In this episode of The Bread Winner Podcast, we're diving into the final part of our series on preparing for the busiest time of the year: Quarter 4. As the holiday season approaches, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of events, markets, and opportunities that come your way. Caroline shares her strategy for planning events and deciding which ones to prioritize, so you can avoid burnout while still making the most of this high-demand season.

If you've ever found yourself overcommitted during the holidays or unsure which events will give you the best return for your time and energy, this episode is for you. Caroline provides valuable insights on choosing the right opportunities for your microbakery, balancing business with family time, and creating a sustainable schedule that ensures you’ll have enough energy for the things that matter most. Tune in to learn how to make smarter decisions for your business this holiday season!

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Episode 27

If you're anything like me balancing your business, along with the busy-ness of quarter four can feel overwhelming. It can feel exhausting. And it certainly can lead to burnout. I experienced that personally last year when I took on way too much in November and had no energy left for December. So I am very proactively avoiding that this year. I'm going to budget my energy more strategically so that I have enough to give in all areas of life, not just business, but also family and friends and other commitments that I have, I want to be able to say yes. Do the things that are the very most important and let them be a full wholehearted focused yes. Especially to family time, family traditions. Around the holiday season. I want to be able to be fully present. And [00:02:00] planning out ahead of time. My quarter four strategy is the way that I'm going to be able to do that.

So that means looking ahead at which events to choose maybe some strategic or creative out of the box event ideas. To help get you in front of the right people and make sure that you are making the most of this season.

Before we dive into the episode.

Down in the show notes, you'll find a couple of links. The first is a link to a free resource to help you get your bakery started. If you have not begun yet, or you just in the very, very beginning research stages, I have a free guide that has a checklist and some pointers to help you research and start your business off on the right foot. That's down in this show notes.

I absolutely love to sit down with micro bakery owners. And dig into the problem that they're facing and help them find a solution. That sounds like something you need. You can find the information in the link to book a call with me down in the show notes.

All right. Let's get started. So the first thing we're going to talk about is choosing which events to sell it.

And the first step in deciding which events to sell at is understanding where your ideal customers are shopping.

Are they shopping at the small town holiday market? Are they shopping at a more curated upscale artisan event.

So understanding your customer is key in saying yes to the right events.

If your customer is young families, you might find them at a family friendly pumpkin patch.

If your customer is maybe older retirees. You might find them at a craft market.

So do a little digging into who your client, your primary customer is the one that you really want to attract and be speaking to and look into where you will find those people.

The next thing when you're choosing your event is evaluating the event size and the vibe. Not every event is the same. And you do not need to be everywhere. You should not want to be everywhere. Larger events can bring in a lot of foot traffic.

I have found that sometimes the really big events that seem like there'll be really great are bringing in people who are browsing for gifts or. Maybe they're not there to shop for food, or maybe they want a gift set instead of just single loaves that they would take home and eat. And so consider when you're looking at the events, what people are shopping for.

If it's being marketed as holiday farmer's market, then they are probably likely to come in. They're looking for. A loaf of bread that they can bring as a hostess gift or that they can bring home and feed their family. But if it's being marketed as a craft sale or something, they might not so much be looking for a loaf of bread to bring home a feed their family, but rather a gift box.

When I'm evaluating the event size and the vibe. I inquire with the organizers to see if they have an estimate of how much foot traffic they'll have. And also if they have an idea of kind of the demographic that's going to be coming to the market, they won't always have an answer to this, especially if it's a brand new market and they don't have any history of doing it before. But they might be able to give you some helpful information to go off of.

You can also check out the marketing or just consider where it's located. If it's located in a really hip urban district in your city. It's going to attract an entirely different crowd than if it's located in a suburban neighborhood that's more family oriented.

It's one thing to be at a really big market with a ton of vendors.

But if they don't have any foot traffic, it's just wasted time. The worst thing is to be sitting there twiddling your thumbs, looking at other vendors. And just waiting for people to come, who never show up. That's really frustrating. And especially with a product like ours, that has a short shelf life. It can really lead to what feels like wasted time and product.

And we want to do everything we can to avoid that.

So your homework can turn up, whether people might be coming in looking for handcrafted sourdough, or maybe they're not looking for such a artisan product, but more interested in freeze dried candy or a totally different audience.

And one of the biggest mistakes that we can make is trying to do too much. It is so tempting to say yes to every opportunity. I've already been asked to come to a couple of markets that I did last year, but I'm already booked for something else on the same day. And while I would love to find a way to be at both places, whether that's hiring an assistant.

Your limits may be different. You may have the capacity to do back to back events. Or you may have the capacity to even do two in the same day. And if that works for you then. Absolutely you'll know that's a good, yes. But if that's going to push your capacity beyond where you're comfortable going, then definitely consider whether or not you should sit one of those options out.

So when you're planning out your event schedule, consider the amount of time that it takes to prepare your product. So if your dough needs. A day and a half to ferment and you need a full day to bake.

Definitely make sure that you're leaving enough buffer time between your events for production and for rest.

Part of the holiday season means that your going to have increased demand. So also think about if you are taking pre-orders for Thanksgiving or for Christmas.

And that is where I want to focus my time. You don't have to do pre-orders you could do just events or if you have the capacity, you could do both, but just make sure that you're paying attention to how your timeline lines up and you're not overextending or overbooking yourself and that you are thoughtfully and carefully. Spreading out your time and your energy to make sure that you're not going to be spread too thin.

If you don't have vendor events in your area that are aligned with the way that you do your business, or maybe you don't even want to do vendor events, maybe that's not your business model.

And you'd rather stick with pre-sales or with something else, or maybe you want to branch out into some creative out of the box options for the holiday season that are not your typical vendor or farmer's market. Here a few kind of creative ideas that you could explore as well.

So instead of relying on organized vendor events, consider hosting something smaller and more intimate, you could do a pop-up at a local coffee shop. Or brewery or salon or boutique. Or even host a private sourdough tasting event. Where your customers can sample your products. Maybe you offer a really fun flight of seasonal flavors. If you partner with a winery or brewery, you could do some pairings, something fun. To help benefit that business as well as your own.

You could set it up as a full Thanksgiving preview and bring a sampler of your dinner rolls your seasonal flavors, whatever else will be on your Thanksgiving menu.

Set it up early November, late October. And let people come and get a taste of what you're offering so they can pick and choose and place their order ahead of time with you.

The second alternative to a vendor event is to collaborate with local businesses with maybe a bundle or an event. Maybe you partner with a local florist and you offer a Bread and Blooms bundle for the holidays. Or a cafe that could feature your bread on their seasonal menu. If that aligns with the cottage laws in your area. Collaborations can be really fun and they can be a win-win for both parties, because you both get exposure to audiences that you wouldn't necessarily reach otherwise.

Or a bundle of your cookies or scones. Or anything else that you feel could work together in a fun gift basket? Present that to local realtors, insurance offices, things like that, where they may be looking to gift their clients. With a curated locally made artisan gift basket.

So I'll definitely be redoing that again this year. So you can consider things like that. How can you offer a sweet little teacher appreciation gift that is at an accessible price point?

But also easy for you to produce on a large scale. So scones can be something that can be fairly easily produced.

They can be frozen ahead of time and just bake from frozen to save some time. For me, the time-consuming thing was tying up all the boxes. If you can brand some help with that, it would streamline the process for sure. But that is certainly another holiday event type opportunity that you could consider.

I mentioned in the beginning that you may have some customers who aren't looking for a perishable product, but rather a tangible experience. And this could be a really good opportunity for you too offer a sourdough bread workshop. Chances are you have probably been already asked for this, maybe you've already done it. But people love to learn how to make sourdough.

A little suspense if you're listening live, but if you're coming back and reviewing older episodes, it's already there and it's 29 with Kala.

If that looks like just doing one event for the whole season, that is AOK you do what serves you best and say yes to your best yeses, considering what your capacity is.

Your time and, your energy are just as valuable as your sales. So make sure that you choose events that align with your goals, schedule them wisely and be open to new ideas that may bring in customers in unexpected ways.

So now is the time to sit down and look at your calendar. Start penciling in a few key events.

And remember to leave time. For rest for family.

For holiday traditions. And for the creative work of baking. Make sure that you're setting aside enough time that you can still enjoy your holiday baking for your family.

I'm carolinebower_sourdough. I love seeing where you're listening from and resharing those posts.

I will be back very soon with another episode and until then, happy baking.!"