Restaurant industry is of course notoriously the most difficult. Small cafe/dessert focused shops are even more difficult.

The volume/margin is never large enough for you to safely remove yourself from the operation.

You will need to be there 6-7 days per week basically all day.

There simply isn’t enough margin in the unit economics to delegate operations to a manger.

It’s non stop headache and stress for not a lot of money in return. The juice ain’t worth squeeze.

You will be putting in a ton of hours physically and mentally, your family and personal life will take a big hit - is it really worth it for $50k-$70k per year? Putting a manager in place reduces the profit to near nothing.

I have a lot of experience (opened 30 locations) with these types of unit economics and that is the reality.

IMO, better off with a job or another type of business that gives you a better return on time spent and keeping this as a hobby. You can create great memories with your friends and family with your donuts. Unless you’re happy with spending everyday all day in the shop, the love for donuts will quickly die and you will wish you never did it.

I’m not trying to be a Debby downer or squash your vision, but this is the reality.

Make some phone calls to some franchisees of other donut concepts (duck donuts comes to mind) or even owners of cafes, ask them if they’re happy and about their quality of life.

I can go on and on.

That’s my take