Your complete guide to a bakery business in Australia

Bakeries are timeless. They serve you with eye-raising wonders which magicians called chefs or bakers curate artistically. You must have come across many like some bakeries only prepare and sell various kinds of bread and buns while some make you slide onto a fantasy land of frosted cream sitting over a sponge bed of cake sprinkled with rainbow bits.

It sounds so dreamy and soothing. If you want to get into this business of bakery, it is an exhausting task. So, wake up.

Bakeries across Australia are loved as the community here enjoys spending time with people and making connections at bakeries and cafes. Their love for cakes and muffins has stationed so many of them in the country.

So if you are on for opening one, then we need to get down to serious business. You might get happiness while you bake at home for the family but when you step up to the commercial dice, it requires an army of tasks to be planned and executed.

This guide will support you in your new bakery business with the right start. Remember the right start can give your business a huge leap of success. And the talent you possess can propagate appreciation. 

Here, we go

1.      Plan..plan..plan.. and budget yourself

A well-planned move is the spine of any business. Firstly, narrow down on the kind of bakery you would like to open for the customers. Do you just want to sell loaves of bread or you wish to practice your talent of displaying cakery art. If you just wish to prepare and sell loaves of bread and buns, you require limited floor space in the front end. But if you wish that customers should come and sit and connect with communities while they relish your cakery preps and post on Instagram, you do require a decent space for tables, chairs and commercial cake displays too.

While you perform this task, you have to start placing your investment in the right grids. Bakery requires a fancy investment. Your kind of bakery business will help you cap your budget. This budget would fund your types of equipment, rent, supplies from vendors, commercial bills, salaries of staff, maintenance of your commercial space. You will not start minting profits right from the word go. But you will be able to analyse when you can reach break-even and requirement of funds until then. If you have a grip over the knowledge of your finances, it will help you shape your plans.

2.      Register your business

Start seeking knowledge from the local trading body. Freeze a name for your business and get it registered. Approval from local councils for food licences, building, plumbing and health inspectors is a must. These approvals require a lot of paperwork. So this task done well at an early stage will be beneficial so that you have time for several other tasks. Even if you opt to operate your business from a home kitchen, still you require approvals. Get in touch with the local health inspector or seek professional advice from a foodservice expert. 

 3.      Research and decide on a venue for your business

Now it depends on what kind of business you are going to pursue. If you want that customers just drop in, pick their bread and move on, then you can go for just a counter space and kitchen space. But should you desire to allow customers to sit and relish coffees with pastries then additionally, you will need more space. The location of your business will be of prime importance choose the one either close to your vendors in case you run out of stock or where customers usually flock.  For eg., close to schools or market place or near a tourist attraction. It will be an advantage if you choose a location where you can expand in future to avoid shifting your running and growing cakery shop.

4.      Prepare a list of bakery designs

A bakery has a warm ambience with eye-catching spots. Now if you wish to just have counter space, then your interiors and design could be simple and not painstaking. Probably a space for commercial cake displays and an additional counter space will do even if you sell pastries, cakes, muffins, and so on. But is you wish to invite customers to sit and spend time, you will need good and strong magnets to keep them glued. The curved glass cake display adds to the class of your interiors while you display your love for bakery art. Some cake and ice cream parlours have customised fridges into window displays. Such expansion is needed when you wish to do business on a large and exhibitory scale. Good signages, personalised messages and easy to use the furniture will be eminent for your customers inside your bakery nest.

If you wish to host special bakery classes, then you need to assign a dedicated space as you might want to post videos of these on your social media handlers. It’s a good tip for marketing your bakery.

5.      Freeze a list of commercial bakery equipment

One thing is clear. Your home oven will not do when you talk about commercial bakery business. Commercial kitchen equipment is more professional and sophisticated. It is designed to work for large volumes of orders. Having said that, a proper and calculated approach towards the types of equipment is vital. A good amount of your budget will be invested in this section. So choose the right kind of bakery commercial equipment. What space you are willing to dedicate to what job needs to be worked out. Make sure you take measurements and for space occupancy in mind before jotting down the following list of types of commercial equipment required for a bakery:

• The first commercial equipment which needs to be pinned down is a commercial gas oven with burners. This is an equipment that would not only do baking jobs but you can also prepare sauces which you would use in your bakery prep. You would be requiring your complete set of tools and baking pans that would complete the baking process.
• A display is what would attract your customers and keep them glued to your brand. This commercial unit is usually placed in the front area near the door of entry into the bakery. The type of food you want to display will help you in choosing the kind of display. Some bakeries have a lot of varieties on their menu. For eg., sandwiches, under prep pizzas, sweet rolls, muffins, scones, themed cakes, desserts and so on.  A square glass cake display is the most common one you can opt for as it provides extra counter space. But if you are looking for equipment that would add a stylish edge to your interiors, then a curved glass cake display will be your right pick. You can also opt for the warm displays which would help you in showcasing and storing pies, tarts, sausage rolls and meat-based preps.
• You should have a kitchen buddy that does the heavy-duty mixing while you are occupied with other food area jobs. Planetary mixers come in when we talk about such tasks. They play a vital role in many kitchen jobs. Available in variants of mixing tasks required for a bakery, they also carry attachments that facilitate slicing, shredding and other chopping jobs. So choose the right commercial mixer for your bakery for smooth kitchen area tasks. They do kneading jobs as well which are required to prepare many cakery items.
• A good commercial kitchen exhaust system is what keeps the temperature of your kitchen regulated. Make sure you install from a reliable and trusted vendor.
• You will be requiring commercial fridges and freezers to store your supplies and pre-preps. You can choose an upright storage fridge if you wish for a good walking space for your kitchen staff. But if you have ample space then a storage fridge or freezer of verticle variant will do.
• Dough sheeter and bread prover are the other important tools you would require while you shortlist the commercial kitchen types of equipment. 

It is always advisable to go for brand new types of equipment from trustworthy vendors. But if you wish to save some for the future, you can always pick equipment less used or well maintained.

 6.      Appoint a reliable shopfitter

You will be needing an experienced technically sound professional to put up the interiors of your bakery according to your preferred design. Make sure you choose a seasoned expert as they advise well and understand the needs perfectly.

 7.      Hire and hire correctly

You will require a team to run your business smoothly. If you wish for just a counter and a kitchen space then you can hire one for the front end of your bakery and a bakery chef and an assistant for the kitchen will do. But is you wish to serve customers, then you will need trained staff to handle orders, provide the correct order and make sure the space is clean and properly managed. Of course, you will be present but can’t be present everywhere at the same time. You will also need to market your brand. And that’s a task. Initially, you can ask your family and friends to help you with word-of-mouth advertising. But later you will need to opt for a good advertising agency or a digital marketing expert that fits into your budget and streamlines your marketing processes.  Do hire an accountant because it is from there you will get a clear scanned picture of your business and will majorly influence your plans in future. 

 8.      Build a bridge with vendors and suppliers

Go out there and meet personally with the vendors and suppliers. Freeze your rates with them and let them know that you are dependent on them for your requirement. Communicate regularly with them to ensure you have trusted sources for running your business. Leave your contact details with them and get theirs. This will help both the ends to stay updated with information. Do drop them with an invite (well in advance) for the opening of your bakery. This will help you build a connection with them and at the same time, it will make them ready with enough stock to supply to your bakery.

 9.      Do Extensive marketing, plan and throw a grand opening of your bakery

Your market research will go a long way with you in your planning. Visit a good section of bakeries in your city. But if possible do visit bakeries in major cities of Australia and some of the medium-scale kind of. You will learn and earn a good number of ideas and solutions that will sooner or later fall in your business place.

Communicate on all social platforms and other mediums like phone calls, flyers, SMSs, emails about your grand opening. It is an exciting day after the humongous task of setting up your bakery. Make the most use of that day. Freeze a time of opening when maximum can come and visit. Many of them will buy but if you have inaugural offers, then surely you will have a good number of reasons to make your visitors experience about your specialities and skills. And remember, takeaways are loved by all.

Some tipsy bitsy…

• Work in a bakery for some time to get acquainted with the insights of this business. Experience matters and when it is your business, it will benefit you multifold. A little background of the business you wish to take a plunge will give you good exposure and make you prepared for the future.
• Keep duplicate copies of your recipes. You can save them in your email or you can scan them and save them, a screenshot or a Xerox will also work. Better have a back up of your essential assets.

• People love new in the market. Recognise your talent and you will find a unique factor that makes you stand out of the bunch. Your market research will help you find and sell what is not there or what is there but can be sold in a new box. Your special services will make you develop your trademark. There are the best of bakers across Australia. So how are you different? Work on it.
• Your online presence is extremely important. It will register and remain in the minds of your prospect followers for long. Make sure you target at the right time. For eg., You are planning to prepare cupcakes on the theme of Memorial Day and you will roll them out on that day. Inform through an ad or a campaign. Engagement is key. Involve the audience and you will have loyal customers. Ask them to drop feedbacks. This is a good gesture to make connections and raise your community.
• People get fascinated by varieties. Everyone has their preferences and tastes. Offer a good range to embrace a variety of customers.

Starting a bakery business is no play. We hope this piece of write-up supports you in your new venture. 

If you are looking for the best commercial kitchen suppliers in Australia and New Zealand, visit www.simcogroup.com.au. You can also drop a message or call and our expert team will get back to you shortly. We rest with an exhaustive range of types of equipment and delivery options to suit your needs across major cities in Australia and New Zealand.