B1 reading: From office to bakery

1 Three years ago, Pavel was working as an accountant in a large company. The money was good, but he was bored, and he spent every weekend doing what he really loved: baking bread. Today he owns a small bakery with four employees, and on Saturday mornings there is a queue outside the door.

2 The idea began with his friends. Every time Pavel brought bread to a party, people asked for more. Then a local café asked if he could make twenty loaves a week for them. "That was the moment I started to think it could be a business," he says.

3 He didn't leave his job immediately. For almost a year he baked at home in the evenings and sold bread to three cafés and at a weekend market. This helped him to find out what customers wanted and how much they would pay. It also showed him how hard the work was. "I was getting up at four on Saturdays and working until midnight on weekdays," he says. "My wife thought I had gone crazy."

4 When he was sure the business could work, Pavel left his job and rented a small shop with a kitchen. He used his savings and borrowed money from a bank. The first months were frightening. One of his ovens broke in the second week, and in winter there were days when he sold only half the bread he had made. He gave the rest to a local homeless shelter.

5 Pavel says his experience as an accountant has been extremely useful. "A lot of small businesses fail not because the product is bad, but because the owners don't understand their numbers," he says. "I check my costs every week."

6 His advice for anyone who wants to start a business is to test the idea first, while they still have a regular income. "Start small and learn from your customers. And be ready to work harder than you ever have."

7 Does he miss his old job? "Not for a second," he says. "I'm more tired, and I earn less than I did. But I'm doing something I love, and I can see the results every morning."