I Need Help I Need Help I Need Help My Buss. Is Failing!!!

Business By rachpizano Updated 18 Jan 2009 , 11:56pm by indydebi

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meancat Posted 8 Jan 2009 , 5:01pm
post #31 of 41

I would agree w/ everyone else that your cakes are awesome! But as a consumer, looking over your website I would probably pass you up for 2 reasons - one I didnt see where your prices were listed and second the fact that you charge extra for using more than 2 colors just sounds like you are trying to nickle and dime people. Figure out what it would cost to use 4 colors and have that be your price. Good luck and I hope you get busy again!

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meancat Posted 8 Jan 2009 , 5:02pm
post #32 of 41

I would agree w/ everyone else that your cakes are awesome! But as a consumer, looking over your website I would probably pass you up for 2 reasons - one I didnt see where your prices were listed and second the fact that you charge extra for using more than 2 colors just sounds like you are trying to nickle and dime people. Figure out what it would cost to use 4 colors and have that be your price. Good luck and I hope you get busy again!

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meancat Posted 8 Jan 2009 , 5:06pm
post #33 of 41

I would agree w/ everyone else that your cakes are awsome! But as a consumer, looking over your website I would probably pass you up for 2 reasons - one I didnt see where your prices were listed and second the fact that you charge extra for using more than 2 colors just sounds like you are trying to nickle and dime people. Figure out what it would cost to use 4 colors and have that be your price. Good luck and I hope you get busy again!

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bpshirley Posted 10 Jan 2009 , 1:40pm
post #34 of 41

You are amazingly talented! How about coming up with a Valentines Day idea and promoting it like crazy? It's only a month away.

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Bonniecakes08 Posted 10 Jan 2009 , 6:12pm
post #35 of 41

Along the same vein, many suggest hanging fliers in various places. This always seems kind of cheezy to me, I don't know why. What do others think, does it really work? and what other ways can we promote our home businesses, does anyone advertise in the newspapers? Thanks for any info.

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queenarmadillo Posted 18 Jan 2009 , 10:41pm
post #36 of 41

From a web-critique point of view, I had two issues with your website:
1) I had to navigate into the galleries to get a really good impression of your work; if Im skimming all the bakeries in the area I might not bother to do this. Its great that you have such a wide range of cakes on your site, indexed by type, but I would firstly pick 2/3 that you think REALLY showcase your talent (maybe two contrasting wedding cakes and your best 3D birthday cake) and make them big and clear on the front page (sort of "look at me, this is how good I am") rather than ("Im a baker, I can do all kinds of things, these are some things I have done before") which is what I think your front page pictures say right now.
2) Pricing. I don't buy cakes online, but I do shop around for services that are similar (in that quality varies hugely, some specialise in one thing, you get what you pay for, and there is some opportunity to customise). Once I know that you are offering the kind of thing I am willing to pay for, I need to know if my idea of what its worth meshes with yours. Dont force people to call you for a price, cos the majority of them WONT if they find someone first who offers a same thing with a price they can cope with; they never make contact with you to find out if you are actually cheaper. If you have a pricing policy based on set factors for certain types of cake, state what it is. If your policy is not very clear cut, or contains a lot of variables, maybe have a "pricing" section which shows some specific cakes and what you would charge for them (e.g. this is a plain sheet cake to feed X people, decorated in buttercream with 3 colour; it would cost $Y. This is a 5 tier wedding cake w. fondant and detailed scrollwork; it would cost $Z). If you include enough "levels" of expense in your pricing examples, people will be able to get an impression of whether you are in their value range without getting uncomfortable leaping straight into pricing over the phone.

As far as your general business plan goes, I think you need to look at 4 things:
1) What is your business good at. Have you previously had lots of repeat customers who rave about your work? Do you have an eye catching location? Do you have links with wedding planners who promote your goods?
2) What is the competition in your area? Do they dramatically undercut you on the same quality of work (if yes, then it sucks, but you cant just say it isnt fair and keep your current prices, you need to either price match or find some other advantage that you can sell to the public (no use saying mine are all fresh and hers are frozen wallmart if the public dont know hers are frozen wallmart and cant taste the difference anyway)) Are they advertising more?
3) What is going on with the market in your area? Are they all going to wallmart because of an economic downturn, or do they just want something different? Are there public events you can cash in on to get your name known?

Having considered all these factors, you can then develop a business plan to exploit your strengths (or create them where opportunities for them exist which you have not previously addressed) and face the competition. Maybe make a list of 20 key events (small child's party, small wedding no budget, small wedding big budget, valentines) etc., and ask yourself honestlyy which baker you would go to. If not you, which one and why? Dont ask friends, as they are rarely brutally honest enough, and in a failing business you dont want your confidence artificially boosting. Once you have a better awareness of why people arent coming to you, you can address it better.

I would also make sure your website contains all words/phrases people could search for when looking for a cake in your area, to increase your chances of coming up high on a web search.

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cvoges Posted 18 Jan 2009 , 11:11pm
post #37 of 41

If it's any consolation, everyone is slow this time of year, and the overall economy doesn't seem to help matters. My mom has an alterations shop. She's usually covered up with work, but for the past month or so, it's dried up. My bros are in the car business--I guess I don't have to tell you what that's like right now.

However, the owner of the cake supply store where I usually shop told me that during Nov and Dec, he sells mostly candy making supplies. He said that cakes usually start picking up in Feb.

Hang in there. You're in good company right now.

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Butterpatty Posted 18 Jan 2009 , 11:13pm
post #38 of 41

Check out Merissa's opening page- that gorgous colorful cake grabs you right from the start and makes you WANT to check out the rest of her cakes. You do such gorgous work that it should be showcased like this also.

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summernoelle Posted 18 Jan 2009 , 11:29pm
post #39 of 41

On my first impression, I thought you made it a little too hard to find your galleries. I think that should be one of the first links listed, because that is what I always look for first. Then, once you get to the gallery page, it is a little confusing because you have four cakes on it. The first time I thought "Is that all she has?" Until I realized that you had more links to the left.
So, I would just make that incredibly easy and apparent to access. Also, I think your home page is a little cluttered....too much writing, maybe. Or too many links to other things....
I hope this helps-your cakes are all beautiful. I'm sure it's just a slump.

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Redlotusninjagrl Posted 18 Jan 2009 , 11:43pm
post #40 of 41

Wow! Your cakes are awesome! I was very interested to look at your samples. But as others have said, the rough edges made the quality a little less professional, but I think it is still pretty good.

The other thing I think that was only briefly mentioned was pricing. I loved some of those cakes, but I don't want to pick up the phone to call for pricing. I can't imagine how much some of them may have cost to make, but having a range would have been nice. Having just a few cakes all along the spectrum of difficulty would be more interesting for the business website. That way you can cater to the budget minded as well as the lavish.

And lastly, if you don't have a blog of some sort, you should start one. You could write one entry a day with generic tips regarding cakes, frosting and decorating. Or tell a story and show a picture of the most interesting cake you have made. The more frequently you blog, the more likely your blog will come up on a search engine such as google. You don't have to list proprietary recipes or anything like that. And that would be the proper place to showcase all of your different cakes. And then you could link your business website to your blog and your blog to your business website. A blog is supposed to be more informal and less professional. And then other bloggers may link to your site giving you more traffic. Blogger is a free blog service. Just a thought.

Of course, I don't know anything about the cake business. Good luck.

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indydebi Posted 18 Jan 2009 , 11:56pm
post #41 of 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by queenarmadillo

Dont force people to call you for a price, cos the majority of them WONT....



Absolutely agree! I've had more than one bride tell me they called me because my pricing was front and center. They also tell me if they come across a website with no pricing, they click out and move on. Some people think "I'll snag 'em with my sales pitch when they call". This is archaic, used car saleman thinking. We're in the internet, information age, people. YOu think you're going to snag 'em when they call? They're not going to call. Your first opportunity to sell ISN'T that phone call ... it's that click into your website.

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