A few years ago we upgraded from a shared commercial kitchen with gas to our own bakery with electric. It took several months of failed attempts to make our products in our new electric convection ovens. We went through the process of “getting to know your oven” with different pans, temperatures, times, and even a science engineer. For two years, our gourmet cookies were great. However, we still had to scrap some because they were too big or too small to package.
I was frustrated, but I was told all bakeries have to throw away a percentage of their products. So we accepted the setbacks.

Guess what we learned several weeks ago? We’ve been using the wrong ovens. We were not using Imperial ovens which are designed specifically for baking.
Wouldn’t it be great if “Back to the Future” was possible?
Trying to stay positive, I experimented while waiting for our new oven to arrive.
Looks good right???
Wrong!!
Maybe we could start selling pancakes 🙁
Why do we have to fail in order to succeed? Life is short. Why is the 80/20 principle true?
Mr. Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Mr. Albert Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
Mr. C.S. Lewis said, “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”
There are many other encouraging words about embracing failure. However, there’s one I didn’t see. We say, “Failures make you a humbled success and grateful for everyone who helped get you there.” Don’t give up my fellow small business owners. We’re cheering for you all…….even the gourmet gift shops 🙂