Is it Really About the Cinnamon Rolls?

Yes, this is a rare mid-week blog post but there's something you need to know about me: I LOVE Cinnamon Rolls. It's the flaky pastry, the gooey cinnamon and the glaze. David Portnoy has his pizza and his One Bite Reviews (everyone knows the rules). I have my cinnamon rolls (sans the reviews). The problem is I'm also a connoisseur of hamburgers, bread pudding, and breakfast burritos. My waistline reflects these and now I'm completely off topic. I'm also hungry. Mmmmm.... cinnamon rolls.

Back on track. It's not about the cinnamon rolls. Here's the backstory:

I was aimlessly scrolling Facebook and came across a local group that touted lines to a new bakery nearby in Fairfax, VA called Just Baked Bakery. Someone had dropped a picture of a long line going into this new bakery. What's the big hubbub about? Well, this morning, my schedule got rearranged for me and that opened a small window of time to check it out.

Picture this. Their front door is open. I can barely make out maybe 10-15 people on the inside. There's a line that goes out the door and eventually stretched 2-3 dozen deep down the plaza inside this open air shopping center. I'm maybe number seven or eight in line. I saw that they opened at 8am. I got there at 8:05am.

Upon getting in line, nobody is being served. People are talking to each other. There are two kids running around with their kickballs bouncing them off curbs and windows. There's a free-range poodle milling about being friendly. The lights were out, despite people being on the inside. And there was a buzz in there air. Why did I want to go? I didn't know what they had. I'd be happy with anything. I saw the buzz online and now I'm seeing it in person.

I strike up a convo with the lady behind me. This was her first time here, and like me, she saw a post on Facebook and was just as curious. Then I started talking to the person in front of me. He told me that he called in an order yesterday for family cinnamon rolls, 7 of them. Who does that? Well I guess he did, and upon hearing that guy speak, there was a dad in line in front of him who said he also had to reserve ahead of time and was told to come in before 8am to pick it up. I was approaching 8:35 by this point and we hadn't moved. My heart sank. Did I have to reserve a cinnamon roll? I resigned to the possibility that it was by reservation only and determined to make the best of it.

Suddenly, the line moved...a foot. There was movement on the inside. Turned out they offered free coffee to the first few visitors. A customer walked out with to-go boxes and the air pushed out the door was thick with the smell of cinnamon. The buzz grew, and without any exaggeration that milling dog started barking and ran after another dog on a leash. The owner, dressed in a chef outfit, comes running out and grabs his dog and brings it inside the bakery. Yea, not the best based on my knowledge of food safety and inspection reports but this just added to the magic. The line moved forward and the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls grew stronger and then I heard something from the inside....it was Ozzy Osbourne and "No More Tears". Wait, what?

As I rounded into the front door I can see a completely empty display case with no baked goods. Something was baking and so I mentioned to the lady behind me, "They're sold out already!". She said "no", that for today only they're offering free cinnamon rolls for the dads and free cookies for the kids, and extra for purchase should you want more. Woah! Does this mean I get a free cinnamon roll?

I get to the front of the line. The dog returns to tap the foot of the lady in front of me, as if to say, "hey, its your turn to pet me" and she retrieves her stack of cinnamon rolls. Seeing German and American flags in his store, I gambled and ordered in German, "nur einen, bitte". Turns out the owner's name is Max. Max's eyes lit up and replied in English, "just one?". "Just one" was my reply. I peered into their back kitchen and they were rolling more cinnamon rolls to bake and they only had maybe a dozen left. I'll come back for my family another day. I offered to pay and he declined and said "Happy Fathers Day".

There was a cleaning client I needed to quickly check on and in my short 15 minute commute, I was able to slowly unroll that very warm cinnamon roll and savor it one bite at a time. In Portnoy-speak, it would easily be a 8.7 (because there are almost no scores above a 9 and a round score means you're an amateur). It truly was an amazing cinnamon roll. It was amazing because of the vibe, because it was free, and because of the owner. It was definitely a great thing and I will be back.

What does this have to do with running a cleaning business? Everything.

Anyone can create a delicious cinnamon roll. But not many can create a cinnamon roll with a buzz and a vibe around it like Max and Just Baked Bakery. Their website, as of this post, is still under construction. I didn't see a social media presence. There was a dog running loose. The "Prince of Darkness" was blaring on the speakers on a Sunday morning on Fathers Day. We had to wait in a long line and some of them had to wait more than an hour after their promised pickup time for their cinnamon rolls. On that front, they only offered 2 items: cinnamon rolls and cookies. If you wanted a croissant, you were out of luck. This business did everything wrong, but yet it was so right. 

As cleaners, what are we doing to create a buzz around our business? There are dozens of bakeries in our area but none of them have a line out the door. They're so polished and some offer amazing food. It's not about the cinnamon rolls. It's about the community. What are you doing to foster community in your cleaning business? How are you getting your clients to talk about you to each other? What are you doing to create an experience? Where is your tribe?

Happy Fathers Day, BTW!

Photo Credit: their Google Profile