SBA and SCORE Create Recipe for Sweet Success
Whipping up one-of-a-kind pastries is a piece of cake for Tatiana Polay.
The New York-educated and employed pastry chef regularly frosted and adorned cakes for famed fashion icon Vera Wang. The pandemic, temporarily halting Tatiana’s decorating days, became the catalyst for sharing her scratch-made cakes, muffins and croissants with Centre County residents at her own store – The Cakeshop by Tati.
“We moved to Centre County, where my husband is from, and it’s wonderful here – quiet, safe and surrounded by nature.” she explained. “I was working at a supermarket and running a part-time home-based bakery using my own recipes and was offered retail space by a local restauranteur.”
Needing funding for equipment, counters and to purchase supplies, she turned to SCORE Central Pa certified mentor Tony Barrile to help complete a business plan and raise some dough. “She had the experience and education,” Barrile explained. “Even though it was in the early stages of the pandemic and banks weren’t necessarily lending to food startups, I was very excited to assist.”
Our SCORE mentors are valued official resource partners of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Members, both current and retired executives, volunteer their time providing free and confidential professional consulting services from startups, like Tatiana, to established businesses helping them navigate the ebbs and flows of small business ownership. I know firsthand many counselors have been in their clients’ shoes, often walking those many miles while wearing many hats as small business owners.
Polay started her business plan using the free, online SCORE template and within five months over numerous phone and Zoom calls with Barrile, the document was finished – Barrile assisting with the financial portion with Polay handling the marketing and biographical narrative. “I helped her put a realistic plan together, skinning down costs by purchasing equipment from businesses that were closing and telling her she couldn’t draw a salary.”
The plan was presented to a lender -- with some icing on the cake – 10 photographs depicting Polay’s confectionary creativity. In five weeks, she secured a loan.
“Those croissants were flying off the shelves – it’s her signature pastry,” Barrile added. “And at the end of her first month in business, she called to tell me the revenue was twice the amount we had estimated. Half of the loan was paid off in one year; and that makes me feel great.”
Today, a staff of nine assist Polay, whose desserts, croissants and muffins also are sent to areal hotels, restaurants and coffee shops. “We aren’t competing, just collaborating to help each other,” she added. “In turn, we sell or advertise their items and services too.”
Polay, who now pays herself, remains grateful to her SCORE mentor.
“I love my job,” she said. “I never imagined being a small business owner, but thanks to SCORE I am.”
Find a local SCORE mentor and create your own recipe for success by visiting https://www.score.org/