Don't Try This at Home

Thanks to the Food Network and the era of the celebrity chef, it seems many home cooks aspire to careers in the food industry. Those folks on TV make it look so easy, but let me tell you that owning your own business is a ton of work.

It isn't just making butter cream and cupcakes. This is a business with employees to manage (more later on how awesome it is to be part of a small business that is creating jobs in the community. A rare thing, especially in the George W. Bush economy), the paperwork of life to keep on top of, ordering supplies, managing product and product flow so customers have fresh, high-quality products, but we're not wasting food, etc, etc, etc.

Admittedly, the folks at Cake Love are Type A over-achievers who would undoubtedly throw themselves whole-heartedly into whatever they were doing. Now they're working like crazy for something they love. And let me tell you to make this business succeed they work their behinds off. They work crazy long hours, they're always available, they juggle a million things at once. They're not just standing in the kitchen whipping up yummy food. Although they do that, too.

I must admit, watching them in action has made me think a couple of times "oh my god, what have I just gotten myself into?" Not in an I-wish-I-hadn't way. Not at all. Just in a "holy crap, do I have a lot to learn and am I going to work harder than I ever have before in my life" realization.

So really folks. If you do habor dreams of owning your own food business, you're not going to be goofing around in the kitchen in that Paula Deen happy-go-lucky way. You're going to be doing a ton of hard work and a lot of it out of the kitchen.