Watched a bakery owner turn $200 into a 40k month

I was getting coffee at this little spot in Portland called Tabor Bread, just chatting with the owner while she rolled out croissant dough. She told me she started with a $200 investment in flour and butter, baking out of her tiny apartment kitchen. Within 8 months she had a commercial lease and was doing 40 grand in monthly sales just off wholesale to local cafes. Has anyone else seen a small food biz blow up like that from basically nothing?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_gibson1mo ago

Gotta clarify it was likely way more than $200 with all the permits and licensing.

kaih361mo ago

What kind of permits were they even after?

stellanelson1mo ago

Oh wow, you're totally right! I actually read an article a few months back about someone who tried to do a street food pop-up and ended up spending like $600 just on permits alone. It's insane how much red tape there is depending on where you're located. I think some cities require special health inspections that cost extra too, and that's not even counting the business license fees. So yeah, $200 is probably just the tip of the iceberg, especially if they had to get any kind of alcohol permit or something like that. It's really frustrating how complicated they make it for regular people to just sell stuff.