Page 88 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

W

HILE making bread one morning, it occurred to a widow in New England
that the one thing she liked to do most of all was to bake, and she decided to
give some thought to developing a “Food Specialty Business” in order to add
to the family income. The next day she made arrangements with one of the
local shops to handle her coffee cake and doughnuts and nut bread on a
commission basis. She secured an order from the lunchroom near the station
for a daily order of doughnuts, the first orders being put in on trial. A tea
room which had a rather good business each day—and especially on Sunday
—wanted rolls and pies as well as nut bread. These orders were, of course,
not all placed in a day, but as she found a growing demand for her products,
and her confidence increased, she had the courage to solicit additional
business. Out on the edge of town was a tourist camp which like all such
places had little facilities for baking. One afternoon she sent her son out on
his bicycle with his basket filled with doughnuts, cookies, pies and coffee
cake. It was all sold without difficulty and Johnny came home with orders for
more. All summer long this proved to be a fertile market for her products.

That fall and the winter following, she turned her hand to catering and
developed a good business during the “party season.” Occasions such as the
hard-times party at the club and a big Halloween party also at the club called
for dozens of doughnuts. She secured both orders simply because the
committee responsible for the refreshments knew where to get the best
doughnuts in town. That was the secret of her success—everything did taste
so good that people came back for more and more. She found that
gingerbread was another favorite with the young people in town and she
made a specialty of it by adding a fudge sauce to be poured over the slices.
After her business had developed, people got in the habit of calling her when
unexpected company arrived, and she generally managed to provide
something delicious that would fill in for a tea or a luncheon or a Sunday
night supper. She remembered that bridge party hostesses liked to serve such
dishes as creamed crabmeat and creamed chicken in patty shells. As good
patty shells were hard to obtain in their town, she added this item to her list
and succeeded in working up a good demand for this specialty by
recommending it for Sunday night suppers as well as bridge parties.