Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!! We're excited that we can officially begin telling people, "Yes, we started our business last year." What a nice ring that has instead of, "Oh, we started our business a few months ago, don't laugh, we're serious about making this work." It sounds so much more professional when you can tell potential clients that you have successfully been in business since 2012 with no major mishaps.
This is all paled in comparison to the amazing news we have for everyone today. For those of you who are new to the blog, or only read a handful of our posts, this past year has been operated on a shoestring budget. As of right now our baking bank account has $162 in it. We are by no means ready to trade on the NYSE. We're growing, though, which is evident in the fact that we even have a separate business bank account. But this is still a shoestring operation until further notice. We buy only what we need, everything in bulk at discount stores, and bake only what is absolutely necessary. We use Facebook and this blog as our only means of advertising, as both are free. We have wallpapered the Pittsburgh area with our business cards that someone gifted to us. We have no working dishwasher, and make every order by hand with a small hand mixer and a few well-loved mixing bowls.
Until today. Today, everything changes. Today we can officially announce we have enough money to buy the one appliance we have always dreamed of owning, a professional KitchenAid Mixer.
For those of you who think, "Those things are only like $400, why haven't you bought one yet?" let me remind you of our shoestring budget. While we do have a separate full-time job at a company, those funds are used to pay bills, buy food for us to eat, and pay down those dastardly student loans. There's little left over at the end of the month for high-end appliances, and all the funds that are left over are saved for the day where we eventually do open our restaurant. We believe in the theory that we use what we've been blessed with, whether it is a hand mixer with a questionable motor, cupcake tins from the Soviet era, or donated supplies from friends and loved ones. Opening a business is a marathon, and well-planned finances help you finish the race.
So for the past 6 months we've been saving our coins and small bills in a jar on our dresser. You know the routine, you get ready for bed, empty your pockets out and find 84 cents you didn't know you had. Into the jar it went. It's money we didn't even realize we had, so adding it to the jar was nothing. Didn't even thing about it. Every time we had $50 saved up, we would make a trip to the dreaded Giant Eagle (that's another story for another post) and buy a Visa gift card. Slowly, ever so slowly, we were going to save up for this mixer.
We had help along the way. Donations from friends who heard about our coined plight. Gifts from friends and family. We were once even paid for a job with a $50 gift card (totally unexpected but appreciated). Slowly the number of gift cards grew. Slowly we realized this would eventually work.
So as 2013 rings in across the world, we are happy to announce we finally have enough gift cards to buy that dang mixer! The professional size, of course, we do have an image to keep up. :-)
Now all we have to decide is what color we want. Any suggestions? Our flour/sugar/rice counter containers are red, yellow, and lime green. Should we go with a color that compliments that like an aqua or pink or orange? Or do we go with something classic and timeless like ivory or black? Maybe we should consider which color is the easiest to clean...
Let us know your thoughts about color choices, or any other helpful KitchenAid mixer tips you might have. And if you order anything from us from this point on, know that we did not mix it by hand! We will soon be the proud owners of an amazing KitchenAid mixer! :-)
Happy 2013 everyone!
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