The Power of Change in Your Business

Message from your RBA President, Marlene Goetzeler

Marlene Goetzeler is the co-owner of Freeport Bakery and the President of the Retail Bakers of America

As bakery owners, we do a lot of work with consistency. We want our cakes scaled the same, looking the same, and tasting the same, day in and day out. Systems are designed and put into place specifically to make this happen. For example, if Mrs. Johnson has a slice of our chocolate fudge cake at a birthday party on a Sunday, she should be able to get that same chocolate fudge cake next Saturday for her anniversary party. No surprises, the same delicious cake she tasted the week before. We've become accustomed to consistency; in fact it's a major goal in our business.

But what if that consistency, or routine, in how we actually work and present our product becomes stagnant, stale, boring? When that happens, it can hamper our enthusiasm and even our customer service. It can sometimes feel as though the "life" has gone out of our business. 

It doesn't have to be that way. There are subtle shifts that can occur when we make changes that help to make us more agile, more creative and even more financially successful.

I'm not talking about throwing systems and goals to the wind. I'm talking about doing small things to bring fresh energy to how we work. When owners, managers, and our employees begin to look with new eyes at each part of our business, we can stimulate healthy change. Here are three simple strategies that we have used to propel our business to the next level.

1. See your world differently.

Do you walk in the back door each day? Do you ever change it up and walk into your bakery through the front door? What do you see? Can you see it from a customer's point of view? It's important to do simple things in a different way. Park your car somewhere else and walk a different path. Ride your bike a different route. Try to see your world in a new way. Ours is a creative business. You'd be surprised what these little changes can do for your mind and spirit.

2. Move things around.

As a rule we don't move things around much in our showcases. Our shop is small and showcases are maxed out with product. We've always felt that our customers are more comfortable knowing where their favorite things are. One day I decided to try something new. We made a very simple change in the placement of product. We had hand pies and pies on a shelf behind the counter. We had cake-pops and cupcakes in a display case over our cake case. We moved things around and put the pies in the display over the cake case and put the cupcakes and cake-pops in the cookie case. The sales of the moved items went through the roof. Our cake-pop and cupcake sales have grown 40%, and the pie sales have doubled.

Is this from better product location? Probably. The point is that without small changes you won't know. Don't rearrange everything all at once. Look for and find things that are doing "ok" but can be great in a new location.

3. The "Sacred Cows" or..."we've always done it this way and it works."

In our bakery Sacred Cows are what we call the things we do because we've always done them that way. Sometimes it takes an employee to ask why or a customer to make a comment to wake us up. We need to pay attention so we train our staff to look for sacred cows. Years ago we had one counter and one cash register and not an inch of extra space. Every time the employee on register needed to staple or tape something they had to take two steps back to get the tape or stapler off of a small shelf.

Years later we remodeled the bakery. One day soon after the remodel, I noticed that the stapler and tape dispenser were still on a back shelf. The staff was still taking an extra two steps to finish up an order. I asked why they weren't next to the register. No one knew why.

If I hadn't noticed, I wonder how long the stapler and tape would have stayed on that shelf because "that's where they go." How many things do you do because you've always done it that way? Is it still as effective as it was when you started doing it?

Plan a week where you and your staff look at everything you do in the bakery. Have them write change ideas on slips of paper and put them in a box. Remind them to look for anything from the smallest to biggest. You don't need to change everything in the box. In fact, you may not want to change anything. But make one change anyway - at least one to start the process. You are teaching yourself and your staff how to look for things that can make your jobs (and your lives) more interesting, more efficient, and more creative.

Share what changes you've made and what that change yielded on your board!