A Cinnamon Surprise

Well folks.  I missed last Monday, and you might want to know why.  Last weekend, with TJ's encouragement and support, I started my own baking business! By the time I was ten years old my mother had taught me how to make bread, I had perfected my own chocolate chip cookie recipe, and was reading cook books just for fun.  I had the idea of a baking business on the back burner (ha! get it?) of my mind, but as I grew older and researched the logistics I became discouraged.  California, where I grew up, is particularly unfriendly to small businesses and I found it would have cost $10,000+ to set up a state approved kitchen and legally sell my creations.  Friends and family ordered my baking from time to time, and it was all gratis unless they decided to "tip" me.  I settled in my mind that my cooking was just something to bless my family with, and the business idea didn't resurface until last week.

Cinnamon rolls were the bane of my kitchen existence for years.  I could never get them right until I found the magic recipe.  I won't give away all my secrets, but the internet is a wonderful place and I finally found the recipe that worked.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Last Saturday it occurred to me that I no longer live in California, and should find out what it would take to legally sell food here in Texas.  I started researching on my trusty laptop and was delighted with what I found out.  Texas is the most economically friendly state in the union and majorly supports small businesses, which is why there are 2.6 million of them here, making up 99.8% of Texas businesses total.  Not only does Texas not charge state income tax on your small business, it's remarkably cheap and easy to set one up.  I spent one afternoon reading the manual and taking the test to get my state Food Handler's Certificate, and boom--I can now legally sell food out of my kitchen as long as I label it so, and sell directly to the customer.  That's it!

TJ and I have been working day and night for a solid week to start and set up everything, and this weekend when we opened we exceeded all our expectations.  I LOVE our small community of Canyon!  Everyone was SO gracious and wonderful, and we sold 5 dozen cinnamon rolls our first morning.  I couldn't believe how supportive everyone was!  In one day I got over 100 likes on my Facebook website, and orders are coming in for next weekend.  If this keeps up, my dream of being a stay at home mom and earning income, with my children able to help, will be realized.  It's TJ's dream too, to have a family business, and he has been so wonderful!  He's spent every spare minute of his time on the laptop and phone, setting up a website, unsnarling technical tangles, and handling PR when I'm busy with the kids.  Every time I get frustrated--like when I spent two days trying to find boxes to pack my product in--he swoops in and saves the day. (The lowest price I could find was $2.49/box.  He found better boxes, for 65 cents each!)  I am reminded in so many ways, big and small, how grateful I am for this man.😍

Bella and Lizzy have been wide eyed and underfoot throughout the process.  I need to figure out creative ways to involve them that won't destroy product or compromise the integrity of the process.  I did order little aprons for them!  Maybe they can have a piece of dough to pretend with.

Anyway, it's been exciting times for the Greer family and we can't wait to see where this adventure leads us!  If you're local, check out our website and order!  If you're not local, check out our website and drool. 😉