We recently connected with Sarah Bieber and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. When you’ve been a professional in an industry for long enough, you’ll experience an industry-wide U-Turn, an instance where the consensus completely flips upside down or where the “best practices” completely change. If you’ve experienced such a U-Turn over the course of your professional career, we’d love to hear about it.
Our business was started from the ground up in 1987 by Grandpa and his business partner. As you can imagine we’ve experienced many industry U-turns since then. Going from delivering bakery ingredients to selling bakery equipment. Then strictly to selling new and refurbished bakery equipment and dropping the ingredients side all together. The business was bought out by my Dad in 2010 when my Grandpa decided to retire. It’s been a family affair ever since with my Dad, my brothers and myself working all different aspects of the business together.
With the help of social media and our constantly updated website we have the opportunity to reach more people on a much larger scale to get our resources and quality product out there. Our followers can see the equipment being rebuilt from start to finish; sometimes with customized paint jobs which is always a fan favorite! This is a far cry from mailing polaroid pictures of rebuilt equipment to potentially interest customers (no joke – we have the polaroids to prove it!).
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
We pride ourselves on creating a one stop shop to those looking to get started or simply expanding what they have already begun building in the bakery world. We sit down with customers on a weekly basis building CAD drawings for their bakery layout to ensure the best flow with the equipment and space available. Considering most of our customers are small business owners; they have the choice of new or refurbished equipment which gives us a leg up on offering the most bang for your buck. Unlike most dealers that rebuild equipment we include a warranty to let customers know we stand behind our quality and they have the peace of mind that we are here to help if the unexpected happens. We handle everything from choosing the correct equipment for your application to making sure it is delivered to your door step safely.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Finding a team that works well together and investing in the tools they need to be successful is key. Our team is small but focused. We try to maintain an organized steady workflow within the shop and office. Monday morning meetings are essential to making sure the front office and shop are on the same page as far as projects and shipments go. We order takeout for lunch every Friday and allow the shop to choose where we get it from. Once a year the team goes on a chartered fishing trip to show how much we appreciate their hard work. Our office has always maintained an open door policy where if you have an issue you are welcome to have a sit down to discuss it at any time.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source for new clients is by far social media. Our Facebook and Instagram receive messages, likes, and comments everyday. We are very active and post daily which keeps our content fresh and relevant to the consumer. We get a lot of love on our custom painted equipment and tutorial videos. Posting videos of how a machine works can be a game changer for some bakers that don’t even know machines like that might exist. We are always happy to quote out current, future or pipedream projects!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.discountbakeryequip.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discountbakeryequip/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bakeryequip/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/discount-bakery-equipment
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@danrose4401
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/discount-bakery-equipment-wayland
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DiscountBakeryEquip https://www.ebay.com/str/discountbakeryequipment
Image Credits
Photo Credit: Megan Merren Photography www.themegmariephoto.com [email protected]