— Patricia Fultz

So, you know, as the grocery market changes every day, the landscape of the grocery store changes every single day. So you have to think of your time and how valuable it is. Is it worth your time to drive seven miles to buy 12 cans of garbanzo beans because they're on sale? Or is it more convenient for you to go to your local grocery store and get them where they might be 25 cents more, but in the long run it comes out to be more reasonable? Are you buying whole seed? Do you go to a distributor? So there are all kinds of factors like that. So I'm gonna make it very simple. If I were making a dozen mighty muffins, uh, I would cost out my ingredients. So we'll do easy math here, and we'll say that my ingredients cost me $10, so I automatically have $20. And then you pay yourself a, uh, an hourly wage. So let's say that you're gonna, for doing easy math, uh, that you're gonna pay yourself $20, so that's $40. And then you have a delivery fee because your car does not run on, uh, solar energy all by itself. So let's say that it comes out to be $48. So you're going to charge, plus you're $48 to make. So I would charge, uh, doing the math in my head, but I would charge about, I know it's gonna be cheaper to make, when I make muffins for people, I charge, um, $4 a muffin. And, uh, that's $48 a dozen, which is a very reasonable fee because when you think of what things are like at, uh, the regular grocery store, um, people can come to your house or your facility to pick them up. So there isn't delivery fee, but you can't cut your self short because your work is very valuable. And it goes beyond cooking, it goes beyond, it goes beyond everything because you know so much about cooking plant-based and being able to provide the best food that you can. I have seen people charge $72 for a dozen muffins and not fat and high. So I think that you can't undersell yourself. And, um, it's interesting because I and a colleague recently had a discussion about, um, underselling, you always wanna feel your worth because when you don't feel your worth, it's very easy for anyone to become resentful that their work might be underappreciated without all of the love and affection that you put into your project. So I think, Patricia, that that is a beautiful question. And I, the other instructors and I often talk about that we really need to have some kind of a workshop or live event about how to set up a business, how to do a needs assessment. Um, you gonna rent a kitchen, does your town allow you to cook in your kitchen and et cetera, et cetera. Whatever you're doing. Best wishes. I hope everything turns out well. And I know that you'll make beautiful nutrient dense food for everyone.