On what started out as more of a gesture than a service, Megan and I were receiving orders by the dozen, baking bulk orders for Friday deliveries and receiving "delicious" results.
Until one week where there were more trays than usual, and for some reason orders got mixed up and Friday came too quickly. We needed more time.
One of the most important rules in baking is consistancy. Everything must look and taste the same. Probably one of the hardest rules to acheive, especially if your'e just starting a hobby and trying to make it professional!
So with consistancy in mind , days after our trying week, our feedback wasn't what we were use to,"not as crunchy", "not as moist", "nice, but not as nice as before", the worst was,"it tastes burnt"!!
Megan and I were devistated.Being new to the industry, constructive criticism doesn't always seem as constructive as it sounds. The first feedback received was difficult to take in.
A word however from my diary had come in handy...
if someone is rude
if someone is impatient
if someone is unkind
I will not react in like manner, but instead I will strive to respond with kindness
So back to work , with a teachable heart , Megs and I learnt a lot from that day. There's always room for improvement.
and more...
New Flavours: coffee, lemon, almond,
As beginners we made baking work with what we already had, be it be old trays, using rulers to measure a perfect set of 12 or 24 squares. The DIY was endless and yes it worked because one makes it work. It's been working for all of my baking years.
Our deliveries were simple, but sacrificial with all of us starting out at 5:00 some mornings, my son and hubby leaving and delivering whenever orders were demanded. This became unreasonable and so the professionalism started to become a reality.
Our methods had to change for the benifit of EVERYONE.
Deliveries became a timely and weekly procedure, making it a lot easier to manage - Allowing us more time to work on our designs, ingredients and most importantly the perfection of "the perfect brownie", which might still be a work in progress but is apparently a considerable amount more delicious and consistent than our inital orders - practice makes perfect.
Mini brownies in the shape of muffins were decided on; Being a circle in a world of squares is bound to have you stand out! With the added benifits of convenient portions, the right amount of sweetness in every bite and easier packaging, things started moving along. And the ruler for measuring our squares could finally be put back into the stationary box...
Along with all these improvements, we had to keep up with the rest of the world and communicate in a way that would be most convenient to anyone craving a quick snack -
And so was the birth of the GingerMade website!
A website comforted by a picture made by my Sister that with a gifted hand depicted the exact enviroment and atmosphere we at GingerMade make our produts. It was made well enough to implement on all packaging, further improving the design; From polyester trays and cling wrap to neatly packed Brown Paper bags wrapped with a strip of this image. Artistic, Simple and "Eco Friendly" weren't characteristics we were originally focused on but have made such a difference.
Advertising is essential to every business, especially in this day and age. That's why we've taken the image of GingerMade and produced business cards with all the details one needs to know about our products... That's professional right?
A family business feels more comfortable than a corporate business and we prefer to provide the same enviroment with our customers.
Friends are better than colleauges.
My daughter and I are loving this adventure.
There is so much to learn, not just about the baking business, but about ourselves as well.