By: James Limar
Director
(YAP SBDC)
JR Bakery and Catering opened its door for business at the end of last year. Its focus thus far has been on one bread product donuts, locally known as “tempura” which has been available to customers since the opening of business. When fully operational, the owner plans to add three other lines of bread products and food catering which will target the lunch crowd in Colonia, conferences, and social events on island by offering ready-to-eat packaged meals.
 |
| JR Gooflan, owner of JR Bakery (in red), and staff at work. |
JRGooflan is the owner of the new operation. He is a born-resident of Yap and was involved in his family business that once had a bakery and food catering component for several years. The exposure to and the experience gained from his involvement in the family business inspired him early on to continue to have an interest in baking and food catering as an eventual business undertaking. His business location is right by the main road going through the Village of Rumuu which is about a five-minute drive from Colonia going north. He sells on site at his location and also through intermediary retailers in Colonia and nearby locations.
What was once a mere business idea that recently reached fruition was made possible by business loan financing from the Pacific Islands Development Bank. JR availed himself of the services of the Yap Small Business Development Center. A counselor of the Center worked with him to develop his business plan which eventually was submitted as a loan package to the bank. While awaiting review by the bank for his loan request, JR attended several workshops conducted by the Yap SBDC on simple business records-keeping and how to manually generate financial statements.
JR is still missing an essential piece of equipment for his business. His bread oven is still under order which is to be fabricated locally. He is, however, in contact with the vendor and he should be well underway to full operation as soon as he overcomes the hurdle of having the oven delivered. His business currently employs two people, including himself. He will add a third employee once fully operational.
His advice to other aspiring business individuals is “to make sure you have a genuine passion to go into business and be prepared to put in the hard work required and live up to the challenges of being a business owner”.
