Know-How Exchange : Branding

I have several questions, all of which are designed to help your thinking processes rather than challenge your intention:

Are there buyers for your bread products, and if so, how frequently would buyers buy from you and at what social price? Social price has nothing to do with money, it's to do with status. Will customers gain social status from buying from you because your bakery was the first in the city, or because your family has served the highest ranking social families for 500 years, or for some other socially desirable reason that can't be argued with?

Given your direct competitors, what primary traits and qualities do you have or can only you offer that make you stand out? Here I'm thinking longevity of experience; royal appointment; suppliers to the highest ranking families, ways in which you exceed professional quality standards, and so on

Given your competitive traits and the frequency with which people might buy, is there sufficient demand in the local market for your bread products at your desired retail points?

This addresses the issue of cash-flow: can you source and buy ingredients, can you bake in sufficient quantities and with consistent quality, can you market and sell, can you then sell out, can you then reorder ingredients, and can you make and sell out again before your initial wholesale purchase orders are due?

Given that you're (potentially) a new business, do you have a year's worth of capital to sustain your business overheads while you build up your business? Can you cover your expenses until you break even and have you calculated how long it will take you to turn a profit?

Brands are about mental real estate, not logos on products.

Until you can answer these questions you have nothing to attach a brand to.

Until you have a product to offer you have nothing to fulfill.

Until you have a product to fulfill, you cannot create buying and eating experiences.

Until you have buying and eating experiences you cannot create expectations that you'll then exceed.

It's that last sentence that creates any notion of a brand: not the product, not the market, not the demand.

The research you do for your business plan should answer the question you're asking. And if the market won't sustain another bread brand and generate a meaningful profit, then the smartest thing you can do is not spend any more time or money on the project.