Episode 197- How to Scale from Home Kitchen to a Brick and Mortar Location: Jenyce Habibovic and Sweet House Bakery

This week on the show we got to sit down and chat with local entrepreneur and business owner Jenyce Habibovic of Sweet House Bakery. This Stewartville native grew up around her grandparents’ restaurant and had a love for art, creativity, and baking from a young age. She turned her baking into a hobby with the creation of her son’s first birthday cake and only grew from there. When Jenyce got an opportunity to open up her first brick and mortar location for the bakery this June, she quickly took it, setting up shop within the new Pasquale’s Express on 2nd Street. Tune in today to listen to the conversation with this local entrepreneur to learn more about innovation taking place all around us in Rochester, MN and to understand how Sweet House Bakery grew from a kitchen to its new space in the community.

Links from today’s show:
Sweet House Bakery: https://sweethousebakery.org/
Facebook: @choosehappy.eatcake
Instagram: @sweethousebakery2018

Minnesota Cottage Food Law: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/food-feed/cottage-food-producer-registration

Pasquale’s Express Pizza: https://pnpizza.com/

Music Attribution: Jane Fonda by The Grand Affair is licensed through the YouTube Audio Library.

Episode Breakdown:

0:00 Start
3:39 Growing up in Stewartville with restaurant-owning grandparents
5:53 Turning a baking hobby into a business with her son’s first birthday cake
8:06 Kids give brutally honest customer feedback
9:04 The start of the business from a home kitchen and Minnesota Cottage Food Law
12:31 The value this community places on small business
13:25 Growing the business by word of mouth
15:22 Opening of a brick and mortar location in Pasquale’s Express Pizza this June
16:47 Assessing financial risk and the need to be financially smart
17:32 Scaling the business from one to a team of five
19:22 What to expect from a visit to the bakery
21:40 Bakery hours
22:18 A typical day in the life of a bakery business owner
24:22 Making a decision to open a brick and mortar location in 30 days
26:20 How to accommodate people’s risk acceptance during a pandemic
28:32 What motivates Jenyce as an entrepreneur
29:44 Final thoughts and where to find Sweet House Bakery
36:39 End

This week on the show we got to sit down and chat with local entrepreneur and business owner Jenyce Habibovic of Sweet House Bakery. This Stewartville native grew up around her grandparents’ restaurant and had a love for art, creativity, and baking from a young age. She turned her baking into a hobby with the creation of her son’s first birthday cake and only grew from there. When Jenyce got an opportunity to open up her first brick and mortar location for the bakery this June, she quickly took it, setting up shop within the new Pasquale’s Express on 2nd Street. Tune in today to listen to the conversation with this local entrepreneur to learn more about innovation taking place all around us in Rochester, MN and to understand how Sweet House Bakery grew from a kitchen to its new space in the community.

Links from today’s show:

Sweet House Bakery: https://sweethousebakery.org/

Facebook: @choosehappy.eatcake

Instagram: @sweethousebakery2018

Minnesota Cottage Food Law: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/food-feed/cottage-food-producer-registration

Pasquale’s Express Pizza: https://pnpizza.com/

Music Attribution: Jane Fonda by The Grand Affair is licensed through the YouTube Audio Library. 

Episode Breakdown:

0:00 Start

3:39 Growing up in Stewartville with restaurant-owning grandparents

5:53 Turning a baking hobby into a business with her son’s first birthday cake

8:06 Kids give brutally honest customer feedback

9:04 The start of the business from a home kitchen and Minnesota Cottage Food Law

12:31 The value this community places on small business

13:25 Growing the business by word of mouth 

15:22 Opening of a brick and mortar location in Pasquale’s Express Pizza this June

16:47 Assessing financial risk and the need to be financially smart

17:32 Scaling the business from one to a team of five

19:22 What to expect from a visit to the bakery

21:40 Bakery hours

22:18 A typical day in the life of a bakery business owner

24:22 Making a decision to open a brick and mortar location in 30 days

26:20 How to accommodate people’s risk acceptance during a pandemic

28:32 What motivates Jenyce as an entrepreneur

29:44 Final thoughts and where to find Sweet House Bakery

36:39 End