Running a lemonade stand is so last year.
Two brothers in Marietta found something better to sell to their neighbors: chocolate chip cookies, big boules of sourdough bread and oversize muffins.
Eleven-year-old London Lampley and his 9-year-old brother, Leo, are running a bakery stand in their driveway this summer. They’ve named their business Dough Bros.
The two have baked and sold hundreds of breads and sweets to neighbors and family friends, often selling out within a couple of hours on a Saturday morning.
“We really like baking and working with our hands and making money,” said London.
Added Leo, “Ever since we were little, we just watched our parents bake, and they helped us a lot. So we just started, and we really like it.”
Credit: spe
Credit: spe
Their mother, Sarah Lampley, said her sons have gotten a lot of encouragement from the community.
“It’s been so sweet,” she said. “Everyone is telling them they’re doing a great job and that they love their bread and love their cookies and muffins.”
Dough Bros isn’t the boys’ first taste of business success.
Last summer, London, Leo and a friend ran a juice and lemonade stand in their neighborhood. The Lampley brothers made enough money from that venture to start a car-washing business for the spring.
Lampley said her sons took advantage of all the pollen, knocked on the neighbors’ doors and offered to wash their cars. “The neighbors are so encouraging,” she said. “We live in the sweetest neighborhood.”
This summer, the brothers wanted to sell something everyone would love.
London and Leo told their parents they wanted to open a bakery and make the family recipes for goodies they already enjoyed and knew how to bake.
“They have been in the kitchen with me and my husband since they were little, as early as they could mix,” said Lampley. “I would give them a little stool to stand on when they were 3.”
Lewis and Sarah Lampley also have an older son, Jordan, 18, who enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and is in basic training this summer.
To start Dough Bros, London and Leo developed a business plan, incorporated as an LLC and opened a bank account.
They wanted an official bakery stand and asked for help from their grandfather, who is a builder.
After assessing the construction costs, London and Leo raised the money for supplies by washing more cars. The brothers painted the stand after it was built.
Credit: spe
Credit: spe
A friend from their church assisted with the Dough Bros logo, and the brothers decided to include the Bible verse John 6:35 on their packaging to share their Christian faith.
They often have to tell customers that it says, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’”
Credit: spec
Credit: spec
The brothers also handle all pricing, preparation and inventory.
“It’s just blown me away at how organized they are,” said their mom. “And just how resourceful they are. They did all this on their own. They looked up all the information and pulled my husband and me in on their plans.”
The brothers run the bakery stand every other Saturday, which gives them plenty of time for other fun activities.
The Friday before the bake sale is their “struggle day,” said London. The boys are in the kitchen all day, typically producing 40 loaves of bread, 250 cookies and 250 muffins.
“We’re just running around baking and putting stuff in boxes, packages and labeling,” London said.
The boys had to learn how to make bread without a bread machine and then found a way to bake four loaves at a time to speed up the process.
Credit: spe
Credit: spe
Dough Bros sells big boules of sourdough bread and regular loaves of sandwich bread. Chocolate chip cookies and both the blueberry and banana muffins are usually sold by the dozen.
There were a few surprises with the bakery business.
The boys said they didn’t anticipate having to wake up early on Fridays and Saturdays, nor did they realize how much math would be involved.
“We really like baking and helping the community,” said Leo.
London said, “I like meeting people. I’m just enjoying people’s presence and talking.”
The brothers are already thinking about fall and including autumn flavors and spices like cinnamon and pumpkin into their offerings.
They keep their ideas in a binder where they write down their business plan.
The brothers are saving to purchase an enclosed golf cart so they can make deliveries in the neighborhood during the winter when it’s too cold to stand around outside.
They also want to turn the business into a storefront bakery.
FIND THEM
Dough Bros can be found at: www.instagram.com/doughbrosatl/
Prices are $10 for a loaf of sourdough bread, $10 for a dozen cookies or muffins and $8 for a loaf of sandwich bread.
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