I am starting to look more seriously into making my fun cake decorating hobby into a business. I just completed my third successful wedding cake with many pleased people especially at this last wedding.

I am only concerned with the economy. Should I be concerned with stepping out into this venture? I know people will get married regardless of the economy. However, the economy may dictate there wedding budget. How many people could actually pay for the 5 tier wedding cake I just did?

Thanks for any input.

Desiree

i'm having more business than last year.

i went out to lunch with my son today, i told him last year when the tulsa fair came to town...i had crickets chirping and tumbleweeds blowing thru...

this year i sold every crumb i had in the shop, and had to turn people away.

he thinks since people are trying to save money this year, they skipped the fair, and decided to have fun at home, hence the big sales in cakes this year....makes sense to me.

My wedding-cake-only sales have tripled over last year's numbers. Last year, cake-only was about 5.7% ... this year it's over 17% of total sales.

Overall cake and catering combined is up 14% over last year. This shows me that not only is my cake-only sales up, but so is my catering sales.

When I add in the cookies, my grand total sales are up 40% over last year.

When I say "over last year", that means sales are higher at this point in time, than what I did in ALL of last year ... and I have 3 months to go in the current year.

About 3 weeks ago, I booked one of my biggest wedding caterings .... almost $8000.... and it's in a month that is usually a big zero-sales month for me, so that's pretty exciting!

It's not because I live in a large city ... the $8000 bride is from a small town that's over an hour away.

I think people will put off buying that bigger house or that new car (hubby works in a car dealership, so I know the part about the car seems to be ringing pretty true!), but a special occasion celebration is SPECIAL ... they may cut back a little on what they were going to spend ... but they're still having the wedding, the reception, the wedding cake. Their kid will still turn 5 ... they may forego the $800 bouncy castle, but they'll still have a cake.

If I were you guys I would be careful....do a little extra thinking before starting a business. Things down in the U.S. are probably going to get worse before they get better. Watch....see where economy goes in the next few months.

You ROCK indeydeb!

I can see people everywhere cutting back on a lot. However, special occasions and big-ticket once-in-a-lifetime events are still big $penders!

Here's another similar thread: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-604672-baby.html

(Crickets and tumbleweeds! )

I would not be too worried. It's not uncommon for sales to rise during hard times.
During the Great Depression, chocolate and confectionary sales went through the roof. It's an affordable luxury compared to so many other things. "I can afford a new car, but I can afford this box of artisan chocolate!"

A lot of people made their fortune during the depression.

This year has been very good for me. However, I am worried about what's coming for 2009.

While I've booked just over 20 events for next year, I've received 2 cancellations and 3 change-of-orders (all downsizing) in the last 3 or so months. (I had 1 cancellation this year and 1 last by comparison.)

I think wedding budgets in particular will change for 2009 - in some cases pretty dramatically. While most people who plan on getting married will continue to do so, they will be downsizing their celebrations.

I'm anxiously waiting for December, when the crop of newly engaged starts planning their weddings to see how the bridal community is really responding to the economy.

I'm in the same boat as IndyDeb....my sales have about tripled this year from last year. I have RAISED my prices 2 times this past year with the cost of my ingredients....and none of my customers have blinked an eye and the orders continue to come in each week.....with new customers all the time. It has just blown me away at how busy it's been. I know it can be scary with starting out a new business....but do the homework and check out your competition and market in your area. Some of us have had our business for a number of years and have established our customer base as well. But for now....I have already almost booked completely full for April, May, June of 2009.

Not worried yet, I guess just wait and watch.

My business has gone through the roof the last couple of months, I interviewed 3 people today to hire part time. Can only hire one of the 3 unfortunatly but this is in addition to my regular assistant. I have 2 weddings this weekend, 3 the weekend after...........and hold onto you spatulas everyone becuase the holidays are right around the corner. My feet hurt so bad tonight I can't even tell you Even my Nike Shocks didn't help me today

My special occasion orders are a lot higher than my wedding orders right now. Business is staying pretty consistant for me. Some weeks are better than others but I'm not without orders every week.

My student counts are through the roof this month.

I am teaching 7 courses and all of them are almost full or already full with registrations defaulting to November courses. October is usually a very slow month for classes at our store too.

I asked both classes today what made them want to take the class and they all said "the economy! We want to do this so we don't have to pay baker costs!" That's been the trend the last 2 months for the reason as well.

If you think about it I have almost 70 students this month! That's a HUGE amount of students in a single month for me to be teaching.

My business has been put on hold for a few years so I've been referring them to other places around town.

It kinda sucks here......rofl.....

I have them all going to WM, 15miles from me......they will pay for their frozen slabs, but not a fresh one from me. Oh, well......

I am just doing whatever......I have one, 1 cupcake order for October. That is it. Sigh....can not compete with the grocery store bakeries....am not going to!

I had a horribly slow summer...I think I donated more than I made--and I mean to rent, advertising...Ha! I seem to get my orders on Mondays for the next weekend. I have about 3 weddings booked--one in December and 2 for next year.

We have a wedding showcase in January so I am renting a booth.

I'm just as busy as ever, but people are ordering cakes within a lower price range. I quote $80 and they ask what I can do for $60. Not unexpected, we're all tightening our belts. I think things will ease up though, once everyone adjusts to living a little more frugally. We've been through these sorts of times before (remember the 70s!!).

There was a segment on Fox on Sunday about the surge in business in the U.S. for fast food and comfort foods. They say it happens during tough economic times. We all seek a little comfort, even if it is from a piece of cake (lucky us!) .

I think the people that buy high end cakes on a regular basis will continue to do so.

I heard a staggering number on Friday............for the Month of Sept. 159,000 people lost their jobs in the US Highest number in years for one month. That's pretty scary, it's hard to ignore that statistic.

This hasn't even BEGUN to hit us yet.
This is nothing compared to the fuel shortage of the 70s. This is a different animal, no matter what FOX news tells you

I am going to let you all in on a little insight that I have received from my husband (he can be a little extreme and reads hours on end about what is going on here and elsewhere). The economy is going to pot. The question is not if we WILL crash, it is when and how hard!

We have already started the downward trend and it is going to get worse. However, there is good news for us...as stated before, goodies and comfort foods sell out the wazoo during hard times. The trick will be finding our ingredients and supplies. If you make it, you will be able to sell it (or trade for other needed things). During the Depression, there was no shortage on what a few baked goods could do for a family! I am hoping that things don't get as bad as they seem, but it is a scary path that this country has been following. All we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best!

Keep Baking - sorry to be so negative, but really, is there anything positive about our economy?


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It has been a bad couple of months for me. Americans aren't traveling here like before. The tourism has been very slow this year. I'm just trying to make it through this month, then things should get better in Nov. then in December will be tourist season once again. Thank goodness for Halloween, my money maker for this month!

Anyone want to come to CR?

Well, I'm in south central Louisiana. My business this year has skyrocketed. The only slow down I had was during hurricanes Gustav & Ike. But, once that was over, things got back to normal and business is booming. The housing market here is good, and people are building new homes, etc. In my area, new businesses are sprouting up. The only thing I've heard that slowed down is the car industry here.

http://www.housingpredictor.com/louisiana.html

just be careful. please.

http://www.housingpredictor.com/louisiana.html

just be careful. please.

Summer was slow for me but it's picked up quite a bit -- my classes are full and taking waiting lists and I'm booked until Thanksgiving with orders.