THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 201
PAGE 9
BUSINESS
Student-run cookie delivery service crumbles
Jack Rafferty reminisces his short-lived business selling cookies in the kitchen of Ecumenical Christian Ministries. He's no longer running Lucky You Bakery.
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
The cookie has crumbled for Lawrence's late-night cookie delivery service.
The Lucky You Bakery, a student-run cookie delivery service that opened in January and last operated in April, will not reopen. The service was barely breaking even when the three owners threw in the towel, said Jack Rafferty, one of the co-owners.
Contributed photo
Rafferty, a senior from Shawnee, said caring for the business took a toll on him personally and academically.
"There are only so many hours in a certain week," Rafferty said. "If you have to commit so many to this project, then it's going to pull away from either your friendships or your study efforts. Something is going to suffer. For us, I'd say a lot of our friendships were strained."
The bakery operated out of the Ecumenical Christian Ministry building just west of Memorial Stadium. Rafferty, along with fellow student Bailey Olsen and graduate Will McCullough, paid $300 per month to rent the facility's kitchen every Thursday through Saturday night.
said. To offset these costs, the bakery charged $12 for 13 cookies and $1.75 for a bottle of milk.
The owners also paid $50 per night for a delivery driver, about $100 per week for ingredients and about $100 per month in insurance, Rafferty
None of the three owners had any prior experience running a business. In fact, Olsen was the only owner who even had any experience cooking. Knowing what he knows now, Rafferty said he would have waited until he graduated to open the bakery.
"To risk harming your academic standing for a business venture, I wouldn't say it's foolish because we did it and we learned a lot," Rafferty said, "but it is at least partially ill-advised. I think it's a poor investment of your time until your graduate."
Lucky You Bakery currently has 472 likes on Facebook and had about 300 followers on Twitter before the owners disabled the account. Many frequent customers were surprised when it was announced the bakery was halting production on April 28.
Rafferty said he appreciated the outpouring of support from his most valued customers.
"I don't think it surprised us because we had very loyal customers," Rafferty said. "So the problem wasn't delivering a good product and having someone order again. Our problem was that we weren't reaching enough people."
The owners did not spend a single dollar in advertising. Instead, they
relied on social media and word-ofmouth. Following a Feb. 10 article in The University Daily Kansan, the bakery reached its peak, averaging about $350 to $450 a night in sales, Rafferty said.
If the bakery could have stayed open another six months or year, Rafferty said he feels it could have turned a corner. But given his course workload and Olsen's marriage this summer, he said the owners felt they would be unable to devote the amount of time to the bakery that it deserved.
Not all student entrepreneurs agree with Rafferty on waiting until graduation to open shop. Samantha Stultz, a senior from Shawnee, operates her own marketing and web design business called KC Media Team. After going broke at Missouri's William Jewell College, Stultz started KC Media Team in 2009 and has been able to pay her way back to school with the funds. In fact, she said she purchased her most recent car with cash.
Overall, the four-month endeavor called Lucky You Bakery was a bitter-sweet experience for Rafferty. He has
not stepped foot in Checkers, 2300 Louisiana St., since April because he said he is sick of seeing it from the numerous late-night ingredient runs.
"We weren't excited about closing." Rafferty said. "We didn't plan it. We
"I definitely feel like the company has helped me expand my marketing and my portfolio," Stultz said. "This has definitely helped me with money management, responsibility and personal skills. All around it was a good decision."
never wanted to open this thing, build a fan base and then pull the rug out. But I think that, sometimes in life, things are out of your control."