After you sign your franchise agreement, you begin working closely with one of our Training and Development Specialists. Their role is to help you step-by-step with all aspects of opening a strong and exciting bakery. You will spend a great deal of time with him or her on the telephone going through checklist after checklist to make sure you have everything in place before opening day.

We want you to benefit from our knowledge of opening bakeries for over thirty years, so he or she will help you with the do's and don'ts of running a retail operation. Some of the things may not make sense at first. This is where we ask you to trust us. We've seen what works and what doesn't. You are paying for the benefit of learning from other people's mistakes, so please take advantage of this.

One of the first things After you have a signed Franchise Agreement you'll be given access to our internal intranet, “The Breadboard†which contains all of our proprietary information. Initially, you'll be working with your Location Hunter and Training and Development Specialist. They'll guide you through The Breadboard and walk you through the steps for getting your bakery opened. The Breadboard is the foundation of our Learning Community. You can post ideas or questions and receive a response from our bakery owners or the Dillon staff.

You know the saying -- "Location, Location, Location!" We are very passionate about helping you find a good location within your community. The Location Hunting Guide and a Site Selection expert will walk you through the process.

We will ask you to do some preliminary research before we schedule a trip to your community. Our Site Selection expert will evaluate the locations you have selected and provide you with feedback on the pros and cons of each location. He will provide a financial analysis to help you analyze the costs associated with that particular location and draft Letters of Intent for promising locations. Our Site Selection experts will help review your lease and make suggestions as you negotiate with landlords. With that said, before you sign a lease we strongly encourage you to have an attorney review it.

Listen to this interview with Mike Ferretti, Great Harvest CEO, about the Site Selection process.

You will be working closely with your Training and Development Specialist to determine the best time for you to attend your required training. Ideally, you will attend around the time you sign a lease.

Dillon Learning Week and Sandwich School: You will all attend Dillon Learning Week and Sandwich School at the headquarters in Dillon, Montana, where you will be joined by a group of new franchisees just like yourself. This 8 day training provides you with an operations overview for opening a bakery. Many long-term friendships develop by the end of the week. Topics include accounting, wheat, marketing, inventory management, sandwich production and hiring great people for your bakery. You will spend time in our test bakery learning to successfully manage and execute the sandwich product line from day one. You even get to help the Dillon staff make and sell bread as a fundraiser for a local non-profit organization.

Bread Week: At least one person will spend another week in Dillon for “Bread Week Training.†Bread Week is five days of intense, hands-on, one-on-one training with one of our experienced bakers. The purpose of this training is for you to become comfortable and proficient in making bread, cookies, muffins and scones. By the end of the week, you should be a pro at making Great Harvest products!

Host Bakery Training: At least one person will attend three-days of hands-on training in a bakery of our choice. You will get a glimpse of what it is like to live the life of a Great Harvest bakery owner -- baking bread, serving customers, and observing the operations of the bakery. This training should also be the most fun part of your start-up experience. You will form relationships and friendships you can draw on later as you become more active in the Learning Community.

We have set training schedules (currently every other month) for each week of training, except Host Bakery Training. While this may look like you will be spending a great deal of time away from your family, we have found this training to be invaluable when you are ready to open your bakery's doors.

One of the most important things we hope you learn during your bakery training is that Great Harvest bakeries don't have to be clones of one another to be successful. Many people find this a big surprise at first. New owners always want to know, "Who is right?" We'll make strong recommendations on the best way for you to build your business. That said, you will be exposed to many different business ideas. You can choose to implement the ideas you like best. The way we see it, diversity is strength, not a weakness. And thanks to the freedom that Great Harvest bakery owners enjoy, the new ideas of today often lead to the innovations of tomorrow.

Listen to this interview with Janet Tatarka, Director of Franchise Services, about all the training systems for new bakery owners.

Armed with your bakery training, you begin searching for equipment and fine-tuning your marketing plan. With a signed lease, major equipment in hand - an oven, a mixer, and mill - we're between two and three months from opening day. We design your layout together. The equipment search is narrowed to a short list of hard-to-find items. With your Training Specialist's help, you set a work timetable, listing what to do yourself and what to contract out. Heavy destruction and reconstruction begins.

This is the time to buy insurance, get a phone installed, and get to know your Health Department. The exterior signage is designed. Your storefront features a "Coming Soon" banner and a big poster hangs in your window explaining who you are and what Great Harvest is all about. Pre-opening and opening promotion is planned and started.

You are getting close to opening day.

Step 7: Open Bakery