Secrets of a bakery consultant

(published October 2000)

I must confess that I flinch at the term ‘consultant’. Possibly its some white male guilt peeking through, embarrassed at not doing what might be called a proper job. I mean, what would my dad say. Poncing around in my denim jacket, making what must seem like vague, glib comments while the real graft happens on the bakery floor. Sometimes it feels like one of those telly jobs, where a sharp-looking presenter walks into someone’s home, tells them it’s ugly, then proceeds to roll out some aubergine and khaki nightmare expecting everyone to be impressed.

That’s on a bad day. But other times, the good days, I really wish I could shake some bakery owners, make them see how close they are to achieving their dream. That is to grasp success, through excellence, planning, and imagination (in that order). Now this isn’t a promotion for my own other-worldly talents, nor do I attempt to speak for others. Rather to try and explain where a consultant can help, and where they can’t.

The first step might sound a bit obvious, but it involves working out what you want a consultant to help you do. Write a list of your goals for the business, and be honest and specific. Rather than writing ‘I want to make more money’, analyse the ways your company presently makes revenue, whether it be wholesale, retail, food service, or a mix of them all. If your goal is to bake excellent premium loaves, analyse your existing sales to see where the bulk of your business is. Perhaps your making too many flavoured bread, or too many varieties, without really capitalising on any one. Talk to your customers and try and understand what they are looking for from your business. From this information build a specific task list.

Now you could call in someone to help you at this point. But that would be a bit worrying, wouldn’t it. It might be that you need a partner who can shoulder some of the responsibility, or that there is a fault with the existing division of work within the company. If that’s the case, then you need to sit down and remember why you went into business in the first place. Look at your management structure, and correct the problem. I’m not suggesting its easy, but it is business rather than a hobby, and more often than not you need to be tough with yourself and the team around you.

Next, look at your list and see where the shortfalls are. Ask yourself ‘is this a job for a temporary consultant, or a full time employee.’ If you’re a wholesale bakery, and as the owner you also double as the sales rep, you may be the cause of the problem. Call us in, by all means, but all we’ll do is tell you to take your sales seriously and employee someone excellent for the job. But say you have a small chain of retail bakery outlets, and the performance and revenue seems uneven. Here, a consultant can come in for a few days, give an independent report on the sites, and help you create a blueprint for change. Specific tasks, short term goals, these are the areas a consultant can excel at.

Since employing a consultant can run to many thousands of pounds, the work you do to prepare the task can save so much money. Its about the work we do together, and the more preparation and planning you can do in advance will also effect the benefits you will achieve. Sometimes we’re not necessary at all. I was called in once to a company whose profits were very good, products were excellent, staff happy and hardworking, image as sharp and positive as it could get. A hero company. But after explaining that their was little I could do for them, they decided to hire me anyway. Guess they liked the denim jacket.