How much does it cost to start up a bakery?

What's an estimate on how much it could cost me to start my own bakery?

• I'll be going to go to culinary school for pastry in 1 1/2 years, and after maybe a year or two working and learning under someone else, but right after that I want to get my own place. I'm not planning on building from the ground up, hopefully just renovating an old small restaurant or something like that. Of course I have no idea what that would cost, what new (or used if I can) equipment like industrial appliances could cost, the cost of buying ingredients in huge amounts, or what a certified cooking staff should be payed, what my taxes will be on the place. And can accountants help to figure out all these things, or are they really just for managing the business finances once the business is already up and running? I googled cost of starting a bakery and 2 or three results said I needed to have saved up or taken out a loan on at least $500,000, and one site said one million!! That's more than the average cost of buying a house, and I had expected at most somewhere around $100,000 and I'll accept it if its really more like $250,000 but $500,000??? Could I be 70 before I have that paid off?! And of course I have plans to save up for LIFE e.g. college/trust fund for any kids I might have, retirement. I don't want to get married and have kids until my bakery is up running and bringing in cash, but if that means taking out a crazy loan when small businesses are still on shaky ground as it is... I guess I'll just have to work under someoneone as the best pastry chef ever and just pray they decide to retire really early and give me thier bakery (sarcasm). I really really want to own my own bakery, and though my family would like to help, they really don't have the combined funds to give me the money to do this, and it doesn't seem fair to take from them anyway. By bakery I mean, cakes, other breads, specialty coffee and tea, and even some brunch items, and a few places for people to sit down and eat and not a cupcake or doughnut shop. I'm only 17, but I really can't stand to do anything without planning ahead of time, though Yes, I know things usually dont go as planned, but still it can't hurt, and Ive known what I wanted for a really long time. What are the real cost, and what am I missing here?

• Answer:

  You sound like my kind of girl :) You sound like me. I worked to have my business and be ready for marriage and babies first. Finding the right woman is the hardest part for me. There is no way to answer this question as there are literally a 1000 variables that need to be asked and answered before calculating anything. I can tell you if you found a place fully ready to operate and could lease everything in one payment (very unlikely and risky) you would need 3 years worth of rental expense in cash before even thinking of opening the door. No lender is going to finance this type of business under any circumstances.