Speaker Notes: Q3 Results, Northside Bakery Co.

Audience: 5-person board, quarterly review · Time: 12 minutes of talk + 5 minutes of Q&A · Core message: Q3 growth, led by wholesale, has outrun our kitchen's capacity, and $85K for a second oven and two bakers lets us keep growing into the holidays.

Assumption: I read "12 minutes plus 5 minutes for Q&A" as 12 minutes of speaking, with Q&A after. If the 12 minutes includes Q&A, trim Slides 4 and 6 first.

Timing Plan

Opening (word-for-word)

"Our weekend sourdough sold out 11 of 13 weeks this quarter. That's great news, and it's also a problem. Every one of those sellouts was a customer we sent home empty-handed, because our oven was already full. Today I'll walk you through a strong Q3, show you where wholesale is taking us, be straight about what's holding us back, and then ask for the one investment that fixes it."

(About 30 seconds. Say it with Slide 1 on screen.)

Slide-by-Slide Notes

Slide 1: Q3 Results – Northside Bakery Co. · ⏱ 0:30

• Key point: We had a strong quarter, and we've hit a ceiling.
• Say:
  • Deliver the opening above. No separate intro needed, since they know you.
• Cue: Make eye contact around the table before you start. [PAUSE] after "it's also a problem."
• Transition: "Here's how I'll lay it out."

Slide 2: Agenda · ⏱ 0:20

• Key point: I'm ending with a specific ask, so listen with that in mind.
• Say:
  • Results, what worked, challenges, then the ask.
  • "I'll be upfront: there's a budget request at the end. Everything before it is the case for it."
• Transition: "Let's start with the numbers."

Slide 3: Revenue, Margin, Wholesale Mix · ⏱ 2:00

• Key point: Revenue grew 18% in one quarter, and wholesale is now a major part of the business.
• Say:
  • $412K in revenue, up 18% on Q2. That puts Q2 at roughly $349K, so we added about $63K in a single quarter.
  • Gross margin held at 61%, which is roughly $251K of gross profit. We grew without giving away margin. [ADD: Q2 margin for comparison, if you have it]
  • Wholesale is now 40% of sales, about $165K of the $412K. Two out of every five dollars now come from café accounts, not our counter.
  • So what: we're becoming a two-engine business, retail and wholesale. Wholesale is steady, recurring volume, and it needs reliable production capacity.
• Cue: [SLOW DOWN] on the 18%. Let it land before moving on.
• Transition: "So what drove that growth?"

Slide 4: What Worked · ⏱ 2:00

• Key point: Our growth came from real demand. Customers want more than we can make.
• Say:
  • 3 new café wholesale accounts. [ADD: one line on who they are or how we won them, e.g. referral or tasting visit]
  • Weekend sourdough sold out 11 of 13 weeks. That's about 85% of weekends. It's a demand signal, and it's also lost sales. [ADD: rough loaves or dollars left on the table per sellout weekend, if you can estimate]
  • Elm St café opened Aug 12. (Assuming this is our own new location.) [ADD: a quick early result, e.g. first-month traffic or a regular who's already a fixture]
  • Tie it together: the sellouts and the new accounts are the same story. People want more bread than our kitchen can bake.
• Cue: [ASK THE ROOM] (optional, light touch): "Has anyone here tried to buy a loaf on a Saturday afternoon?"
• Transition: "And wholesale specifically is speeding up. Look at the monthly trend."

Slide 5: Chart: Wholesale Revenue by Month · ⏱ 1:30

• Key point: Wholesale nearly doubled from July to September.
• Say:
  • July $38K, August $52K, September $75K. That's $165K for the quarter, which matches the 40% on the results slide.
  • September is almost double July. August to September alone was a jump of about 44%.
  • This is the line that matters most for capacity. Wholesale orders are early-morning, fixed-schedule, and can't be missed.
  • [ADD: whether October is tracking above or below September, if you know]
• Cue: [POINT TO CHART] Trace the line from Jul to Sep with your hand.
• Transition: "That growth is exciting, but it's also where we're starting to strain."

Slide 6: Challenges · ⏱ 2:30

• Key point: Our bottleneck is capacity: people and oven time, not demand.
• Say:
  • Butter is up 22%. Margin still held at 61%, but this is a pressure to watch. [ADD: what you're doing about it, e.g. supplier talks, bulk buying, or pricing review]
  • The overnight shift is understaffed. Two people have quit since July. [ADD: how many people the shift normally has, so the board sees the size of the gap] Be honest about the risk: wholesale orders are baked overnight, so this shift is where our fastest-growing revenue is made.
  • The oven is at capacity on Fridays and Saturdays. This is why the sourdough sells out. It's a physical limit, not a planning problem.
  • So what: we can't grow wholesale or fix weekend sellouts by working harder. We've hit the ceiling of the kitchen we have.
• Cue: [SLOW DOWN] on the overnight shift. It's the most human point in the deck. Be direct, not alarmed.
• Transition: "Which brings me to what I'm asking for today."

Slide 7: The Ask · ⏱ 2:00

• Key point: $85K for a second deck oven and two bakers removes both bottlenecks at once.
• Say:
  • Say the number plainly: "I'm asking the board to approve $85K."
  • The oven solves the Fri/Sat capacity limit. The two bakers rebuild the overnight shift and s