We met 16-year-old Abigail at our Children’s Entrepreneur’s Market in Plano this past weekend, and we were impressed with her business La Petite Bakery! We know her advice and encouragement will be a great inspiration to kid entrepreneurs all over the country.
CEM: Tell us about your business! When did you first get the idea?
Abigail: I started in 2017! I was 10 at the time. My mom got pregnant with my little sister, and she handed the task of baking sourdough bread for the family off to me. She taught me, and I’ve been baking for six years now! I do way more than sourdough bread now- I do cookies, biscuits, muffins, quick breads, and occasional cakes for birthdays if people need them. So that’s how I got started, and I love it! It’s my joy, I love to cook for my family.
CEM: I love that! So what supplies and resources did you need for your business to get going, and how did you get ahold of them?
Abigail: At first, I was just baking at home and I wasn’t selling to anybody. Sourdough bread is pretty easy, all you need is the ingredients. When I decided I wanted to sell to other people, I knew that I was going to need packaging, labeling, a name, and a logo. Also, I knew I had to think about the ingredients and how to scale them, and I also needed to work out my pricing so that I got paid well after I paid my mom back, because she buys all the ingredients for me.
CEM: What are some challenges you’ve faced in business, and how did you overcome them?
Abigail: I would say sometimes it’s hard to get someone’s business. Sometimes you have to be outgoing and you have to ask for someone’s business, rather than just letting people know you have a business and waiting for them to come to you. I started at church; I started going to visit the moms. I would go up to them and ask them if they’d like to order anything. I’d let them know I could make biscuits, bread, whatever they would like. I think that was one of the challenging parts of it. Also, the process of figuring out how to properly scale the ingredients and make sure I made a good profit after paying my mom back was a challenge.
CEM: Do you have any advice for other aspiring kid entrepreneurs?
Abigail: Just keep going, try your best. I know it can get hard, but if you really love it you’ll work for it, and that’s what I’ve done. I love this so much- I’ve loved cooking and baking for my family, it’s something I enjoy a lot, but sometimes you hit some hard times and you just have to keep going. If you keep pushing, you’ll get to the point you want.
CEM: How can potential customers get in touch with you?
Abigail: I have an Instagram- it’s called @lapetitebakerytexas, and I have an email which is the same thing, lapetitebakerytexas@gmail.com. So they can DM me through Instagram, or they can email me.
Thank you Abigail, for sharing your wisdom! You’re an inspiration to all of our kid entrepreneurs, and especially to our bakers and chefs!