Quote:
i was thinking about all this opening a business thing and how hard it is for any bakery to open, stay afloat and truly earn a living--i have an answer that i usually say but i thought of another way to phrase it--
there is no product exclusivity--it's wide open--they sell fondant at my grocery store--fondant tools at wal-mart--
it's fully rotted/ruined this market--it is not home cakers -- it's not big boxers & grocery store bakeries--if the population at large had no access to products they would be powerless to dilute the cake economy --'someone' came before them and opened that door--
the gatekeepers opened the gates -- there is no product exclusivity
To be successful, you need to think outside the box. The same old products and same old tools do not provide any competitive advantage. The businesses who find a way to differentiate themselves from the masses of fondant covered cakes out there will find a new niche, and a new way to succeed.
Liz
I haven't even looked at your cakes, but the simple fact that you SEE YOUR MISTAKES and KNOW that you are NOT the BEST CAKER, speaks volumes. It means you are capable of improving. When you SEE the mistakes, there is room for improvement. Charge the mid tier pricing, (this is not Walmart pricing, it is a living wage) and raise by 20-30 cents each year, as your skills improve.
I am flabbergasted by cheap cakers with deplorable cakes every time I look around facebook. They don't even see the mess they are making, they will always suck at cakes.
Quote:
Ohhhh, I see. Haha, I did that briefly for what I thought was going to be training. I would rather trek cross country on foot all alone with a murderous psychopath than do that again 
Oh yeah! Me too! I would actually rather have ANOTHER BABY, than work in a grocery store again, and that is SAYING A LOT, because I would rather do the trek with the psychopath than have a baby, lol.
Quote:
i was thinking about all this opening a business thing and how hard it is for any bakery to open, stay afloat and truly earn a living--i have an answer that i usually say but i thought of another way to phrase it--
there is no product exclusivity--it's wide open--they sell fondant at my grocery store--fondant tools at wal-mart--
it's fully rotted/ruined this market--it is not home cakers -- it's not big boxers & grocery store bakeries--if the population at large had no access to products they would be powerless to dilute the cake economy --'someone' came before them and opened that door--
ranting and raving about prices may help you (in general 'you') feel better--may even show up a price mess in an area (howsweet--that was awesome) but the product availability is where the spewing hemorrhage is --add in cottage laws going in all over and r.i.p. cake industry--except for a very few success stories--imo
the gatekeepers opened the gates -- there is no product exclusivity
nobody moved the cheese--they filled the place up with cheese--there's a yellow ribbon around every tree and seedling
I agree that it's a contributing factor, but if you're saying it's the main thing, I completely disagree. Fondant is on the grocery shelf because of the demand. Demand was in part created by these new laws.
Easy access to supplies and all the free online training definitely lower the barriers to entry. But what had the biggest effect here was the Texas cottage food law. Our cottage food law went into effect in 2011 and two store front cake bakeries within 3 miles of me went out of business the following year. They made what most here would consider extremely nice cakes, but neither produced "perfect" style cakes. And when your work is no better than people charging a third to half what you do, you go out of business.
I'm all for competition, bring it on! I don't want to stop anyone from buying fondant or having a cake business. The problem is that a real business can't compete with people charging artificially low prices. People need to be educated on the effect of undercharging and what undercharging even is. Most who do it don't seem to even know.
Quote:
To be successful, you need to think outside the box. The same old products and same old tools do not provide any competitive advantage. The businesses who find a way to differentiate themselves from the masses of fondant covered cakes out there will find a new niche, and a new way to succeed.
Liz
This is so true.
A
Original message sent by MBalaska
A friend told me that our local grocery store Baker lady makes around $25 an hour. She can't seem to keep any help. They come & go pretty fast. So the quality of the decorating changes and their pay must be low.
I worked at a bakery (as a cashier) that did all sorts of breads, pastries, donuts and such, and they had 1 decorator who did ALL THE CAKES. She would come in 2 days a week, all the cakes baked and icing made, and spread all her tickets out for special orders and lay all the cakes on the bench by the tickets and ice about 15 cakes in 1/2 an hour, then go NUTS decorating them all. It was a sight to behold. She would mix icing and colors with her bare hands spin the cake on the turntable really quick and pipe a perfect border while it spun. Then she would whip out 3-4 wedding cakes in about 2 hours, and do cakes for the case. Then the next day do cakes for the freezer and any orders that were for the first part of the next week. She was like a tornado with a piping bag and spatula, and when she was done, the floor and bench was a wreck and there were over 100 cakes done. She made $30 an hour, and he favorite word was NO! She had about 10 "tricks" and that was all she would do, along with typical grocery store crap. NO! fondant. I held her in awe and wished I could be that fast, but after I saw her cakes a few weeks in a row, I saw she did the same cakes over and over and over... A monkey could be trained to do them fast and well like that, by the time it was a bitter old bit--, um, woman.
AOh, the cakes were on big rolling racks, and everything on carts, so her area was a just a looooong bench, with a speed rack, and tons of floor space. She would have that area clean in half an hour. Roll the carts away, scrape the bench to the floor, scrape the floor, sweep, mop. She didn't have to wash dishes, or pans, or box cakes. Didn't have to bake or make icing... THAT is the life!
Quote:
Oh, the cakes were on big rolling racks, and everything on carts, so her area was a just a looooong bench, with a speed rack, and tons of floor space. She would have that area clean in half an hour. Roll the carts away, scrape the bench to the floor, scrape the floor, sweep, mop. She didn't have to wash dishes, or pans, or box cakes. Didn't have to bake or make icing... THAT is the life!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%