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A bakery, as a small business idea? Absolutely. Jacob graciously shares his own "special ingredients" for his own bakery's success.
What is the exact name of your bakery business?
Jacob's Royal Bake Shop
What bakery services do you provide?
We operate Fair Lawn's Kosher Bakery and produce Challah to be sold in other stores as well.
What is your position with the bakery?
I am part owner, with my wife being the other part. I manage day-to-day business and operations.
What has been your career path, leading to your becoming an entrepreneur in the bakery business?
My grandparents opened my family's first bakery in 1978 in Brooklyn NY, since then my whole family has been in the bakery trade, I am just continuing the tradition.
How do you make your bakery services more competitive?
We are unique in that we have a distinct corporate policy towards product freshness. We use a formula where products are categorized as first freshness/full price, day old/half price and more than day old/donated. I am sure that other bakeries have some ideas of what the freshness level is, of what they are selling—but we have it down to a science.
Who is the target market of your bakery business?
We serve the entire populace of Fair Lawn and some of the towns near by. We have plenty of customers from [the neighboring towns of] Teaneck, Passaic and Monsey. I suppose that the group most helped by us is the Kosher Community in that we provide the highest level of Kashruth such as Pas Yisrael and Kemach Yashan.
Why do people like doing business with you—what is the key to your bakery's success?
The people who have dealt with me will probably tell you that I like what I am doing—and that includes making the bread and cakes, as well as talking to people.
Tell us something about your personal life that makes you interesting, such as volunteer work for a good cause, an exciting hobby, past achievements, etc.
Before I became a baker, I spent a few years abroad managing trade for an American company that fulfilled Russian government orders for everything from clothing and shoes to food processing and packaging equipment. I have worked and lived in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia, and Italy.
If you could change one thing about the world we live in—what would it be?
If we remove greed as the motive for why we all do things—and that is the #1 motive in the world—we would open up all the professions to excellence. Everyone would strive to do their job better than before and the results would be momentous. I am not a communist—I don't think that people can achieve this without God's help. But the really stunning developments would be in the fields of science and medical research.
How do people get in touch with you?
Stop by 19-09 Fair Lawn Ave, Fair Lawn NJ
Call 201-796-6565
E-Mail rusanov@verizon.net.