That was harder than I thought...

I have spent the last 4 weeks obsessing over a business name.  I had some that I came up with in college as part of my business plan but because I had to create a restaurant business plan (punishment for choosing the path of pastry, I imagine), they didn't really fit into what I envisioned for my bakery.

I enlisted the help of my friend, Jen who is probably the most creative brainstorming prodigy that ever lived.  I came up with about five names in 30 minutes.  I was pretty proud of myself considering I felt they were all exceptionally creative.  I called Jen to see if she could help me brainstorm and her response was, "Sure, just give me some time to think about it."  Five minutes later, I got about 20 names.  Ridiculous.

So over the course of a month, I have had dozens of names on which to ponder.  I had friends and work colleagues weigh in on the list of names and got the list down to two.  I was excited about these final contenders until I realized that domain names were not available.  It is incredibly important to me that I have website address that makes sense to the public.  I'm the kind of person who will type a business name into the address bar instead of "Googling" it (I don't know if that's normal but I imagine I'm not the only one who shows the address bar some love).  Besides the URL, the business names were very specific and I was concerned that I was painting myself into a corner with nowhere to go should I decide to expand my focus.

Tonight, I was game-planning my cleaning schedule for the evening (also known as procrastinating) and a name came to be out of the blue.  I called my mom to get her input and she loved it.  I immediately went online and checked to see if the URL was available.  It was!  For a mere $2,600 I could be the proud owner of that URL!

Appalled at myself for the time I spent actually considering it, I started getting creative... I could go to a .net instead of a .com but address-bar-lovers like myself would not think to type that domain suffix.  I decided to insert a dash in the middle so I could still register a .com.  Now, I realize that still poses an issue for typing it in the address bar but it seemed like a better option so I purchased it.

I would love to share the URL but I'm not in a position to build the webpage yet.  Also, I'm still determining what steps I have to take to register my business name (there are all kinds of exceptions and "if, then" rules) so I'm keeping it under wraps until the name is officially mine.  I fear this will create suspense that the name doesn't really warrant but I stand behind the name I chose so I'll explain it when I reveal it (if it really isn't obvious enough).

One step closer to making my dream a reality!

And so it begins...

Two years after graduating with my Bachelors in Culinary Management, I'm finally determined to dust off my degree and get the pin rolling (nyuck nyuck) to open a bakery.  This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember so I recently had to have a serious talk with myself to figure out why I have been letting it get away from me.  The truth is, I have a great job with a fair amount of job security (as much as you can have in this unpredictable job market).  However, my job is in healthcare product development and marketing... I couldn't be in an industry farther away if I tried.  I am terrified to leave my warm security blanket to venture out into the big, bad world of food.

I know this journey is going to be difficult (so why not throw a blog on top of it!) but I'm excited about making the leap.  The plan is to register my business name along with all the preliminary paperwork (yuck), start baking in a licensed kitchen, sell my goodies to local businesses, and pick up steam while I perfect my recipes (and my bank account).  I want to offer people a dessert haven with something for everyone; with special emphasis on pies (my specialty).  I will also have options for vegans and those with sensitive diets.  Now my adventure begins!