We received so many letters asking us to tell them how we prepare gingerbread and teach us how to do it the same way, that we wanted to put together all the knowledge we had acquired over a long period of work.
Therefore, we announce the launch of our online school and invite you to take part in the first course, detailed information .

Attention: there is a lot of self-irony in the article;) All points of view expressed in the text are the author’s and do not pretend to be objective.

The Internet is now full of offers for making gingerbread cookies. self made(as a rule, we are talking about gingerbreads painted with glaze) from market giants like Tula gingerbread, from less large companies, positioning themselves as a specialized production (i.e., like us), from various kinds of confectionery shops that succumbed to the gingerbread revolution, and, finally, from a huge number of private craftsmen who spend the night painting hordes of snowmen and Christmas trees in their kitchens in the pre-New Year period (there are many of them on Crafts Fair and on Instagram).

Faced with a gingerbread souvenir for the first time, potential buyer, as a rule, is inspired - gingerbread cookies look very beautiful, unusual, fresh, and most importantly - made by hand, and this is still a trend.

What disappointments and, conversely, unexpectedly pleasant surprises await a consumer who decides to place an order for handmade gingerbread on the Internet?

Let's talk about the good stuff first;)

TOP 10 rave reviews:

1. Gingerbread cookies are very beautiful, is it possible to eat such beauty?!

2. I thought that gingerbread cookies were inedible, but they turned out to be delicious!

3. The gingerbread cookies are unexpectedly large; on the website they seemed much smaller, and in reality they look even better!

4. It turns out that you can make gingerbread in the shape of almost anything. We ordered our friends a copy of their home, it turned out very cool!

5. Gingerbread can be stored for a long time (up to six months) without special conditions.

6. Gingerbread is well transported, even to other cities and countries.

7. Gingerbread cookies can be hung on the Christmas tree and then eaten.

8. You can make gingerbread cookies in the form of wedding bonbonnieres and write the names of the guests on them.

9. Illuminated gingerbread houses are something unreal. My child was absolutely delighted!

10. We ordered for school and the question is who was more delighted - the children or the parent committee :).

And now about the negative. Listed below the most common criticisms of gingerbread(in fairness, we note that the criticism applies to many manufacturers):

1) Gingerbread cookies are very hard, stale, dried out, impossible to eat .

The remark is not entirely unfounded. Compared to our original Russian honey gingerbreads with filling, gingerbread with painted glaze can indeed be quite tough. Or rather, they are very dense and more like cookies than gingerbread. The fault here is partly the translation from English gingerbread - literally “ginger bread”, in Russian translation - gingerbread. At European and American Christmas markets, gingerbread and gingerbread houses are a traditional delicacy and decoration. And, believe me, they are almost made of stone. German lebkuchen does not seem to be intended for food at all. What is this connected with? The answer is simple - with the recipe. In order for the gingerbread cookies to hold their shape during baking and not spread, the dough should be quite tight. The icing on gingerbread is also very hard - essentially it is congealed egg white with sugar. BUT! This does not mean that gingerbread is inedible. Very edible, especially with tea;)

And, of course, there is one trick: to make the gingerbreads softer, place them in a tightly closed container along with a piece of bread and an orange peel... After a day, the gingerbreads will gain moisture and become softer!

2) The glaze colors the tongue! (“And in general, I thought that the yellow frosting was lemon, and the red frosting was strawberry...”)

For those who don't know - food coloring natural origin(like beet or cherry juice) cannot produce a bright, rich color. When painting gingerbread cookies (believe me, 90% of those on sale) artificial gels are used. food coloring. And yes, they color the tongue. By the way, bright mastic cakes or green or blue candies also color the tongue. Edible gouache also colors the tongue. But this does not mean that all these products are inedible.

To avoid staining your tongue, choose gingerbread cookies with white icing or check with the manufacturer about the origin of the dye. By the way, bright glaze with a fruity taste is in 99% of cases a dye plus an artificial flavor.

3) Why are gingerbread cookies so small?

Indeed, gingerbread cookies are usually quite short - about half a centimeter, and the size in width and length can reach 15 cm; with a larger size, gingerbread cookies very often crack. If you want to order a tall and large gingerbread, it is better to opt for gingerbread with filling. On our website we indicate the sizes of gingerbread cookies and gift sets on the individual page of each product.

4) Why are there no fillings in gingerbread cookies?

Because you obviously ordered gingerbread cookies, which don't have any filling.

5) Over time, the glaze fell off the gingerbread cookies.

This happens if you store gingerbread cookies in open and dry air - the culprit is the high dryness of the air. This often happens if the packaging is not airtight (although very beautiful).

6) Why is it so expensive?

A common complaint: “The gingerbread is only 10 cm in size, but costs 100 rubles, what kind of golden gingerbread is this, I can buy a whole kilogram in the store for 100 rubles?!” The reason for this “blatant injustice” is manual labor bakers, artists and packers. However, we note that some manufacturers sell gingerbread at a very high markup, even for a product with a high cost, such as handmade gingerbread. Often the price for the same gingerbread from different manufacturers can differ by 2-3 times. Is it really true that where it is more expensive, better and of higher quality, you need to understand each specific case, but in 50% of cases the inflated price compared to competitors is not justified in any way (competitors, if anything happens, forgive me! ;)).

7) Why such small discounts? We order 5 thousand gingerbread cookies, give us at least a 50% discount.

Making 10 different gingerbreads is indeed more difficult than 10 identical ones, but the difference between twenty and two thousand identical ones is not so obvious, because... Each gingerbread still does not draw itself. Moreover, for circulations of thousands, we even thought about making a markup, because... you need to have serious perseverance and an iron nervous system to spend 8 hours a week drawing identical snowmen or ducks.

8) Gingerbread cookies are not at all the same as on the website/photo.

9) I can make gingerbread cookies better myself.

Great! ;)

10) I gave gingerbread to my six-month-old child, and he developed an allergy, what do you put in gingerbread???

Please do not give gingerbread to small children - they contain spices, and the icing contains dry protein and dyes, which can cause allergies.

So, as you can see, everything depends on the expectations of the buyer, who is often confused about what product he is ordering.

To avoid disappointment from the purchase, check all the details with the manufacturers in advance.

For example, when placing an order at Cookie Craft, you can come and see/try samples of gingerbread in advance; the tasting is absolutely free.

We also want to say that when ordering handmade gingerbread from domestic producers, you give the opportunity to work for girls (and sometimes boys) artisans who love manual labor, try, give their best and are very happy when the customer is satisfied (and are sad if something goes wrong).

All the best and delicious (and beautiful) gingerbread!

Your Cookie Craft.

P.S. For those who are not accustomed to respecting copyright, any reprinting of this text or its excerpt is prohibited without the written permission of the project management.

Gingerbread is a flour confectionery that many people love. The sweet product is made from specially prepared dough.

We also produce gingerbreads with fillings - honey, nuts, etc. There are a huge number of lovers of sweet delicacies. That is why a business idea that involves the production of gingerbread is very successful.

Classification

Gingerbread products, which are currently produced in Russia, number more than a dozen types. The following gingerbreads are considered the most popular:

Glazed;
- Tula;
- decorated;
- with filling;
- classic.

Business idea

Cost-effective and very profitable is your own confectionery shop, whose main specialization is the production of gingerbread. To implement such a business idea, you will need initial starting capital, the sizes of which can vary from medium to large. At the first stage, it is important to choose the gingerbread recipe.

After all, the ability to produce a product that is unique and has a recognizable unsurpassed taste is the key to a leading position in this market. However, it is not always profitable to spend time searching for an individual recipe. Sometimes it is enough to use proven methods for preparing delicacies by organizing the production of the most popular types of gingerbread.

The recipe for a popular product can be easily found in the book. culinary recipes or read on various resources. Common ingredients are: wheat flour, sugar-containing raw materials (sugar, molasses, honey), fats, raising agents, various spices, and filling (jam, preserves).

Before mass introduction of a new recipe, trial batches should be made. Only when they have passed a successful “test” among acquaintances, friends and relatives, delicious sweets can be introduced into business.

Organizing your own business

A business involving the production of gingerbread cookies, and then their sale, requires renting premises for a production workshop. In addition, you will need to invest in the necessary equipment.

When opening own production There is a certain risk in someone else's premises. The lessor can terminate the contract at any time. In this case, insurance is necessary. The lease agreement should stipulate the exact terms of its validity, so that, if necessary, you can extra time for transportation of equipment to the new workshop.

Sales

The demand for gingerbread products does not tend to decrease over time. On the contrary, there are more and more lovers of the sweet product, which is a traditional delicacy in Rus'. That is why there is no need to worry about how to sell finished products.

The main channels for selling not only gingerbread, but also any confectionery are retail outlets specializing in sales food products. Sweets can be sold in small kiosks selling bakery products, as well as in grocery stores and supermarkets, grocery stores and at market stalls. Wholesale buyers will also be interested in the product.

For successful business Any distribution channel option will be good, because gingerbread is an extremely popular product. In this case, the reputation of the company will be an important success factor. The tastier the gingerbread is, the more success you will achieve in your business.

Equipment

The gingerbread production technology, regardless of the recipe used, consists of several stages. Initially, the dough is kneaded. After this, the filling is made. The next stages are the formation of gingerbread, baking the product, cooling and packaging.

Equipment for the production of gingerbread is:
- dough mixer;
- utensils for preparing filling and syrup;
- digester;
- jigging machine;
- bake;
- coating drum;
- glazing machine;
- packaging line.

In addition to the above, there is also additional equipment. It can be purchased or rented. Additional equipment is ventilation system, transport and a variety of small equipment. In addition, you will need special clothing for staff.

Before purchasing the raw materials from which the sweet product will be produced, as well as necessary equipment, you will need to correlate your financial capabilities with the assortment list, distribution channels, as well as the size of the rented premises. You also need advice from an experienced specialist who can give advice and recommendations on business planning. You need to approach the matter professionally, without relying on luck or luck.

Business costs

To open a gingerbread production, investments will be required, the amount of which will be approximately three million rubles. The amount is quite large, but if invested wisely, it will bring decent dividends. Initial capital will be required for:

Purchase of equipment;
- renovation of premises;
- purchase of raw materials;
- purchase of additional equipment;
- recruitment;
- office equipment;
- payment for consultations and services of lawyers and technologists;
- registration of the organization.

With such an investment, productivity technological line in one shift will be five hundred kilograms finished products. With uninterrupted sales of confectionery products financial investments will pay for itself in one and a half to two years.

Before pregnancy, she worked at the Jaguar/Land Rover service center as a service coordinator, and now bakes and sells gingerbread.

START. When Anya was expecting a child, her husband died. The idea of ​​an ideal family has collapsed. Anya needed an activity in which she could express herself. This is how the idea of ​​getting into cooking came up - making gingerbread.

Several months passed from concept to implementation. Anna baked her first gingerbread cookies when her son Seryozha was three months old - now he is almost six months old.

COOKING. Zakharenko tried several dough recipes found on the Internet. I settled on the one that I liked the most in taste. It contains honey, butter, cinnamon, ginger, egg, flour and sugar.

The dyes used are imported; when painting, they do not spoil the taste of gingerbread.

Painting is done using glaze. Anya cooks it herself. Working with icing is the most painstaking: you need to carefully apply the design, there is no room for error, otherwise the gingerbread will be ruined. If Anya applies decorations or letters made from glaze of a different color to a layer of glaze of one color, she first waits for the base to dry. The drying process of all layers lasts 12-14 hours.

Because of this, a lot of surfaces are required on which the gingerbread can lie. Therefore, Anya Zakharenko’s family allocated the largest room for her to work. There are several tables and shelves in it.

Price. Depends on the size and complexity of the design. The smallest cost 40-50 rubles, the largest - 300 rubles. You can buy a set, for example, an Easter set costs 600 rubles.

BUSINESS. Anya Zakharenko makes gingerbreads by hand, traditional forms It is not used for cutting out dough. Her assortment includes gingerbread cookies in the form of an emblem football clubs, strollers, bottles and pacifiers, cars, bees, tulips. The novice pastry chef posted photos of gingerbread cookies on social media. Instagram network. There her friends and colleagues saw these photographs. They were the first clients.

Anya asks clients to place orders two days in advance. Usually gingerbread is ordered for birthdays, Easter, March 8 and February 23, and weddings. The author thinks through the design of future products, bakes and paints them. All this time, her mother is babysitting Anya’s son, Seryozha.

“Sometimes I get so caught up in work that I forget about food. I remember only when my mother reminds me that I need to eat so that I have milk to feed my son,” says Zakharenko.

The whole family participates in making gingerbread. Dad goes grocery shopping with Anya, mom babysits Seryozha and sometimes delivers orders to customers.

Gallery__________________

"Mom scolds me for low prices. But I don’t want to bully them for more revenue,” the girl notes. The cost of her gingerbreads is really lower than the market price.

Anya earns an average of 25-30 thousand rubles a month from gingerbread. The maximum so far is about 45 thousand rubles, which fell on the celebration of Valentine's Day and February 23. This is pure profit. In addition, she spends an average of about 30 thousand rubles on ingredients.

Now the young mother is thinking about staying in business after her maternity leave. “I would really like to open my own confectionery shop, where everyone could buy my gingerbread cookies. There is something to work on,” says Anya.

A new tradition - painted gingerbread gifts as gifts - is gaining popularity in Russia. Tula entrepreneur Elena Nikishova decided to build her own business in the production and sale of beautiful and sweet delicacies.

Elena's story is similar to thousands of others. After the birth of her second child, she went to maternity leave, and when it was time to go to work, it turned out that there was actually nowhere to go - her company had closed. After being unemployed for a couple of months, Elena came to the conclusion that she needed to start her own business. But which one? And then a chance came up: when she came to her friends’ birthday, she received a beautifully packaged colorful gingerbread in the shape of a flower as a gift. When asked where they got these, they explained to her that they ordered them from a master and that this pleasure was not cheap. Elena decided to learn how to bake these gingerbread cookies.

“I found out where they teach the skill of baking gingerbread,” says Elena. “I went to 10 classes in Moscow. My husband had to fork out for it. But they taught me everything: how to select ingredients for the dough, what to make icing from, how to paint gingerbread cookies and even how to make They are voluminous figures like gingerbread houses. In principle, for any woman who knows how to cook and operate an oven, there is nothing too complicated.”

The first orders, as always happens, were distributed among relatives and friends. Over the course of two months, Elena “trained herself” and earned an image among potential clients. She didn’t have to buy any special equipment. She already had a high-quality oven. The only thing that had to be redone was one of the kitchen cabinets - for a drying rack for gingerbread cookies. And, of course, buy various baking dishes, as well as a syringe for applying glaze. Soon real orders began to arrive. That's fifty "strawberries" for children's party, then “cars” with a logo for a corporate event.

“I started selling my gingerbread cookies for real in the spring of 2015,” recalls Elena. “It was just on the eve of Easter. I was asked to make gingerbread cookies in the form easter eggs, Easter cakes, Easter bunnies and chickens. She baked during the day and painted gingerbread cookies at night. I was tired. But in the end, it turned out that I earned about 40 thousand rubles. And after that, after weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to register an individual entrepreneur."

Why IP? Elena thought that it would be much more profitable: there was less reporting, fixed taxes, and there was no need to collect a lot of documents for opening, and it all cost 800 rubles. Mom is an accountant and helps with reporting. So, since July 2015, her micro-enterprise has been operating at full capacity. Income has become quite stable. Elena did not give any additional advertising: she relied on word of mouth, plus social media, in which her friends played the role of advertising agents.

All production is located in the kitchen - so there is no rent or additional costs.

The smallest Elena gingerbread costs 30 rubles, the largest and painted one can cost 1000 or more. Gingerbread houses already cost 1,500-2,000 rubles. Elena sets prices herself, but with an eye on competitors, of which quite a lot have appeared in Tula this year alone.

“A separate topic,” shares Elena, “is the production of glaze. “At first I tried standard recipes from powdered sugar and proteins, plus dyes. But there were a lot of problems with it. Sometimes the paint doesn’t fit right, sometimes it drips, sometimes it hardens unsightly, sometimes it breaks.” Therefore, I switched to using ready-made sugar-protein icing, made in Italy. I have to go to Moscow for it, but it is much more effective and reliable. I buy spices in bulk there, because real gingerbread uses cloves in addition to ginger. , cinnamon, anise, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg, pepper, dill, orange peel (bitter orange), ground bitter almonds, lemon, mint, vanilla, cumin, salt and definitely honey. I also buy transparent packaging, satin ribbons, in bulk. boxes for packing sets and constantly buying new interesting cuttings for figures.”

Business woman success stories

Victoria Bredis: how to sell through Instagram

18 min

18 min

Text: Maria Ovseets

Victoria Bredis

Production and sale of gingerbread

City: Moscow

Age: 34 years old

Marital status: married, three children

In business: since 2011

Business details:

Turnover per month: from 200,000 to 500,000 rubles

(depending on the season)

Net profit: from 100,000 to 300,000 rubles

About business

We sell roe deer. To put it simply, these are gingerbread cookies. Kozulya - originally Arkhangelsk

a delicacy, the northerners gave it for Christmas and the second, almost forgotten holiday, grouse. Most

A popular figure for gingerbread was a deer, which in the north symbolized the Sun, life and warmth. It is not known exactly how the name “Kozulya” appeared. Either the deer transformed over time into a “goat”, or the word was formed from the verb “goat”, which meant: joke, laugh.

Path to business

The idea to make gingerbread was born by accident. It wasn’t like I worked for hire all my life, and then suddenly decided that I wanted to open my own business. I decided to give the children New Year gingerbread cookies, but the master from whom I wanted to buy them no longer accepted orders for the holidays. Even though it was only November. I was pregnant: for me this is a period of inspiration and euphoria. Being in such an elated state, I decided to get creative and bake gingerbread cookies myself. Now I look at the photographs of the first works and understand that the products were crooked and not very beautiful. But then I was very proud of myself. I made gingerbread for the first time. With my own hands.

At that time, my husband and I just went to Europe, and there I saw a store with molds. I bought a whole suitcase. My husband didn’t understand why I was doing this. He didn’t see me in creativity and was sure that I wouldn’t do it seriously.

But gradually there were more orders. I was on maternity leave and could easily afford to devote time to baking. And at Easter I earned 17,000 rubles in 2 weeks. Then it dawned on me: this is more than I get for a month of work in government agencies. The realization came that if you continue to do this, you can make very good money. And the craving for creativity was much greater than for paperwork. After maternity leave, I did not return to my previous job. I was very pleased to go into creativity. This is what I was missing in my life.

Entrepreneur Victoria Bredis and Womenbz journalist Maria Ovseets

Somehow I didn’t promote my account on purpose. Word of mouth probably worked

»

Opening a confectionery shop

I tried to open a pastry shop, but nothing good came of it. 2 people came to me and said: “Why are you baking such beauty alone at home? Let's open a pastry shop together. you will general director" Well, who would refuse such a position?

But everything turned out to be not as rosy as it seemed at first glance. The partners did not understand anything about gingerbread. They focused on the location of the confectionery and the convenience of work. And the emphasis had to be on the people who worked there. Because gingerbread is created by hands, not by the walls of a pastry shop. As a result, the work was organized ineffectively. Now, together with my assistant, we make more gingerbread cookies per day than a team of 7 people did back then. I decided to drink one tea, smoke a second - work stopped. Everyone needs to be controlled and forced to work. People want money, but they don’t want to work.

Interview

We still bake gingerbread cookies in a regular oven, which every family has.

»

The second side is paper. At some point I went into creativity so as not to do tedious paperwork, but in the end I returned to the same thing. I spent 80% of my time on bureaucratic processes: deciding something, signing something.

In the end I left. And the man who took over the post of CEO fired the best gingerbread baker because of a personal conflict. And I was happy. Because it was on Nastya that I pinned big plans. And now we have been working together at my home for 2 years. She has a piece rate: 30% of revenue.

Work from home

At the initial stage, working from home is quite possible. You don’t need to buy any specific equipment: you can get by with homemade equipment. We still bake gingerbread cookies in a regular oven, which every family has. From professional equipment We only use a dough mixer. The volumes have grown greatly, and it has become difficult to knead the dough by hand. There are two refrigerators. We store dough supplies in them so that we don’t have to do it every day.

The molds were initially standard. Now 90% of forms are customer orders. We bend them ourselves from perforated tape. For example, we ordered a gingerbread in the shape of an astronaut with a flag. Of course, you won't find this form anywhere. You can cut out the dough by hand. But if you need 200 gingerbreads, you will be tired of doing it. My whole house is littered with forms. There are definitely 400 pieces accumulated, if not more.

We work very hard. Our working day lasts 15-18 hours. We are very tired. And I would be glad to find additional “hands”. But, unfortunately, the space in the kitchen does not allow hiring employees. Everything is lined with shelves on which gingerbreads are dried. And our apartment has long ceased to be a home. Real production workshop. Fortunately, in May 2017 we will receive the keys to the premises we bought to set up a bakery there. And then I can hire people.

We do not have our own courier. I am quite satisfied with the Dostavista service. There are couriers on foot who handle products very carefully and deliver orders to customers safe and sound.

Recipe

In the basic recipe we do not use honey, nuts or chocolate. These are products that are strong allergens, especially for children. Therefore, it is better to avoid them in the database. Our dough is spicy caramel. But if you wish, you can add honey, chocolate, vanilla, and much more to it. Huge number variations of tastes. It all depends on the wishes of the client.

The glaze is store-bought. The formula we buy contains dry processed protein. We do not work with raw protein. This is also the moment that mothers are very worried about. We buy the mixture ready-made: it saves a lot of time. Buying ingredients separately, weighing, mixing, waiting several hours for the protein to swell is a waste of time if the volumes are large.

Gingerbread is a very easy product to prepare. All ingredients can be purchased at your nearest supermarket. Due to the large volumes, of course, we buy everything in bulk. Sugar, flour, eggs - in METRO Cash and Carry. Farmer's oil - from the manufacturer.

Corporate clients

Now we work more with corporate clients, Certainly. Sberbank, Russian Railways and others. I didn't purposefully look for them. They come after personal orders: they bought gingerbread for a child’s birthday, and now they have decided to make sets for the company for the holiday. We do not accept individual orders for the New Year at all.

What is a private order? 10 gingerbread cookies of different colors and shapes: here write “best grandmother”, and on this one - “beloved mother”. But in a corporate order everything is simple: we need 200 pieces, please, red and white. This is the form. And, of course, it is less labor intensive.

We recently had an order: 30 figures for a cake. And we made them all day, because they are all different in color and shape. And the day before, a corporate order, 200 gingerbread cookies, was prepared in 4 hours. That's the time difference. The largest order we completed was 630 gingerbread cookies per day.

There will be difficulties in any business. We have to accept it

»

Competitors

It seems like a lot of people are into gingerbread. But in reality, demand greatly exceeds supply. Especially on New Year and Easter. This is the time when everything is sold out: crooked, askew - it doesn’t matter. Therefore, this period is a great time to start. Whatever you do, sell it. Plus, you will understand at what speed you can work and whether you are ready to devote a lot of time to it, and whether it will get boring.

I treat my competitors well. For me, gingerbread makers are not even competitors, but close people. Some kind of community. I myself conduct master classes in Moscow and other cities. And this also brings good income. For example, in the summer, when the demand for gingerbread is low, the profit from master classes can reach up to 60% of my earnings.

Interview

Difficulty communicating with clients

There are different people. One day they ordered more than 300 gingerbread sets from us. They were packed in boxes. The client said that such boxes were not suitable for her and asked to be repacked into small ones. I tried to explain that it would look bad in them, but she insisted. When we started collecting new boxes, I realized that we couldn’t waste time on this. I called and said that I would return the prepayment and that we would not redo it. She did not agree, asked to give them blanks of small boxes and decided to assemble them herself. After 2 days he calls and says: “We don’t like the way the gingerbread cookies look in these boxes. Let's go back to the original version. The gingerbread really looked better there.”

I was ready to explode at that moment: I explained from the very beginning that it would be bad in small boxes. And because of her stubbornness, we spent a lot of time and have to spend more on repackaging. But she restrained herself. We got the job done.

Whatever the client, you need to control your emotions and communicate respectfully. And treat these problems as a given. There will be difficulties in any business. We must accept this.

Fortunately, my husband took care of the children.

»

Family and business

For some time, my relatives did not accept my case. My parents didn’t understand how I could exchange my job in a government agency for some gingerbread. They were worried that I wasn’t earning anything. They asked how much money I received, but I didn’t know. Because I didn’t count anything.

Dad said that we need to save money: “Let’s give it to me for safekeeping, it will be safer.” I had a lot of master classes back then. And I gave all the money I earned from them to my parents. And at some point my father called and said: “Vika, you gave me more than 400,000 thousand rubles in a month.” He was surprised. And, probably, only at that moment the parents realized that this was really a job, and not just a hobby.

I work very hard. And I can only devote Sunday to my children. Fortunately, my husband took care of them. We have been working towards this for a very long time. For a year and a half I asked him not to work. Of course, for him, as a man, it was hard to accept that I would earn money, and he would take care of the children. But it was better for everyone: for me, for him, and for the children.

I get very nervous when communicating with children; upbringing is not my thing. The child cannot solve the example, I begin to feel uncomfortable, I rush him: I don’t have much time. And my husband takes this very calmly. He has a real gift - he is an amazing teacher by nature. And it was he who provided our children with the best childhood.

They go to a bunch of classes: dancing, swimming, ceramics, drawing, sculpting. Youngest son I went to first grade at the Bauman Lyceum with a mathematical focus, and everything was already easy for him there, because he had gone far ahead in his knowledge. And all thanks to dad. Daughter Lera acted in films. In the film "Christmas Trees", for example.

Victoria Bredis, entrepreneur

In gingerbread, as in any business, experience is important. We have to work hard. Don't take on difficult things right away. When something doesn't work out, rejection sets in and there's a good chance you'll just quit. We need to start simple. And when you realize that this simple thing is not enough, you will grow.

It is impossible to conduct business without mistakes. Any experience is always good. We must treat this adequately.

Do your business responsibly. Only in this case will you achieve success. My children, for example, ended up in the hospital. But I couldn’t quit work at that moment and tell the clients: sorry, I didn’t complete the order. I understood that no one would do my work for me. And my husband went to the hospital with the children. Support from loved ones is very important, of course.