Wow, Im going through sort of the same thing myself!
I just moved into a new house about a month ago. Now it's a free house given to us by the airforce. (I'm not in the united states, when you reach a certian rank in military you get a free house.). Now the house is on the airbase, and I figured, FREE 3 bedroom house? FREE enormous backyard? No water or electric bills? Sign me up! Even if it's a fixer upper! its free!"
Now, the inside of the house isnt too bad, and after working on it it's actually kind of cute now. But THE OUTSIDE!!!!
I cant in words describe how ICKKKKKK it is. we would need about 15,000 dollars to remodel it. And we dont have that just lying around.
The other day my husband was away on business (he usually delivers for me, or meets pick ups at the airbase gate). So the customer had to come tothe house to pick up her order. I felt so embarrassed lol. the outside is really horrible. LOL, actually im going to try to post a pic here of my outside. maybe it will make you feel a LOT better about yours.
And just so you know, she said nothing, admired her cake pops and left. She even re-ordered for 10 dozen cake pops in may. We might feel like that, but they dont care. Theyre getting beautiful custom work from us. And any visitiors I might have I just tell them in a humourous manner that I just moved in, and we're not done fixing it up, but it will look great when we are.
I'll try to upload this horrible photo.

I think the whole idea of mass producing a $25 to-go box is great if that's the business you are looking for. Me... not so much. I am a small at home boutique-type business and I don't want to assembly line anything. I also have the luxury of being very selective with my orders since I don't need to pay rent and one wedding cake more than covers my operation costs for the year. The last thing I want to do is spend even an hour stuffing 6" cakes and frosting into boxes.

Normally I only offer tastings to wedding clients, but if someone is going to pay $500 for an occasion cake and wants a tasting then I have no issue with that. I have two price points for occasion cakes vs. wedding and the tasting is part of the reason (that and I don't torte occasion cakes and limit the flavor choices to one cake flavor and one filling flavor... unless you want to pay extra of course. there are no flavor restrictions on wedding cakes). Occasion cakes start at $5/serving and weddings start at $6. I don't offer basic birthday cakes with a shell border and "happy birthday so-and-so" on them nor do I offer sheet cakes or dessert cakes. Now there's nothing wrong with offering any or all of those There are all types of businesses that cover all sorts of cakes... but that's not me. You come to me because you want that 3-D cake or an ornate centerpiece cake or wedding cake... you go elsewhere if you are looking for something more simple... and I am happy to make recomendations as to where you can go.

I think your work really speaks for itself, gorgeous! I live in a big city, in a middle class area, our house is really cute (the lawn is a wasteland, though), but the neighborhood is a bit sketchy. I wonder sometimes if my wealthier clients feel like they're 'slummin it'... I agree with the 'work with what you have'! Nice flowerpots and a little bit of styling can attract attention to how creative you are.

On another note- aluminum siding can be painted. We have some friends down the street (in the really sketchy part of the neighborhood!) who painted theirs- it looks fantastic now! It's a lot of work, but way cheaper than replacing.

I don't offer tastings for anything less than 100 servings and thanks to some recent no-shows now charge $25 for a "baker's choice" tasting or $40 for a "bride's choice" tasting which I apply to their balance.

I do them at my home so that they can see where I bake. If someone wants to order a tasting cake for $25 I have them come pick them up.

If the only problem with the outside of the house is that the siding is faded (but the rest of the yard is presentable) and someone is that shallow that they choose not to order because of it do you really want them as a customer anyway? That just has PITA written all over it IMO.

something a friend of mine does, is she picked a landmark or 'area' (for example, she is around the corner from burger king) and meets the client there and considers it a pick up, as she personally doesnt like strangers knowing where she lives. But maybe you can just have them meet you in the church parking lot or something?

Guess what, that lady wrote me back today and loved her tasting cake, she was just busy all week. Phew!

AND...my hubby said we can paint the house this summer. Yeah! It will just be white, because part of the house is newer white vinyl siding and part is a faded granny green aluminum siding, so he says we will just paint the green white to make the whole house white...boring, but it will look better!

I wish we could add shutters but as its a "vintage" sort of house, there are windows placed in odd areas where shutters won't fit....

Anyway...cool.

Having watched my parents deal with church politics, I'd advise against using the church itself for anything related to your business. There's bound to be a group who doesn't like it and will cause trouble for you at some point if you do that.

It sounds like you're going to get everything straightened out, which is great...I was going to suggest that you look into either arranging with a reception site that you work with, or a photographer or florist who has a studio, to use their space once a month and just throw a tasting party. That way you get all your tastings done at one time, and you don't have to worry about people picking stuff up.

I share an office space with a few other wedding businesses, and I've started doing tastings once or twice a month. I do the preliminary rough estimates etc via email before so I've already qualified brides, then they can come and taste the cake during the open house times. I know some other people who do the same kind of thing. It just helps to kind of compress everything into one big event.

I agree with using what you have. Never apologize!! You would be surprised what pots of flowers and maybe a pretty hanging basket would do. People will admire your flowers and not even look at the siding.

If you aren't tied to the church, then state that if someone is upset. Or you could just make a sassy statement "God is my Sous Chef" if people are that nosy.

As for the woman, I'm sure she was the usual customer that is just fishing for a price reduction. We all know they are EVERYWHERE.

Tami

I am in the process of having my kitchen inspected. I have been a hobby baker for several years now. I have had some folks pick their cakes up at my home and it does seem a little weird, but at the same time is easier on me withhout having to deliver and take up more of my time. Would you charge your customers a delivery charge since there is no store front?

I currently contract work for a local restaurant part time after I leave my 40 hour job a couple days of the week, i actually go to the restaurant and bake and prepare everything there. Its is so much easier with the larger equipment. My business outside of the restaurant has picked up so well that i am getting my kitchen, which my husband and I have worked on for a year and a half. we bought as we went.

anyway....I was just wondering if others were charging for delivery since there is no store front and if so what would the charge be?? TIA