Sourdough Side Hustle
“The right system makes such a difference. Cottage CMS takes so much of the order organization off my hands so I can spend more time baking and growing my business.”
The Story
Sourdough Side Hustle is a cottage microbakery in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, focused on long-fermented sourdough products. The business began when Donna baked fruit bread as a way to include fruit in the diet of a toddler who would not eat it. After two of her children were found to be gluten-sensitive, she began researching sourdough cultures and long fermentation as a more tolerable option. Gift loaves for coworkers led to paid orders, and a holiday-season layoff gave her the push to begin selling from home.
The Challenge
Before Cottage CMS, Donna used GoDaddy for her website. Its customer service and interface made bakery-specific changes time-consuming, while her growing business needed a simpler way to manage a weekly menu, customer communication, orders, and the preparation work behind each drop.
- Bakery-specific website changes were time-consuming
- Weekly menu and customer communication needed a clearer workflow
- Orders and preparation work needed to stay organized together
The Turning Point
Donna found Cottage CMS easy to move to. She imported her customer roster and sent her first order notification within hours. The platform gave her one place for the parts of the business that need to stay organized while she focuses on baking. She also values understanding how her website works so she can make changes as needed.
“The right system makes such a difference. Cottage CMS takes so much of the order organization off my hands so I can spend more time baking and growing my business.”
The Results
The professional, easy-to-order site has simplified order tracking and reporting. Donna reports that a typical week now includes around 40 customers and 80+ items, depending on the menu, while preset inventory and order scheduling, reporting exports, and prep lists support her weekly menu drops and order preparation.
Features That Made the Difference
Planner
Choose the products for each weekly drop before the two-day long-fermentation and final bake, package, and pickup cycle.
Preset inventory and order scheduling
Keep the weekly menu organized around regular staples and creative seasonal items.
Reporting and prep lists
Simplify order tracking and the preparation work behind each menu drop.
What They Tell Others
For a home baker balancing a weekly menu with production and pickup, the right system can remove much of the order organization and create more time to bake and grow.
Launch the storefront and workflows your local customers can come back to.
Start free and build the operating foundation behind your own story, just like Gaetana (Donna) Marable did.