Freelance Decorator

Business By benaskek Updated 29 Mar 2016 , 7:55pm by cakesmith.oh

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benaskek Posted 21 Mar 2016 , 8:54pm
post #1 of 6

I have a question about Freelance decorators ..... I live in a small area that does not have many options for custom cakes.  I'm thinking about scouting for decorators who would be willing to freelance their work, basically bid on jobs that I find, on an as needed bases.  I would provide a licensed and insured kitchen and find the clients, does this sound silly?  Has anyone ever done work like this?


Thank you :) 

5 replies
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costumeczar Posted 21 Mar 2016 , 9:55pm
post #2 of 6

It would basically make you the wholesaler, and they'd be your employees. I'd check the requirements for whether you can hire them as contractors or if you have to treat them as employees, because the taxes are done differently. If you classify them the wrong way it can be REALLY bad for you. Based on what you're saying about them using your facilities I think you'd have to actually hire people as employees, but you would need to ask a tax attorney to be sure. 

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benaskek Posted 22 Mar 2016 , 12:18am
post #3 of 6

Thanks costumeczar!  Have you ever heard of decorators "bidding" on projects or does this seem far reaching?  I'm basing this idea on the thought that there must be a reason custom work is so hard to come by!  The reason it's hard in my area is that we have 1 baker that provides nice work area so it's hard to keep a full time decorator busy....thanks again :)  The idea keeps rolling thru my head but I don't know if it sounds crazy to someone in the industry!


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costumeczar Posted 22 Mar 2016 , 12:27am
post #4 of 6

You'd be better off having people on call to decorate things as you need them. Having people bidding against each other is basically asking them to undercut one another and that's not going to make anyone happy.

Honestly, I don't know how feasible this kind of thing is, since the reason that "custom" is so hard to come by in your area could be that nobody wants to pay for  it. My guess, based on how things are everywhere else, is that there are a bunch of people operating illegally or under the radar and advertising themselves on facebook or Craigslist for prices that are really low. Customers in the past couple of years have been trained to think that they can get custom cakes for Walmart prices, because there are people providing them for close to that. 

I'd do some general research on pricing in your area, including going on any beg/borrow/trade facebook pages for your area and see if people are selling cakes on the cheap there. You could even post a picture of an elaborate cake on there and ask this question: "Does anybody know who can make this cake for a reasonable price?" They'll come crawling out of the woodwork.

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benaskek Posted 22 Mar 2016 , 2:25am
post #5 of 6

Thank you so much, you've given lots to think of! I appreciate your time :) 


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cakesmith.oh Posted 29 Mar 2016 , 7:55pm
post #6 of 6

benaskek, I don't think "bidding" on a cake job is far fetched.  In fact, that is basically what "Thumbtack" is.  The customer inputs the details of what they want and professionals can choose to bid or not.  No one can see your bid so there is no deliberate undercutting going on.  You bid what you need to charge and it is up to the customer to decide if they want to contact you or not.  I use the service, get a lot of traffic from it, and have been hired by "Thumbtack" customers several times.  

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