When I was a girl, starting when I was 8 until I was about 14, I baked for a living. I would sell bread and cinnamon rolls once a week. I would call people I knew to get orders, make everything, then make my mom drive me around for deliveries. She was always a good sport. Thanks for supporting me, Mom.
Lily has been asking to make money, so I told her we could make cinnamon rolls. I'm so glad that technology has changed, so we didn't have to do any direct marketing. I always hated that part. This time we put a message on facebook, and boom! we had orders. It was so much nicer. I was a little surprised at how much more I enjoyed it by eliminating the stress factor from direct sales. I gave our customers the option of having their goods delivered or picking them up; everyone opted for picking them up. That also took some stress out of the equation.
We sold almost 5 dozen cinnamon rolls. The kids all helped me with almost every step. The day of they helped me add the ingredients, roll out the dough, cut each individual roll, and put them on the pans. Then we all cleaned together. I finished with frosting and packaging them, but I didn't mind. Everyone had worked really hard helping me. When people arrived to pick up their gooey deliciousness Lily took the money and handled giving change. She figured everything out pretty easily. She's so smart! I'm sure she gets that from her father. Maybe me too.
Everyone can profit from having a family business. There is so much we can learn from it. After the first week I kind of caught the bug again. I have always loved baking and cooking. I had been toying with the idea of starting baking again, but I was leery of doing with with four small children. I was afraid it would take away too much time from them. But baking with them was kind of fun. They all want to make money, and I get genuine satisfaction when someone tells me my cinnamon rolls were the best they ever tasted.
So the next week we did it again. We sold muffins and pizza crusts. People weren't as excited about those as the cinnamon rolls, but we still sold good amount. The kids didn't want to help, so I did it myself. I was totally fine with that. This next week we are baking again. We are making cinnamon rolls and whole wheat baguettes. I said I was done, but I guess not. I am having too much fun. And I don't want to deprive everyone of my talents too soon before we move. I have been a little overwhelmed (in a good way) with the response. The baked goods must be pretty good, and I think I will have more help this week since everyone wants to make money again. I guess we'll see.
