What Worked (and What Didn’t) in My Sourdough Microbakery This Month | January in Review | Episode 57

Caroline Bower
Feb 3, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Jun 9, 2025

January was a big month for my microbakery, filled with lessons, wins, and a few humbling moments. As I reflect on the past few weeks, I want to share what worked, what didn’t, and how I’m optimizing my business moving forward. If you’re a fellow microbakery owner looking to streamline your process and grow sustainably, this recap is for you!

My New Market & Porch Pickup Schedule

One of the biggest changes I implemented in January was restructuring my baking schedule. Previously, I ran porch pickups every Thursday while also prepping for biweekly Saturday markets. This often led to overlapping bake days, making it difficult to maximize my market offerings.

So, I made a shift: markets on one week, porch pickups on the other. This means I now have only four bake days per month instead of six, allowing me to bake more efficiently and with less stress.

To accommodate customers who want to reserve their bread, I also started offering pre-orders for market pickups. This was a game-changer! On my first market day, I had nearly 30 pre-orders—something I wasn’t sure would catch on, but it’s proving to be a solid addition.

What Went Wrong (And What I’m Fixing)

No month in business comes without a few bumps, and January was no exception. Here are the biggest challenges I faced:

1. Overproofed Sandwich Loaves

I overestimated my sandwich bread capacity and tried cooling loaves in bins instead of their pans. The result? Extremely dense, overproofed bread. While my customers were gracious, one person did come back saying it wasn’t quite right. I replaced their loaf and took it as a lesson: stick to my proven system.

2. Flat Cookies That Couldn’t Be Sold

I mixed my cookie dough by hand instead of using my stand mixer, and they baked completely flat. Since I couldn’t sell them, I had to issue refunds and replacements. This made me want to dive deeper into the science behind cookie structure to prevent this in the future.

3. A Costly Mistake: Salt-Less Focaccia

Perhaps the biggest mishap was when I forgot to add salt to my focaccia dough. By the time I realized, it was too late to salvage. I had to toss 24 loaves—ouch. To prevent this from happening again, I’ve implemented two fixes:

Keeping a running restock list for ingredients.
Using bright yellow tape to mark any bins that require additional ingredients later.

The Wins: What Worked Well in January

Despite these setbacks, there were some major wins that I’m carrying forward:

1. Tracking My Time

For my porch pickup week, I tracked my hours and worked 16 hours total, including ingredient runs and prep. Having an assistant saved me even more time, reinforcing that hiring help was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

2. Experimenting with New Products

Thanks to my improved schedule, I was able to test new products like pizza crusts and brownies. They both sold out fast, which tells me they’re worth adding to my regular rotation!

3. Selling Nearly Everything I Baked

At my second market, I brought 101 loaves of bread and sold 100 of them. Seeing that level of demand—especially in January, a typically slow retail month—was incredibly motivating.

Looking Ahead: February Goals

As I move into February, I have a few key focus areas:

Increasing product variety (within reason) at the market.
Strengthening community connections, including joining the local Chamber of Commerce.
Creating stronger work-life boundaries, ensuring I’m fully present with my family when I’m off the clock.

If you’re reflecting on your own January, I’d love to hear what you’ve learned! What worked? What didn’t? Let’s keep growing together. Comment below or tag me on Instagram with your biggest takeaway. And as always, happy baking!