Sarah Zollinger had the idea to start the Rose & Rooster Bakery because she wanted to build community through food. In Grand Desert, a small community on the Eastern Shore, there wasn’t much in terms of community space. Sarah felt that there was a need to create a gathering place where neighbours, friends and family, young and old, could meet and enjoy homemade food. Sarah was inspired to start a local business and was motivated by the idea of living and working in a rural community. In creating her own business, her goals to create a community space and to help sustain her family, without the added travel of commuting to the city every day, were met.

An architect by trade, baking had always been a hobby for Sarah. Sarah started testing the idea of a bakery by making bread and baked goods for the local Seaforth Market. The market only operated once a month so Sarah also started selling bread out of her kitchen. With some success, she decided to take a leap and buy a building in Grand Desert which would allow the business to operate full time. The Rose & Rooster sells baked goods and beverages and has recently expanded to serving lunch and dinner. They also feature artwork from local artists; a new artist is featured each month with their work available for sale at the bakery. They also host art opening events with wine and cheese. They also run a seasonal canteen at Lawrencetown Beach.

The most challenging aspect of starting a business for Sarah was having an unrealistic expectation of the time investment required to start her own business. Sarah routinely worked 16 hour days until she could afford employees. Also, opening a bakery was a steep learning curve since Sarah had no previous experience in the culinary industry. While still learning the ropes, she had to commit the time and energy required to just be open and then to do paperwork at the end of the day. Staffing was also especially challenging with the seasonal canteen at Lawrencetown Beach as it is off site and employees needed to be comfortable working on their own. Sarah found the most important skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur are learning how to effectively communicate with people, time management, and the ability to delegate tasks. Communication is extremely important when cultivating relationships with staff, suppliers, and customers. Time management helps you prioritize important tasks and the ability to delegate tasks helps with time management. Acknowledging that you are not the best person for the job allows you to delegate the task to someone who can accomplish it more effectively and efficiently. Running a business means making sacrifices. The biggest sacrifices Sarah has had to make for her business are working holidays, dealing with financial difficulty due to not having a steady paycheck, and strain on relationships with friends and family due to long work hours.

CBDC Blue Water supported Sarah and her business by providing start-up funds, offering local support and information, and consulting services through the CAS program which helped her figure out the logistics of running a kitchen including food and staff costs. “It was so encouraging that CBDC Blue Water believed that this was possible and that it was a viable business in this community.”