TAP SMALL BUSINESS OWNER AWARD OF THE YEAR
We are thrilled to announce the establishment of a new award: TAP Small Business of the Year. This award aims to shine a spotlight on a remarkable business that exemplifies excellence in various domains, acting as a true TAP ambassador and driving positive change. The award recognizes a business owner's unwavering commitment to learning and growth via their TAP project, their successful achievement of financial goals, their significant impact on their community, and their dedication to employee engagement and development. This prestigious honor celebrates business owners who embody the spirit of TAP and inspire others through their exemplary leadership and contributions.
We are very proud of all of the small business owners we work with, and it was a challenge to pick our winner. We are delighted to announce that The Little Loaf Bakeshop, a Poughkeepsie-based vegan bakery co-owned by Colleen Orlando and Rian Finnegan, has been selected as our inaugural honoree. They stand out as a shining example of excellence in small business ownership.
We are very proud of all of the small business owners we work with, and it was a challenge to pick our winner. We are delighted to announce that The Little Loaf Bakeshop, a Poughkeepsie-based vegan bakery co-owned by Colleen Orlando and Rian Finnegan, has been selected as our inaugural honoree. They stand out as a shining example of excellence in small business ownership.
Established in 2021, and located in the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory, an incubator kitchen managed by Hudson River Housing, Little Loaf is a proud woman-and-LGBTQ-owned business that specializes in high-quality vegan pastries. They started selling their pastries in 2022 at farmers’ markets and then added four wholesale partners and some retail. Colleen, a trained pastry chef and bread baker, brings almost a decade of high-volume bakery experience, and Rian brings over a decade of marketing and brand development. They’re committed to high quality, local sourcing & fair pricing, and employment practices.
Little Loaf was introduced to TAP by Community Capital New York, a CDFI, to analyze their profitability and help them gain an overall better understanding of accounting and financial management to be able to make data-driven decisions. TAP worked with Colleen and Rian to create a comprehensive pricing model that took into account material costs, labor costs, selling channels, etc. This information was then used as input into a monthly two-year financial forecast. Colleen and Rian were able to use the models to test different scenarios during their decision-making process.
In their first two years in business, Little Loaf opened a Pop-Up cafe at the Underwear Factory, expanded their wholesale and catering programs, started offering baking classes, and began to build a fledgling food program, all of which allows them to diversify their offerings and strengthen their community connections. And it has paid off—Little Loaf’s revenues more than doubled from $110k in 2022 to $326k in 2023. Their customer base was growing, Colleen began taking a small salary, and they began to hit the limits of how much they could grow at the incubator kitchen—they were ready to hatch! So, they reached out to TAP again to help them find a bigger space to expand their retail operations and offer more products and services to grow the business. During TAP’s second engagement with Little Loaf, our consultants built on the pricing and financial models created earlier to help Colleen and Rian test expansion scenarios as they reviewed leases, renovation costs, operating and labor costs, and pricing and sales volume assumptions. To help finance the expansion into their new location, TAP introduced Rian and Colleen to Pursuit, a CDFI with the ability to fund larger loans. TAP also provided guidance as they prepared to submit their loan application.
Rian and Colleen have also been incredible ambassadors for TAP, introducing us to our new partner, Poughkeepsie Open Kitchen. Congratulations, Little Loaf Bakeshop!
Little Loaf was introduced to TAP by Community Capital New York, a CDFI, to analyze their profitability and help them gain an overall better understanding of accounting and financial management to be able to make data-driven decisions. TAP worked with Colleen and Rian to create a comprehensive pricing model that took into account material costs, labor costs, selling channels, etc. This information was then used as input into a monthly two-year financial forecast. Colleen and Rian were able to use the models to test different scenarios during their decision-making process.
In their first two years in business, Little Loaf opened a Pop-Up cafe at the Underwear Factory, expanded their wholesale and catering programs, started offering baking classes, and began to build a fledgling food program, all of which allows them to diversify their offerings and strengthen their community connections. And it has paid off—Little Loaf’s revenues more than doubled from $110k in 2022 to $326k in 2023. Their customer base was growing, Colleen began taking a small salary, and they began to hit the limits of how much they could grow at the incubator kitchen—they were ready to hatch! So, they reached out to TAP again to help them find a bigger space to expand their retail operations and offer more products and services to grow the business. During TAP’s second engagement with Little Loaf, our consultants built on the pricing and financial models created earlier to help Colleen and Rian test expansion scenarios as they reviewed leases, renovation costs, operating and labor costs, and pricing and sales volume assumptions. To help finance the expansion into their new location, TAP introduced Rian and Colleen to Pursuit, a CDFI with the ability to fund larger loans. TAP also provided guidance as they prepared to submit their loan application.
Rian and Colleen have also been incredible ambassadors for TAP, introducing us to our new partner, Poughkeepsie Open Kitchen. Congratulations, Little Loaf Bakeshop!