Life's Short, Let's Make It Sweet!

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kelsey Lucius, Owner of Bottom Line Bakery, located in Evans, GA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Bottom Line Bakery is local to Evans, GA, customizing wedding and celebration cakes for any event. We offer a large assortment of pastries and sweets available in our bakery daily.

Tell us about yourself

I opened Bottom Line Bakery after taking home the Champion title on Chopped Sweets. It was clear that Evans and Augusta needed a delicious bakery, fresh desserts, and elevated wedding cakes. Creating showstopping cakes that are as beautiful as they are delicious is the best part of our day! Giving back to the community and partnering with other local businesses to spread the word about supporting local and being a guiding light for other young entrepreneurs to look up to when things are tough is what this is all about. If I can figure it out, so can they!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Creating a business from the ground up - a brand, a name, a product, a team - is my greatest achievement. There is no - how to - on starting a business. There is a lot of noise and crap out there, fake influencers and masterclasses that want you to spend your money before you even make money to tell you all the things you 'need to know.' I was able to figure all of this out by simply starting and doing one small thing, sometimes many big and scary things, every single day.

Opening a business is not an overnight task, but as long as you stick with it, use the google machine to look up as much information as you can, and ask people who have done what you're doing for guidance, you can create something great. Other local business owners are typically happy to answer questions, so don't be shy in asking for guidance.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Your business is everything to you and only you. You had the dream and the vision for it; no matter how excited other people may be for you and how well you curate your team, no one will care about your business as you do - and you are only hurting yourself and causing unnecessary stress if you hold them to that standard.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Find team members who have a single necessary strength for your business to operate and let them solely focus on that. For example, if you are a bakery and you focus on cake decorating - invest in a great cake decorator. While getting started, you will be hands-on in everything; at some point, you will be pulled in a hundred different directions, and having someone trained to your standard will be invaluable and worth an appropriate pay rate.
Do not start in debt. It will only cause you to stress to have an overwhelming amount of bills. No matter what Sally did or what Instagram gurus say, you do not need a business loan to start. Getting equipment from local sales and online auctions is a great low-budget way to start your first year. Going commercial is scary, and signing a rental agreement can already be a huge commitment. Add in business insurance, utilities, labor costs, and product or food costs, and keeping your overhead expenses low is a sure way to make sure you never get in too deep - so do everything you can to start with what you can save. If your side hustle doesn't provide you the seed money to start - say $25,000+ saved - then maybe it's not time to start.

Before opening my brick-and-mortar business, my side hustle was making enough money per month from home to cover my small salary, a single part-time employee, the average local rental rate, insurance, and utilities. This is a great way to gauge if expanding to commercial space is your next best move.
With #2 said, at some point, you do just have to start. It is scary, but you will never know if you don't get up and try. The first year is going to be hell. Everything that can and will go wrong will, but as long as you stay calm and ask for guidance - a CPA, a marketing manager, a loved one - you can figure it out. Small businesses have a lot of free resources at our disposal- your community wants you to succeed! Nothing you face is new - someone has been through it, so just remember you're not actually special in your failures or shortcomings. Take a breath, research, swallow your pride and your fear, ask for help, and plan your next best step.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.bottomlinebakery.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bottomlinebakery
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bottomlinebakery/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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