Notes from Chris

Episode 1583

Anne Marsland has been baking ever since she could remember. She even worked in a bakery when she was in college.

Ten years after that college gig, Anne was an established professional in the field of hospice care and grief counseling. Although she still loved baking, that was just a household hobby.

Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and Anne saw her professional world turn upside down. Suddenly, her career working directly with patients was severely impacted.

This meant that she was spending a lot more time at home, and like many other people who were suddenly homebound, she started to bake … a lot. One day, she filled the kitchen table with lemon blueberry whoopie pies, right next to where her husband Paul was taking calls on Zoom.

They were delicious, but they had way too many and needed to find somewhere for them to go. That’s when Paul suggested that they try to sell them.

The couple agreed that Anne would do the baking and Paul would focus on selling them. The following Wednesday, he sent out an email to their family and friends to gauge interest. The response was overwhelming! Within ten minutes, they had their first sale, and within a few hours they had sold all 72 pies they were planning on baking. In fact, they even oversold when more requests came in.

They knew they had to figure out a way to keep their customers engaged. That’s when Paul and Anne decided that they would raise the stakes. They decided to make two different treats each week. Part of this was also to accommodate some friends, one who didn’t like chocolate and the other who didn’t like cooked fruit.

In addition, they also expanded their products beyond whoopie pies to all kinds of other baked goods. Why not? In the end, they decided to offer a choice of Treat A, Treat B, or a combination box with various surprise items every week.

Since then, they’ve switched to a more formal platform, Square, and created a fully fledged website for their business, now called The Wistful Baker. The couple wanted the name they chose for their business to encapsulate the warm feelings of biting into your favorite dessert. They also liked that it was simple enough to understand, but complex enough to make people pause.

In addition, they stopped offering those combination boxes. Why? Well, there were fun to make, but it became too much work to determine the pricing. The couple wanted to streamline their process as much as possible.

Now, around a year into their side hustle, Anne and Paul are bringing in around $800 a month from The Wistful Baker. This all comes from people they are within driving distance in their hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. While they say it’s not enough for them to change careers, it has been wonderful extra cash.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• thewistfulbaker.square.site: If you happen to live near Paul and Anne, make sure to put your order in. We know we would if we lived closer.

SEE ALSO:

• Toronto Startup Employee Bakes Custom Cakes: A Toronto startup employee (and powerlifter!) ices her way into a sweet, profitable side hustle that bakes up an extra $600 per month.
• Social Worker Bakes Cupcakes for The Walking Dead: After a stressful divorce, this social worker and mom needs to make money. She begins by selling cupcakes at the local market, then goes on to establish a sustainable business.
• Woman on Food Stamps Earns $86,000 Teaching People to Bake Bread: In the face of adversity, a woman creates a series of online courses teaching the art of baking sourdough bread. Stop loafing around! If she can do it, you can too.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work! Yours in the revolution,

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