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I disagree here too. Doing tastings for celebration cakes is a pain for the decorator and it's not a customary practice for the average person. A. so many people order last minute, there isn't time to schedule a tasting. B. people don't want to hassle with an appointment to taste some darn cake. They want to drop by when it's convenient for them, whenever. C. many people don't want to deal with a "salesman" at a tasting. Only the wealthy are used to sitting down and tasting than custom ordering a cake.
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It depends on the size of the market you are serving, your profitability goals, and how much you are able to produce. If 1 million people live within 30 miles of your business, 2% of the population is 20,000 people, not including out-of-towners who have destination weddings in your area. This is enough to support a healthy market of cake decorators operating at a decent volume focusing on weddings only or other niches.
The reality in my area Chicago suburbs is heavy traffic all day most days of the week. SO.....people buy locally or pick up products that are on their work driving route. (I also offer free delivery myself, to curb that). Even though there are millions of people in the Chicagoland area my business prospects remain in my suburb and the immediate suburbs surrounding mine.
So I live in a town of 34,000. Around me in the towns are aprox. an additional 30,000..........and I'm in a pretty populated area of the US. We don't have destination weddings in my area. Don't forget that 50% or more of those 64,000 people are going to buy their cakes from the big box stores (of which we have one or two on every corner). What's left client wise is not enough people to support the dozens of illegal home bakers, cupcake shops and bakeries in my area, all making custom celebration and wedding cakes.
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Original message sent by Stitches
I disagree here too. Doing tastings for celebration cakes is a pain for the decorator and it's not a customary practice for the average person. A. so many people order last minute, there isn't time to schedule a tasting. B. people don't want to hassle with an appointment to taste some darn cake. They want to drop by when it's convenient for them, whenever. C. many people don't want to deal with a "salesman" at a tasting. Only the wealthy are used to sitting down and tasting than custom ordering a cake.
In my experience most customers who order smaller celebration cakes don't really care about tastings. For larger celebration cakes that rival wedding cakes in terms of size and cost, some customers will want a tasting and some won't. For brides, tastings are pretty much expected. If you have the requisite demand, tastings can even be turned into a profit center (especially to-go tastings made ahead of time).
As far as last-minute ordering, that's something you can control via your booking schedule. And if they don't want to make a tasting appt, they don't get a tasting, simple as that. There's also no need to be a "salesman" at a tasting, when we had tastings we would let the product sell itself.
i have always believed that the money is in celebration cake because even when a lower income family celebrates--you get the brothers & sisters all coming together to do it up proud for Mom's 80th--each individual family member would never order a $200-$300 cake--but when it's time to celebrate it's time for something special and that's when the calls come in--
for a small operation to be successful to me focus is key--
how much does one make on a loaf of bread or lovely danish compared to the manpower required to produce it--this is why mom & pop bakeries are dinosaurs
Again in my area (because that's all I can relate to) people will not spend over $200. for a celebration cake, period. They aren't city people, they're are a lot of housewife's that know how to bake here. They won't even all go in collectively to buy a $200. cake.
I do agree focus is really important....and to that I say focus in on what you do well. Don't sell products that aren't great like those old bakery dinosaurs, but diversify to different clientele to attract the most people possible.
I'm definitely not suggesting she make bread. That's a whole different specialty market that's as different as selling shoes for a cake decorator. And I'm probably not telling her to sell homemade Danish..........but to dismiss that is wrong. You can buy premade Danish that's darn good, bake it off and make a GOOD profit, you can also buy sheets of danish and fill them yourself for a good mark-up. Scones are super simple to make and freeze perfectly......make some scones, etc... With a little work you could be attracting a more diverse crowd which in turn could get you more of your main business (decorated cakes).
In fact, how is that not different than what grocery stores do? I'm not say to sell loss leaders like they do nor and I suggesting she be a full line bakery like the bakeries of olden days, but the wider your product line is.... the more people you'll attract.
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In my experience most customers who order smaller celebration cakes don't really care about tastings. For larger celebration cakes that rival wedding cakes in terms of size and cost, some customers will want a tasting and some won't. For brides, tastings are pretty much expected. If you have the requisite demand, tastings can even be turned into a profit center (especially to-go tastings made ahead of time).
As far as last-minute ordering, that's something you can control via your booking schedule. And if they don't want to make a tasting appt, they don't get a tasting, simple as that. There's also no need to be a "salesman" at a tasting, when we had tastings we would let the product sell itself.
But the thing is, there still is a great number of people your eliminating because they can't easily taste you work on their schedule with no hassles of even talking about a cake until they know IF they might be interested in talking to you. You have to admit that's one of the competitive advantages store front cake decorators have over appointment only decorators!...........and it is a BIG advantage!
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Original message sent by Stitches
The reality in my area Chicago suburbs is heavy traffic all day most days of the week. SO.....people buy locally or pick up products that are on their work driving route. (I also offer free delivery myself, to curb that). Even though there are millions of people in the Chicagoland area my business prospects remain in my suburb and the immediate suburbs surrounding mine.
If you have a distinct competitive advantage it's certainly possible to reach out beyond your immediate suburbs and attract customers who are willing to make the trip. Traffic is an issue in just about any metro area, and population density in Chicagoland is even higher than the SF Bay area: 1318/sq mi means that about 3.7M people will live within a given 30 mile radius (2826 sq mi), or 930K people within 15 miles on average (706 sq mi).
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Original message sent by Stitches
But the thing is, there still is a great number of people your eliminating because they can't easily taste you work on their schedule with no hassles of even talking about a cake until they know IF they might be interested in talking to you. You have to admit that's one of the competitive advantages store front cake decorators have over appointment only decorators!...........and it is a BIG advantage!
I agree that allowing for an easy walk-in purchase of sample products is an advantage for decorators with a storefront, but I think you are overestimating the number of small cake purchasers who want a tasting in the first place and underestimating the willingness of large cake purchasers to make an appt or just order a to-go tasting box.
And once you have a critical mass of positive reviews this erases much of the storefront's advantage in this respect.
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Original message sent by Stitches
Again in my area (because that's all I can relate to) people will not spend over $200. for a celebration cake, period. They aren't city people, they're are a lot of housewife's that know how to bake here. They won't even all go in collectively to buy a $200. cake.
That's been my experience as well, our celebration cake orders would usually top out in the $200-300 range with most of the orders between $50 and $150. Not a bad niche, as there is still a good amount of profit to be had with the right production processes and cost controls.
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Again in my area (because that's all I can relate to) people will not spend over $200. for a celebration cake, period. They aren't city people, they're are a lot of housewife's that know how to bake here. They won't even all go in collectively to buy a $200. cake.
I do agree focus is really important....and to that I say focus in on what you do well. Don't sell products that aren't great like those old bakery dinosaurs, but diversify to different clientele to attract the most people possible.
I'm definitely not suggesting she make bread. That's a whole different specialty market that's as different as selling shoes for a cake decorator. And I'm probably not telling her to sell homemade Danish..........but to dismiss that is wrong. You can buy premade Danish that's darn good, bake it off and make a GOOD profit, you can also buy sheets of danish and fill them yourself for a good mark-up. Scones are super simple to make and freeze perfectly......make some scones, etc... With a little work you could be attracting a more diverse crowd which in turn could get you more of your main business (decorated cakes).
In fact, how is that not different than what grocery stores do? I'm not say to sell loss leaders like they do nor and I suggesting she be a full line bakery like the bakeries of olden days, but the wider your product line is.... the more people you'll attract.
i am seriously amazed that pure cupcake places like gigi's make it at all--
yes i agree that in order to have a successful store front you have to have enough product line to bring them in in a big way--like actually do meals in order to support the baking end of it--
not to mention the problem with negative press about carbs and diets and the like--that hurts our industry too--i mean i myself can't even eat sugar or white flour without gaining weight--peeps often use the word 'guilt' surrounding our work--that can't be good either--
and i am from the southside--i understand the locality you live in--you probably should relocate--get by the train line or something--have a bang up coffee/breakfast crowd and move it into cakes for the afternoon & weekend--whoa, that's easier said than done--
it's different than what grocery stores do because one is not needed to support the other--
it sure ain't easy is it
i never got to fully open up my own cake place for any real length of time--had a million starts and false starts--sometimes i'm sad about that and often i'm grateful i spared us the ordeal--and still yet i plot--it's an incureable disease i think 
and that's why it's cool to not have a store or business--i can always make anything i want--the sky's the limit
maybe this year i'll finally finish the gingerbread rialto bridge i started--
apologies to op for my musings and straying from your specific topic--
op, i do wish you all the best and hope you resolve your issues and catch some big breaks
to me a great percentage of the food industry is not geared to becoming wildly successful and certainly not rich but it's this passion for food that has to come out somehow somewhere
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i am seriously amazed that pure cupcake places like gigi's make it at all--
and i am from the southside--i understand the locality you live in--you probably should relocate--get by the train line or something--have a bang up coffee/breakfast crowd and move it into cakes for the afternoon & weekend--whoa, that's easier said than done--
i never got to fully open up my own cake place for any real length of time--had a million starts and false starts--sometimes i'm sad about that and often i'm grateful i spared us the ordeal--and still yet i plot--it's an incureable disease i think
The pure cupcake places I've talked to behind the scenes aren't making it. They had lines around the block when they opened but repeat business has dwindled (for many reasons). I think only the big name places are surviving, but I wonder how long that will last as new craze's drive consumers to other foods.
I'd love to move, but it requires a divorce.........which I don't want. Same with opening a retail front........my hubby can't handle the gamble of that investment and my schedule (he wants to retire and not be home alone). So I work out of a rented kitchen space just dabbing my feet in the water....hoping one day to build enough clients to warrant a location of my own. I think we have a lot in common........like a baking addiction/disease!
I'm afraid we lost the OP when I mentioned using a freezer......it won't be the first time someone freaked out when I mentioned using them.
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