Growing a Business: Expanding Services
In the course of expanding, a food business may discover that, rather than outsourcing products, it makes more sense to create essential offerings in-house. Such is the case at Southern Grounds & Co. Coffee Shop. After years of searching for a suitable commercial bakery to supply their two locations, (with a third underway), owner Mark Janasik and team determined the best solution would be to set up an in-house bake shop, one that could also provide artisan baked goods to other food businesses. We sat down with Mark during a busy morning at the San Marco location to learn more about the process of developing a commercial production kitchen while operating multiple sites.
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MARK JANASIK
Owner | Southern Grounds & Co.
Background: Years of unsuccessfully searching for a high-quality gourmet bakery product for Southern Grounds shops made us think about starting our own bakery. The friendship we developed with Anita Adams, baker and owner of Biscuits & Buttercream, created the perfect scenario which led to an acquisition. The new bakery, Blueberry Artisan Bakery, was then formed on the simple premise that everything needed to be made by hand with the freshest possible ingredients. Our goal is to create a wholesale business which will allow us to supply gourmet cakes and desserts throughout the state of Florida.
How location reflects the brand: We listened to feedback from our community and also looked for strategic locations that would support and appreciate our brand of coffee house. In addition, we kept in mind convenience and access to a relaxed environment for anyone wanting to gather with friends and family, simply get some quiet time or immerse themselves in study or work. Multiple locations allow us to serve wider areas of the community not only at the store level but also by giving back to charities or community-specific initiatives. Our guests and team members are integral to the communities we serve. We strongly believe as we grow we will have a greater positive social influence on our community.
Challenges: One of our biggest challenges is to maintain the feel of the small neighborhood gathering place we aspire to be, as we continue to expand. We aim to mitigate this challenge by employing local candidates that understand our guests and culture deeply. Our leadership recognizes the importance of building personal relationships within the community to help build our company. As we grow, we are more dependent on management at the store level to take ownership and lead their teams. They are enabled to identify and work along with interested team members to provide a personal growth path within the organization. This is challenging for a young establishment such as ours.
Advice: Make sure you have a strong company culture where the welfare and growth of your employees is your number one priority. If you’re taking care of the needs of a team member, they in turn exceed the expectations of a guest. Never lose sight of the value of a group of people who feel like they belong and where people are truly connected to one another.
