solutions and Pain Point: 

Susan was eliminating breads from her family’s diet to help make everyone feel better but felt as though she was missing something in their diet.  

Buying Triggers:

This product is organic, flavourful, hand made, and being sourdough it’s a bread that is easily digested therefore making it tasty and makes everyone feel good while eating it. 

Buying Process:

Susan could come to the sourdough shack and pick out her favourite flavours of bread or order through social media.

Choice Factor 

Susan is looking for new interesting flavours, having diversity in different flours but still keeping the quality of bread at a top level.

[haileykurtissourdough]

Advertising

[haileykurtissourdough]

Local Competition

Pie In The Sky

Strength 

photos are beautifully done 

Information is short and to the point 

Easy to navigate 

Pop up for 10% off is right off the and asking for email to stay connected 

Made a post about when the breads will drop on social media but no follow up 

You can read their story  

Weakness 

Some of the text is not easy to read

there is not a section for their breads on the website. It’s listed but nothing more 

You would only know they have sourdough daily by going in store 

There’s no pricing online about their breads they focus more on the fruit and baked goods

Social media presence is not constant

Still no pricing anywhere, other then in store

Their online presence does not makes you want to visit or really bring you back into their store or website 

Blackbird Baking Company 

Strength

catchy slogan on the home page

Social media presence is active and fun to scroll through, does make you want to visit them 

Weakness

website is not user friendly, did not like it at all. Would actually not purchase from them because of it

Every link you open opens either email or Dropbox you can’t just browse

Pricing not easy to find 

No pictures or showcase of their breads or their story

Cobbs Bread 

Strengths 

breads are the first thing you see

Website is user friendly 

Easy reading and warm welcoming colours 

Highlight features breads and new flavours 

Ask to stay connected right away with discount codes

They have many locations and they make it easy to find the closest to you through their website 

Social media presence is active and inviting  

Weakness

pricing is not easy to find.

[haileykurtissourdough]

Message map

[haileykurtissourdough]

Strengths and Weaknesses

Financial Planning:

Weakness

not being full confident or knowledgable about how to create a budget

over spending in areas that I maybe shouldn't

Strengths

organization

creating lists ( ie: to do, what bills need to be paid, when they are due, what account they are being paid from)

Sales/Negotiations:

Weakness

not asking for the sale

not being an over the top sales person that is to pushy

Strengths

speaking confidently about the product being sold ( ie: when I was treatment coordinating in an orthodontic office I was able to explain and sell the treatment plan to a new patient. Being knowledgable and confident about the plan helped sell the treatment)

can build personal connections quickly with the person you are selling to (ie: know how to ask the right questions is important)

People Management:

Weakness

if there are too many leaders I tend to be the first person to take a step back even when I shouldn't

can become emotional or takes things to heart

can be an over thinker and get into my own head in a negative way

Strengths

easily connect with people on a personal level ( ie: when talk to customers or coworkers can easily ask questions about themselves to build a trusting conversation right away )

encourage coworkers or team members

have patience while teaching or training new staff ( ie: when a coworker was starting into a new role which I was very familiar I walked her through all the ins and outs of the position and taught how to use the computer system more effectively

talk constructive criticism with grace

being positive