San Francisco baker encouraged by city's push to help small business
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sophia Smith owns Butter & Crumble, a bakery in San Francisco's North Beach. It has become a fan favorite with thousands of followers on social media.
Her entrepreneur's journey has not been quite as glamorous as she once imagined.
"I started renting unused kitchen spaces in bars and restaurants during the (pandemic) lockdown," Smith said. "So I got to pay them rent and I got to use all their equipment and everything without investing in my own, right off the bat."
Then Smith went to pastry school in Paris and, soon after, she decided to take a leap of faith by opening a storefront in San Francisco.
"I was not a traditional business structure in San Francisco eyes and they didn't really know where to put me as someone who is, like, operating in a full-time business inside of a shared space," Smith explained.
Smith says this miscommunication with the city caused delays and cost her thousands of dollars.
Now the city is trying to simplify regulations for small business owners.
On Thursday, Mayor London Breed signed two laws designed to help reduce some of the red tape that ties up businesses like Butter & Crumble.
"San Francisco in the past is, mostly, notorious for saying no ... Our new motto: How do we get to yes? ... How do we make it easier for people to set up shop like this and to thrive," Breed said at a news conference on Thursday.
Smith says there were helpful people from the city who helped her navigate the tricky business terrain. She says she's grateful for the continued support and is looking forward to the city's promise of making the process of opening storefronts easier for small businesses like hers.