Great article on how the internet is fueling bakery success. The story of Hot Blondies is particularly enlightening because they have started a bakery business with $20,000. For New York Standards that is nothing.
Friends were constantly telling Lorin Rokoff to turn her baking hobby into a career. In April 2008, she did, launching Hot Blondies Bakery with co-worker Laura Paterson. The catch: Hot Blondies’ only store is online.
Discouraged by high rents and a slowdown in consumer spending, Hot Blondies is one of several fledgling bakeries to test the waters with e-commerce before settling on a brick-and-mortar shop. By taking advantage of social networking to generate buzz, and jumping on partnerships to grow their customer bases, small bakeries are bootstrapping their way to big sales.
Ms. Rokoff, 31, and Ms. Paterson, 34, launched Hot Blondies with about $20,000 from their respective savings accounts. The duo filled initial orders from Ms. Paterson’s Manhattan apartment and eventually began renting commercial kitchen space in the city. In May, they signed a lease for their own kitchen in the Flatiron district.
“People keep saying now’s the time to get a retail space,” says Ms. Paterson. “But things are going well right now; we’re handling our costs. We’re just not ready to get into that yet.”
The two hope to open a store eventually. In the meantime, they’ve had little trouble getting brownies out the door. Trend-tracking e-newsletter DailyCandy spotlighted Hot Blondies in the bakery’s first week, and the ladies snagged a vendor spot at the Brooklyn Flea, an outdoor market. They also developed followings on Facebook and Twitter.
Hot Blondies’ products are sold at Manhattan’s The Bean coffee shops, and Ms. Rokoff and Ms. Paterson have deals with wholesalers, caterers and even a local cruise line. Last month, they signed a three-year contract with Singapore-based Gill Capital to provide upwards of 5,000 brownies a month for sale at the company’s Dubai candy store, Candylicious.
[From Startup bakeries cook up online strategies - Crain's New York Business]