Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Bruce Bahm, owner of Rae Rae's Gluten-Free Bakery, located in Billings, Montana.

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

Our business is Rae Rae's Gluten-Free Bakery. We are a family-oriented, innovative bakery dedicated to 100% gluten-free, soy-free, allergen-friendly, baked goods. Our mission is to provide great-tasting baked goods to a niche market that demands a specific diet, without contamination, so they may fulfill their nutritional needs while living a normal life. Because safe food matters!

Tell us about yourself

My name is Bruce Bahm. I've always enjoyed making (and eating) a great tasting meal. I met my wife, Heather, about ten years ago. We have two wonderful, successful daughters, Deliliah and Tegan. Several years ago, we discovered several ladies in our family had celiac disease and a milder case of gluten intolerance with one of them. Even though I had no food allergies myself, I've had to learn how to adjust meals to accommodate everyone's diet in our family. About five years ago, Heather's birthday was approaching and I attempted to find a business that would make her a gluten-free cake without worry of cross-contamination. I quickly realized the difficulty in finding a business that could make a cake that legitimately wasn't contaminated with gluten. I discovered Rae Rae's Bakery as the only place that was qualified for the task. We were very pleased with the cake and eventually purchased the bakery from the prior owner. We renamed it 'Rae Rae's Gluten Free Bakery.' Everyone in our family learned how to customize our baking skills into a flourishing business that now prides itself on quality and great customer service. My motivation each day is providing this same service to our customers with similar dietary needs.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as an owner was navigating our business out of the pandemic and into a new era where we continue our expansion, innovation and quality of our product. This wouldn't be possible without our cake decorator, Kevin. He's a one-in-a-million employee who has proven instrumental in creating a unique internal culture that consistently ensures the success of our business on a daily basis. I can't say enough positive things about him! We learned real growth began to take place when we had employees willing to bring their best energy to work instead of just putting in the time. He brought ingenuity!

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

One of the hardest feats we've had to endure was to create a meaningful vision that initiated change. It completely recreated a culture that attracted the talent the business required to be successful. We've learned the value of our time and we celebrate through our incremental 'wins' and goal-setting.

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

Bruce's three most important tips to start, run a grow a business:

1) As an owner/manager, be HUMBLE and have 100% ownership of every action that is made.

2) An owner/manager owes their business a certain amount of daily organizational tasks that are essential for business survival and growth. Begin with hiring the right people - this means reviewing and restructuring the hiring process that sets the foundation for the proper culture.

3) Train your team to think for themselves, not just follow orders.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I want to thank my wife for motivating me and guiding me down a path to successful leadership. Proper leadership is contagious and fun! Having said that, our business wouldn't exist without our customers. Many of them have become personal friends and we just want to say 'thank you.'

Where can people find you and your business?

https://www.raeraesbakery.com/

https://www.instagram.com/raeraesbakery/

https://twitter.com/raeraesbakery

https://www.facebook.com/raeraesbakery

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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