Season 3 - The Wrap of ‘Summer’
Hello Friends
The summer has come to an end so I feel it is a good time to touch base with you and provide an update on how the summer went, and what’s the plan for the Fall (spoiler – we will be open weekends till Thanksgiving…don’t panic).
To be super honest and transparent - Season Three has been a doozy – not going to ‘sugar coat’ it but it has been a hard one and one of the most exciting too!
Looking back over the past three years - Year 1 was ‘let’s just get open’. Year 2 was ‘omg we get to be open May long to October!’ And today - Season 3 - we are heading into the end of Season 3 and we are proud to say we have 90% processes / operations figured out, a very good flow of awesomeness, and a strong desire to keep doing even more! We continue to be improving, optimizing and looking for ways to take our business to the next level.
This summer was busy busy busy – and as of now it has come to a hard slow down. Once the activities are done in VB it gets kinda quiet….so not a fan lol. During peak busy’ness we can be staffed up to 12 people working at one time – and now maybe 3 or 4. It turns out we all much prefer it when you are ALL here and we are hustling to keep the shelves stocked and the lines manageable. But on the other side when the crowds slow down as does our team size with end of summer vacations, returning back home and general ‘we are just done’ feelings. It is quite the swing - #seasonalbusiness challenges!
Season Three!
Not sure where even to start!? There is so much to cover – we did A LOT!
The bakery continued to pump out endless cookies, loaves of bread, and our slices were more popular than ever before! Oh and we were excited to be finally able to offer Hot Dog and Hamburger buns. We also participated in the Country Market every Saturday – which gave us the opportunity to meet so many of you outside the gates. We hosted TWO Kids Markets that were a huge success for our Junior Entrepreneurs – in total we had 54 Vendor over the two events! And we even hosted a stop for the VB Kids Bike Jam….over 120 kids flooded our backyard -- it was AMAZING!!
July 21 Kids Market Participants - A quick meeting before the market opened!
Our Bakery continued to be very engaged in so many Beach & Community events – supporting over 18 events with prize donations, gift cards, sponsorship and VGB goodies totalling over $2,200. We love to support our community – it is our way of being a part of the community but also a way for us to thank you for supporting our Bakery and Team.
Danika, Justine, Margo, (me), Brody(i), Lucia, Barbie, Jay, Andrew, Sir. William, Nick, Amelia & Keira
Missing: Jackson, Robyn, Sierra, Audrey, Liam, Grayce, Dylan, Jade & Sasha. Honorable mentions to Ethan & Connor.
Speaking of the Team - the VGB Team is 21 team members strong…. Plus Barbie and myself!
How lucky am I to have 21 people that want to be a part of the VGB team and that want to work sooo hard to ensure we are can offer delish goodies and customer service that is ‘retail-textbook’ exceptional. I am beyond humbled and proud that these team members choose to work for VGB and spend their summers at the cottage. Did you know that Over half of our team is from year 1?? The sad part is it assumed that we will be losing some at the end this season (insert tears!!). I get it – they are older now and want to pump up their resumes with new opportunities …. of course being in the city is a bonus. So heads up - we ‘may’ be hiring in Feb 2025 for Season 4 – keep an eye on social media for updates. However – if they change their mind they are of course welcome back (hint hint).
So What made Season 3 such a Challenge??
Remember Season 3 is Fabulous and GREAT - but with the great can still come with challenges. Sunshine and Rainbows is what you see on social media…with small hints of mini dramas.
the VGB Team made everything better ... just saying
So what made Season 3 a challenge?? So many small things to be honest – and YES we crushed them all one by one! Clearly we can handle challenges pretty good – but they are exhausting!
For those curious – and because so many have asked let’s dive in. Let’s talk small & seasonal business challenges….Jen’s Bakery Version.
Please note this is not going to be complaint write up – it is for those that have followed closely along, who are generally curious to understand all the ins/outs (beyond the prettiness of Social Media) and for those who may want to get into a small business one day…the challenges are the interesting parts…the learning hoops that we all need to experience and conquer. The Beginning - Season Three
The season kicked off May Long weekend – our second season being able to be open on the Long Weekend. The gates are still open and the leaves are just starting to change colour. AND the big beach milestone - the water is about to turn on…and for us it means we can get to work.
When the water is turned on we are able to clean and then bake….but what if the water is not ‘on’ right away?? …. Or what if the water heaters stop working??…or if the water is not drinkable!?
And so we begin - and remember our building is not ‘new’.
New Kids Library in the VGB yard.
Season 3 started out with a total Victoria Beach water / pump house challenge. Selfishly we of course wanted the water on when other areas had their water on, but alas VB was a little bit behind on the water being ‘on’. This was expected - it was communicated, but we like i said - we were selfish and wanted it on sooner than later. We wanted to Clean…and Bake.
When the water did come on (I think it was the Wednesday before the weekend) it was not safe for us to drink - which means it was not safe for us to bake with. Solution - bringing in A LOT of clean drinkable water. The water was unsafe to drink for weeks - not just the standard 2-3 day boil advisory - weeks!! A MASSIVE shout out to Trainor Water for constantly delivering Gallons of water to our door so we could keep baking! And Kudos to our team to hefting 💪 up massive jugs of water over to the Mixer and boiling countless pots of water to bring it up to ‘baking’ temp.
Next up - On the water theme - Our water heater decided it was done with us and kept turning off throughout the spring. Hot water is a deal breaker for us being able to operate - we generate quite a bit of dishes! We do have a second water heater but it is on the other side of the building - staff area & bathroom. Solution - our plumber was weekly coming to the bakery and trouble shooting for us and getting us back up and working. A huge shout out to Mitch Poirier and family (and the RM) for trying everything to make it work for weeks and then eventually hooking us up with a new Water heater. And a huge shout out to Barbie for moving dishes back and forth searching for hot water between our sinks.
The crowds kept us busy and very happy!
Next – our cooler in the front decided to leak (one of the newer ones), which required some McGyver’ing to catch the water and keep our floors safe and dry. Trying to find someone to come out and help was a challenge - it was busy season for so many trades and a road trip is not desirable for sure. However - we found help!! Solution - Shout out to K-Mar Mechanical Services Inc. for coming out from Winnipeg and helping us fix it and then doing maintenance on all of our appliances. Going the extra mile was an understatement!
Still Following Along?? Time check — we are now in the first week of July. Water is drinkable. Hot Water tank has been replaced….and K-Mar is scheduled to come and fix our cooler.
Let’s talk weather ☀️☔️ and its impact on our/any Seasonal Business – the long and short of it – weather and sales have a strong correlation!! Seasonal businesses are unique – we/they are only open for a couple of months during the season that we ‘assume’ our market will be around (concentrated) during this time which is why we are open and ready! If it is gorgeous out – here specifically at VB – our audience/market is at the Beach, but they could be at the cottage or actually on-on the beach. If it is really cold out there is a good chance they are not coming down to the beach – which means they are not at their cottage or on-on the beach. If it is smoking hot out – they are at the beach AND on-on the beach. Still Following?
Photo by Tatjana Stanarevic
So now have TWO factors that could slow down those walking through our doors. Intense heat does not correlate with wanting carbs – aka Cinnamon buns or cookies. And then the cold and rain keeps everyone away from the cottage – and off the beach. Another close third influencer on our market flow it turns out – mosquitoes! They were Awful in the first week of July due to the rain and intense on and off heat. I feel mother nature was ‘breeding’ mosquitoes 🦟! In the end – yes there is a strong correlation between weather and sales – and if you were around this season you get it and experienced it. The challenge for us is we can look at sales history and we can look at the weather forecast, but we can’t predict the ‘feelings’ of wanting to come to the beach during ‘off weather’. Solution - Creative forecasting (or best guess) for our seasonal business in early July was like using an Eight-Ball that is running low on blue fluid – it was a forecasting/planning/baking/staffing challenge!
Welcome to the team Homer.
Next up – Homer! Our Bread Divider / Roller
Homer is officially the most expensive piece of equipment in the bakery, which meant we needed to make a lot of ‘dough’ in May and June in order to be able to have him come live with us. When he arrived, we were very excited – and a wee bit too eager. We had to wait for power to be hooked up – thanks Adam Danwich for constantly showing up and adding in more wires/power for us!! When Homer finally came to life our Summer Busy season was in full swing and adding a new recipe, process and product was a challenge. I wasn’t eager to ‘experiment’ when we had so much else going on - to be very honest!
Our first couple of attempts with Homer were epic fails – like awful and yes I may have cried a bit (#nojudgement)! And then I was worried we bought the wrong machine - second guessing myself over and over again (a very expensive mistake I was feeling). But there was a Solution - A lot of trial and errors (and patience), recipe experimenting (hydration levels), and the team finally got him ‘rolling’ in the right direction and BOOM we have buns! The new challenge with buns now is about supply and demand – what does that look like and how do we forecast better to ensure we are meeting demand and not wasting.
Okay that’s it right?? Blahahah – no!
ME!!!! I was an issue too - yes me 🤦♀️!! I took on a lot, didn’t ask for enough help and then tried to do it all in end of July! And then consider all of the above that had happening, and of course this peak busy busy time. All hands on deck - all staff working hard!! Anyways a lot of everything did lead to a weee bit of burn out on me – so I got super sick. Thank goodness for my team – Solution -I was able to get some much needed sleep (aka naps mid day), zen’ed out at Yoga to help chill out, hugs from my team, and I was soon able to refocus and prioritize. Summer colds suck – just saying. But I rallied and was back and baking….and legit smiling!
Bougie Boho Chic (so made up by Jen)
Next up – yup there is more – our lights in the retail area died - like buzzz pop and darkness. Oh and that day it was stormy out - so it was super dark in the Bakery And nope it wasn’t the breaker – it was the electrical feeding the lights in the front. Remember 🤨 the building is old – and this wiring wasn’t changed when took over the building in 2022. So I called the RM and our Electrician Adam for support. Rm and Adam to the rescue…however Adam was super busy with other projects so we had to wait a couple of days (over the busy weekend). Solution - We got creative – I called it our Bougie Boho Chic – we strung outdoor patio lights inside and lit up the space! Another shout out to Mike and Maureen for supplying a second string to help us light up the front. It looked amazing…and we have left one up because I think it is cute!
Barbie (my mama) & Lucia (my niece) #family
And last (and probably not the real last….not to jinx it) – The typical end of season challenges!
Mid August the crowds shrink by a lot (I would guess over 60%) and our staffing and our bake schedule goes from 100% to 20% overnight. This is not new - we know it happens every year but that doesn’t make planning easy-peasy. The season wind down is a standard seasonal business challenge. Even with last year’s stats it is still a challenge to perfectly adapt and optimize a work and bake schedule that aligns with a rolling demand of slow like ‘molasses in a snow storm’ week days vs ‘all hands on deck’ busy weekends.
So here we are today – the FINAL long weekend of the Season (Sept Long) and we are now ONLY weekends Sat & Sun - 12 - 4…till Thanksgiving 🦃.
My boys 💕
Okay so that was a lot of challenges in 2024 – and I hope you didn’t interpret this as complaining! I am sharing to show you how we persevered, adapted and cruised with ALL the challenges this season. Our team doesn’t let anything slow us down (for long) – we take them head on and learn from them…even the uncomfortable icky challenges ones. I share the stories (the good and hard) with you to help you understand that even though it looks ‘pretty’ on the outside (aka social media) it is still a business, it is hard at times and yes there are challenges, and sometimes there are ugly parts - but we will always choose happiness. We will always be ‘still learning’ and that’s okay!
Thank you for your time in reading my novel of an update! And thank you for your ongoing support and positive feedback that has been fueling us in moving forward. Your support means a lot to all of us.
I’ll see you on the weekends, or i’ll you in the Spring, or i’ll see you in July! Thanks again - 10x over!