Can you make a decent living...

[Stiganator]

Can you make a decent living owning a few bakeries?

Difficulty starting up? Thoughts on franchise vs. not franchise?

EDIT: Made it a little more clear, what I wanted to do.

 

[Oceandevi]

Hard to compete with larger companies, find a niche and hope it lasts.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Just being the owner or working there too? Let's say you open up a dry cleaner - if you're working, you get paid for the work, plus profits from the business are available.

If you're just the owner, it may or may not require being more than an owner. A few small stores I know, are niches to certain ethnicities of people, they own it and employ others, but hold a full time job somewhere else.

Owning a business, especially a small shop/restaraunt/etc. is a lifestyle choice. You do it because you enjoy the lifestyle, the benefits and money don't necessarily come first.

 

[Riverhound777]

I use to know a guy who owned a Macdonald's in NYC. He said he got about $20k per year from it. But he was making $300k a year from other stuff so it wasn't really a part of his income. And that was a good 10 years ago.

 

[Stiganator]

I love fresh baked bread goods. MMMMMM

 

[Stiganator]

I would probably work as a manager until it got to the size where I would hire another manager to manage some of the stores and then phase myself off to just an owner.

 

[backseatmidget]

i was looking into buying a subway

 

[Stiganator]

I was reading that need a 6 figure net worth to start many franchises. Does that mean I basically couldn't buy a franchise, since my net worth is about -50,000.

 

[liquid51]

I can't pretend to know how to start or maintain a business such as a bakery, but it seems to me if you could rough it through the first few years until you've become an anchor in the community, it could work out well. Become that place that people just must go to get an excellent loaf of bread for they're dinner party, etc. "The Stignator Bakery makes the best french baguette!"

 

[gilligans]

Originally posted by: backseatmidget
i was looking into buying a subway

too saturated

 

[SSSnail]

The first rule in restaurant is that you have to have quality food. If you can sustain a few years, and you make reeaaalllly good products, then you will prosper.

Also, don't ever cheapen your customer, I've seen a lot of restaurants fall by the wayside by reducing quality as they grow. That should never be the case.

 

[Jawo]

Try franchising one of the bakery brands out there....There's a Great Harvest Bread Co bakery near my work thats been there forever (12+ years). They are independently owned and operated and have considerable leway in what types of bread they make, but still have to get most everything from the franchisor. Its really good bread, and they are always making seasonal bread (ie Mardi Gras cakes, Irish Soda Bread, Green bread....)