Buying a Bakery Business in Pandemic

Whenever you enter a nearby bakery, a sweet fragrance welcomes you. Delicious cakes, pies and other bakery items allures everyone in the bakery. This ambience has been missed with the onset of pandemic. Many bakeries were shut because of lockdown followed by less demand or no demand at all. 

According to Mordor Intelligence, the packaged cake segment has been holding a very low market share since 2015 in the Indian packaged bakery market. However, it is the fastest growing category, due to the development of vegan packaged cakes. India being a very diverse country, with approximately 40 per cent of its population being vegetarian, the introduction of vegan cakes is expected to contribute a major chunk to the market growth. However, efforts to grow the bakery market have ceased because of the crisis. The bakery market is stagnant and thus, taking time to rebound again. 

At this point in time, there are many bakeries that are up for sale. You can buy a bakery in this economic slump as the asking price would be low. You will also get the time to create the business model. Investing the money into buying a bakery is recommendable for various reasons. However, there are a few things that you need to know before taking hold of it

Checking Financial Backdrop 

The pandemic has begotten many bakeries to go out of business. This is one of the reasons as to why bakeries are looking for buyers. However, you need not believe in this sole reason and still scrutinise financial statements of the enterprise. Prior to March this year, you have to check all financial reports of the business and only then come to a decision.

Understand the Competition 

Before coming to a decision, it is integral to know competition prevailing in the market. It is obvious that every bakery would be going with similar problems. Although, bakeries will return to business once the market resumes. Keeping this in mind, you have to probe bakeries surrounding the one that you decide to buy. Comprehend their specialities and needs, what type of products they offer and also, what customers like about those bakeries. It will help you give a sound understanding and determine whether you should buy a bakery or not.

Inquire About Staff 

While deciding to buy the bakery, you need to enquire if current staff will be working with you or not. Having the old staff is very useful for you, as well as business, as they are accustomed to customers' needs and prevailing competition. If possible, try to hire old employees by paying them a bit high. This will attract them and enable them to stick with the new owner. 

In an alternate situation, if you do not hire old employees and think of working with new ones. Then, you would have to recruit new employees and strategize the business from the beginning. Without entrepreneurial experience, this can be difficult to handle every aspect of the business for the first-time entrepreneurs. 

Marketing 

Once you buy the bakery, it is important to promote it. You have to inform customers that you are the new owner. Further, you will have to attract potential customers toward the business. For this purpose, spending money on offline and online marketing is crucial. 

You can either outsource a company for this or else, employ a marketer and ask them to promote your business.

Attracting Customers

Baking is one of the traditional culinary practices. It is well liked by people of all age groups. Owing to the crisis, people have stopped purchasing bakery products and are sticking to cooking themselves only. By purchasing a bakery, you can break myths surrounding the bakery products. 

You can create nutrient enriched bakery items and sell them online to already established communities. You can create awareness amongst people and enable them to adopt baking at home. You can also create do-it-yourself (DIY) kits for people so that they can do baking at home without much help. 

These are some of the things that an entrepreneur has to ensure while buying a bakery. If there are some tips that you want to share, then please write them in the comment section below.