We have a anniversary coming up. The anniversary of the closing of our business, Anna’s Indulgence Dessert Bar. Our last day was June 11, 2011.

The two weeks leading up to the closure were some of the most difficult weeks I have ever faced. Ironically, deciding to close the business was an easier decision to make then others. One of the hardest parts though, was knowing that we were going to be disappointing some loyal customers who were not only good to Anna’s Indulgence, but who we enjoyed interacting with and would truly miss.

The time has arrived where I feel I can close this chapter and move onto the next. This will be the last post with regards to opening up my private thoughts on Anna’s Indulgence. So I better make it good.

Hard to believe the year has gone so fast and what a year it has been. Some may wonder why did I close? No really, why did I? Some wonder “What is she up to now?” Some may even wonder “Is she going to open up Anna’s Indulgence elsewhere?” It was a year filled with relief, regret, guilt, happiness, determination, frustration, learning more about who I am, revelations and higher education. You know, this thing we call life.

When the decision was made to close the business, I knew 3 things for sure:

1) I didn’t want to be a business owner anymore. It never felt right to push myself on someone to make that sale. Pushy people can be irritating and I didn’t want to be known for being overbearing. I have learned that this may have been one of my downfalls as a business owner but to this day, I’m still not liking the idea of being overly aggressive and doing whatever it takes to have the customer buy the product.

2) I loved being a pastry chef

3) I enjoyed my two previous experiences as an instructor within culinary arts that I knew that it is where I wanted to spend my time. Two years before closing, I taught Pastry Arts and Intro to Culinary Arts. While doing so, I enrolled at Red River College in Winnipeg, into the Technical Vocational Teacher Education Diploma program.

No I have no desire to open Anna’s Indulgence in another location, city or province and on the last question allow me to speak on why I closed, no really why.

There is a misconception that businesses close because either nobody was buying the product therefor no money was coming in or that the product for sale was no good. I never set out to win every person over so I always knew there would be some people who didn’t like what we did nor understand what we where trying to accomplish. I was okay with that. If one tries to have everyone like them, they are guaranteed to fail before they begin.

As for closing because of financial reasons, in our case the answer is no. We did not close because people weren’t buying our product. We closed by our own choice and for many different reasons. So the point here is that for every closing of a business, it’s never just about one thing. The reasons are as many as there is business owners.

In the last year, I’ve had many people comment to me that we would have been better off in a different location. True, if we opened in a bigger city there would have been a larger income pool to go after. People forget that a bigger city for business also means higher operating costs.

In Brandon, the one location more people suggested over others was in an area where the rent would have been 5x more then what we were already paying. This meant the prices we charged for our items would have been higher then what they already were.

Interesting, as this area so many people liked is located in a flood zone and I’m not sure if you knew or not, but last spring, Brandon was fighting the worst flooding in 300 years. That whole section of the city was shut down and evacuated which included homes and businesses for about 3 weeks. Being shut down for that long would have ruined any small business. Small businesses don’t have a corporate head office to report to, and are truly on their own. Needless to say, I’m still not convinced that this area would be a good location for Anna’s Indulgence. Lesson here, the grass IS NOT ALWAYS greener on the other side.

While in business, one will hear A LOT, “It’s business” or “It’s nothing personal, it’s business. What did you expect?” Any business owner will tell you that after spending countless hours creating something, spending scary amounts of money to keep the business growing and sacrificing everything you have, including your sanity, that yeah, you can’t help but to have a personal investment in things and yeah, it is personal.

You will learn very quickly that sometimes in order to survive you have to put up with rude customers and inconsiderate business associates. You have to be comfortable with giving away both your time and product in the hopes of that future sale. This can be a bitter pill to swallow and to be honest, I was never comfortable with it.

Once you are a business owner, from day one you are expected to be an expert on everything. You have to be an expert on marketing, book keeping, web design, sales, cash flow procedures, customer service, human resources, plumbing and electrical, safe work practices, taxation, and costing. Oh and don’t forget, you better know something about whatever you opened your business for.

A lot of owners try to save money by doing things themselves. They don’t see the value in hiring a professional and only see an expensive bill. They forget that their time is valuable and better spent elsewhere. My advice? Hire a professional whether it’s an accountant who can track your financials or a lawyer who will look out for your best interest. True, it’s good to understand book keeping principals, and business law, but unless you went to school for this, don’t do it yourself. It will be worth it in the end to hire someone. The same goes for a electrician, or a contractor etc. You get the idea.

Be very choosy who your work associates are and who you do business with. I respect those that work hard, do what they say and respect you enough to honour your business relationship. Be positive, and give people the benefit of the doubt. Do what you say, and mean what you say. Those who don’t are not worth your time. They show a lack of credibility and integrity and I can’t help wondering if they are trying to cover up any weakness either within their business or within themselves. If you act with honour and respect, then you have nothing to hide and you don’t have to worry about karma. Enough said.

A business will always have competition and I believe competition is healthy. It keeps you on your toes, drives you to push the envelope and keeps you from getting complacent. Competition is not to be feared or to back away from. It’s better to be the trail blazer then one who follows everyone else, at least in my eyes. Be aware though, it may bring out the nasty in other businesses as they may feel threatened.

The one thing I focused on was what my competition was not doing. For example, until we opened, there was no one doing any diabetic or gluten free baking. These are huge markets and it blew my mind that nobody was tapping into them. Once we started, all of a sudden others were doing it. Another untapped market was wedding cakes. Nobody was doing anything that was trendy or modern. That is until Anna’s Indulgence opened it’s doors.

We learned that there was quite a profitable underground economy in Brandon. One of these economies was the making and selling of wedding cakes, actually, all types of baking. People were baking out of their home kitchens, kitchens that were not inspected by a health inspector, and it’s all cash under the table. How is a legitimate business suppose to compete with that?

There was this attitude that because one could bake some cookies or have taken a cake decorating class, it made them an expert. That they were qualified the same as a Red Seal trained Pastry Chef. No. They weren’t.

We also learned that some of these people who were doing home baking for profit were placing their items on recycled Styrofoam meat trays. Coming from a chefs point of view, I was horrified when I learned of this. As a result, I stay away from bake sales. This is what leads to food poisoning.

The first three months after we closed, I went into seclusion mode and didn’t venture too far from home. I was feeling ashamed because for so long I talked about having a business, spent so much time talking up my business, then I go and close the business. I needed time to lick my wounds and to heal.

Because I was coming off of 5 years were my average work week was 60 hours and dealing with enormous amounts of stress, I spent the summer reading on the patio, learning to relax again and planning what my next step would be. Maybe I am guilty of reviewing my business experience with a little too much depth and insight. But what can I say? It was a game changer.

The one thing I can say is this past year it’s been one hell of a journey. I was reminded once again that for every person who cheers when you fail, there are two people who cheer you on. I have learned to let go of regret and guilt as they are unproductive and what’s done is done.

I have learned there were more people who were saddened by Anna’s Indulgence closing then I first realized. In fact, I had customers track me down over Christmas wanting me do do their Christmas baking.

I don’t look at Anna’s Indulgence as a failure. I look at the whole experience as one giant learning curve and the realization of a goal met. I have also learned it is better to try then to not try at all.

As I close this chapter, a new one is starting. I have achieved another goal and as of August 7th, I will begin employment at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology aka SAIT as a Pastry and Baking Arts instructor. Back to Calgary we go. I feel like I have come full circle as I will be teaching alongside the first pastry chef I trained under and one of my other pastry chefs I worked under also taught there. Things do have a funny way of working out don’t they?