Flour & Water Co.
Flour & Water Co follows SBDC recipe for expansion success
Maintained steady annual growth of 25%; added 13 jobs.
Meredith Norris, co-owner of the Flour & Water Co. in Woodstock, knows you canât make bread with flour and water alone â it requires yeast. To help her growing business expand, Meredith consulted the Laurel Ridge SBDC to add the missing ingredient to the mix: SBDC resources.
âIn two yearsâ time, our business had taken off,â Meredith relates. âWe needed information on expansion and decided to try the SBDC.â
Meredithâs idea for the artisan bakery in Woodstock began with a 2018 trip to Ireland where she and her sister, Paje Cross, became âenamored withâ a local establishment on The Emerald Isle. The sisters made business plans on the way home to Woodstock. Their third partner, Jacoby Ginges, soon joined them in the venture.
âWeâd all been involved in food service of some description,â Meredith adds.
The partners tested their bakery idea with three pop-up shops, which sold out every time. Early in 2020 they started searching for a building â only to be interrupted by the pandemic.
âWe decided to wait, which turned out to our advantage,â Meredith says. âWe bought a building at auction, and after renovations, opened in December 2020.â
Despite pandemic obstacles, Flour & Water Company rose to the occasion. In their first year of operation, the baking partners nearly tripled their projected revenue.
As the company eyed expansion, an acquaintance suggested a visit to Laurel Ridge SBDC Director Christine Kriz, who advised them to take the SBDC-sponsored Cureate Course. The six-week course for food and beverage producers gives advice on scaling existing business operations and next steps for strategic growth.
âThe Cureate course was monumentally helpful to us,â Meredith notes. âSBDC resources have offered us a wealth of knowledge.â
That knowledge, Meredith affirms, yields dividends.
âWe started with three employees, and two years in, we have 16,â Meredith says. âYear over year, weâve grown 25 percent, and weâre moving ahead with our expansion plan. The SBDC is already helping with that.â
She advises other business owners to take advantage of all the SBDC has to offer.
âThe SBDC provides a wonderful service,â she concludes. âIt only makes sense to use it.â