Oh wait then I would have!

I had it happen once, and that was enough for me to say never again will a child under the age of 10 be allowed at a sampling.

I rent a commercial kitchen, and for a while had my spare room in my house as my consultation area, I would even close the door to my consult room and this 3 yr old opened every door in my house and ran amuck, I kept getting up and escorting her back to the room, the good for nothing mom & grandma just giggled about it! The child broke one of my husbands vases, something he had cherished for many years, got into my bedroom and started going through the watches my hubby keeps on top of our vanity, broke my sunglasses that were also on the vanity, and the mom just laughed, didn't apologize or anything. Needless to say I gave her a price I knew she couldn't afford, even put the cost to replace the broken items on the itemized quote. She didn't call back, and for that I am very greatful.

So when we opened our dance studio I moved the consults to there. Eventhough the studio is equipped to accommodate children (obviously), an ill behaved, unattended child can do some serious damage to our business equipment, plus they can get hurt. A bride who is concentrating on choosing a cake WILL NOT be supervising their unruley child, they will tune them out. I can't afford for my sound equipment or office equipment to be damaged. NO cake order is worth that. Also, I don't agree that a child under the age of 10 should have any say in what the cake is like regardless if it is a first, second, or any number of thereafter. A kid will eat cake; all they care about is that it is sweet.

We have a sign in our studio that says "Unattended Children Will Be Sent Home With An Espresso & A Puppy!"

Yes it is comical, but it does let parents know to keep their children under control while their other child(ren) is/are in class.

I also limit the amount of people who can accompany a bride to 2 other individuals. Usually the groom and the brides mom attend with.

Yes--I had to say it out loud several several times--too cool though!!!! And I'm thinking ahh no this ain't working--but I got it!!!

Howcome every other thread these days always goes the same way... "Ummmm! Are you LEGAL??? I'm TELLINGGGGGGG!!!!!"

Sheesh.


I'm legal now but I wasn't at one time, and I couldn't care less what other people do.

Re the original intent of this thread...yeah kids can be annoying but I don't mind, if its bringing me business so be it! One day I had a couple ladies come for a birthday consult and they brought their kids and I just let them go outside and play with my kids. One came in and wandered around and the baby played on the floor. No big deal. Bar Mizvah (sp?) consults usually involve several kids coming along anyway.

Wow. I am sorry that I haven't gotten post notices and so have not been responding.
THanks for looking at my site- I AM fully Licensed and Insured, and I am also very upfront with clients that it is in my home. I wouldn't ask a business question if I wasn't a legit business.
People come to me often because I'm small and charge a little less than the storefronts. I do NOT need any more business, so I have no problem losing a few rude clients who would let their children run around my home. That's one of the benefits of home bakeries- no overhead, so I don't mind picking and choosing my clientele.
I have a very small dog who was there first, and I am also upfront with clients about that. He is in no way shape or form allowed in the bakery, but I have an open concept home, so I do not have a lot of places to put him. I should have put him away once the child started to chase him, but at that point I just wanted to get the thing done, and not embarrass the parents, since they were booking their cake.
He was three. Having a two year old myself, I don't expect her to sit in a chair and be good. But I also would never have taken her along.
It is very difficult to run a business meeting with children, and that is my point. They are wonderful, but distracting, and this one certainly was. Luckily he didn't break anything, including my dog

Jentreu - it sucks that you had to defend yourself for simply ranting about someone's brat.
Apparently before we post anything we have to start by stating our tax ID number, health code rating and the food service laws in our particular county! haha
PS: Your cakes are GORGEOUS! Love em!

ok..so here are my 2 cents for what they are worth. i ahve 2 kids, 2 yrs and 4 yrs. i would never ever take them to do a cake tasting or any other "contract bearing" meeting. for the simple fact of i dont want to get into anything that i cant get out of just b/c i was watching my kids instead of reading the contract or listening solely to the person i am meeting with. as for the dog, the OP said that the dog was not allowed in the bakery itself so i dont see aproblem here. no different than having a storefront but having a dog at home when you leave. just lint brush yourself and go about your business. i agree with some other posters, browniebatterer sounds like the client in disguise. and also a little childish. (a few posts run together) "I have pics of cakes, i will tell you i have pics, but n you cant see them." kid: i have a cookie but you cant have it. in short (or long)- the client was in the wrong for letting the kid run around SOMEONE ELSE'S home. end of story. so sorry charlie.

Well, glad to hear back from you and that you are fully legal.

I would suggest that with the dog that you find a small crate to put him away in another room. I would think it was off putting to see a dog in a cake business.

Good luck with your cakes-they are lovely!

Chefjess...LOVE your cookie analogy!! Good laugh first thing in the morning is always nice.

(... Taking a break from Thanksgiving prep!...)

I can understand the OP wanting to have the tasting with the client only, no children. It's usually a calmer atmosphere where everyone can remain more focused. But as others have stated, it will definitely cause some potential customers to look elsewhere if they can't find someone to watch their children. Personally, as a child, if/when I accompanied my mother to anywhere, I was expected to conduct myself with respect. If there was nothing there for me to play with ~ that was offered to me, then I was expected (and DID) sit quietly until it was time to go. I may have been bored and not too happy about it, but those were the rules.

To remedy the OP's situation, I would absolutely suggest having a couple toys/activities for children. If noise causes your child come down to see what's going on, then you may want to pick up some of those foam building blocks/panels. This way nothing can get damaged in your home and no noise to wake up your child.

P.S. I *LOVE* cakesdivine's studio sign!

Bonus: Thigh Sing Gone Thick Ache....Thanks Kate, for giving me a clue what to do. I'd said it about 10 times already, but still wasn't getting it!

I love BrownieBatterer's name and signature. Not to mention I am totally jonesing for brownie's today what am I talking about every day!!!!!!!!!

So hope you stay and ease into being easier to follow.

there is a store where I live that says
"The parents of unattended children will be charged $1.00/min. for babysitting while you shop, in addition to any merchandise your child handles/breaks"

pretty much lets you know you need to watch your kid or watch your wallet lol

Wow, aren't you a peach Brownie?!

The OPs experience is why I don't do consults in my home. We meet at a cafe (a coffee shop is a whole different thing in this country and there would not be a lot of business chat going on if we met in one of those lol !), or I go to their house. My clients love at home meetings, they like being on their own turf, and I can get a sense of who they are, their tastes ect, which really helps in giving them their ideal cake.

Boy I will be in big trouble if customers ever bring their kids. I do tastings in my working kitchen and everything is on shelves and out in the open.

When my kids were little I didn't plan important meetings until I had someone to watch them. Sometimes it took awhile to find someone and usually it cost me money that was difficult to come by--it's called being responsible for your children.

What an insult to the caker for the client to bring small kids and let them destroy stuff.

I worked in a CPA's office, and people occasionally brought their kids along for the tax return consultations! I'm talking about a nice private office, not a storefront H&R Block. One kid had a nasty diaper that stunk up the whole office for hours after they left. There were dishes of hard candies (for the tax-terrified old people), and the parents did little to keep the kids out of them, even though hard candies posed a choking threat to their little darlings. Then the kids ran around touching things with their sticky little fingers. Plus, it was a disruption to everyone in the office, during the busiest time of the year.
And some people brought well-behaved kids. But even they were a distraction to both parties.
Sometimes, staff members would have to stop doing their work to reel in and supervise the kids. This is not a service that your accounting firm has the time to provide. They should have been billed at the same rate:
Tax preparation fee $XXX
Childcare services $XXX
Kids do not belong at business meetings of any kind. Cake or tax return--it doesn't matter.

Its too bad people can't train their kids to be pleasant and quiet at a meeting these days. What a shame.

Wow, I can't believe the crap that's been flinging in this post in the last 2 hours!! Ridiculous that one person is doing the flinging and everyone else has to put on a helmet to avoid it. What I can believe is all the thoughtful ideas that other members have to share with OP. Kudos to all here who offered up positive opinions. As for BB, why waste your time responding to her? She's in everybody's face because she gets away with it. I know I sound rude and crude but...what goes around, comes around. Sorry if I offended any of you but my blood was boiling reading all these posts.

I have a 2 year old. And altho she can be good in public, shes often not. If I had to bring her, I would hope that the hubby or a freind could come to maybe sit in the car with her.

If not then the first second she acted up, I would resheduale the tasting (paying of course because its not your fault) and make it for sometime I could get a sitter.


(The dog is beside the point, yes we all know it was a bad desision to have it out... but the child shouldnt have been allowed to continue to torment it.)

I have little kids, and I don't go anywhere with them that I have to focus on something. Even when we go to the grocery, I bring a little toy to distract my littlest one while we're on line. I would not bring kids to a bakery for a consult, or to a home bakery.

And the dog: If they know that you don't bake there, then why would it bother them that there is a dog there?

[quote="browniebatterer"]
Well, some people don't have sitters to rely on.
And if they are ordering hundreds of dollars worth of cake from you, I think you can deal with it. Especially if they are making the exception for you and ordering a cake from someone who works out of their home
Jeez-just give the kid a slice of cake and a glass of milk and get over it.[/quote

if the people know how to control their kids, it wouldn't be a problem. It is hard to talk to a client when their townhouse terror is running around and getting into things and the parents act though they aren't there. parents need to train their kids how to behave at peoples houses or get a baby sitter. also that was a rough post toward her. stuff like that what causes bo ard battles. please be kind and considerate when posting.

Here's part of the appointment-confirmation-email that I send to brides:

This is to confirm your sampling appointment at --------------------. Directions are attached. If you run late due to traffic or other circumstances, we ask that you just give us a call to let us know that youre on your way. (At 15 minutes past the appt, with no phone-call, I consider it a no-show and I pack up and go home.)
You are welcome to bring up to a total of four people (seating limitations).
Since this appointment can be lengthy, we dont recommend bringing children as a catering facility is not a very entertaining place for them to try to sit quietly while mom/dad conduct a business meeting.


Once in a BLUE MOON, I'll get someone who will bring a small child, but they are apologizing all over the place and explaining how they brought their sister/friend/whoever to watch the child during the meeting. So evidiently my email puts the Fear of Debi into them from the git-go.

A lot of it depends on how professional you present yourself from the git-go. And by the way, this was the same wording I used when I had consults in my home, so I don't think having the appts in your home is a big factor. If may be a small facotr, but I believe it's more lack of parenting, lack of basic manners and consideration and lack of realizing this is a REAL business meeting. And the CPA story above wasn't held in a home and the kids were acting the same way ... again, being in a home or in an office, it's more the type of parent it is and less of whether it's in a home or office.

Someone said something about if we say no children we might lose the appt? Big freakin' deal! They are paying me for a cake and that's ALL they are paying me for. I am not prostituting myself to have to put up with ANYTHING they want to dish out just so I can book the next "john".

Jen- I agree that you should make it clear no children are allowed.

Your cakes are beautiful!!

What a horrible situation to be in. Just like others have posted, it was mainly the parents that made you upset (who let their child run free). I don't think there is only one way to do business, but you can take this as a learning experience and maybe decide that for your business, children are not welcome during the meetings. Like other professionals have politely explained it on their websites.
There are families that don't have any choice but to bring their children. Like myself most of the time. And for those who can't find a baby sitter, they just have to look for a place that accepts children.
(Although, when I bring my children I don't let the two youngest out of our double stroller and I always bring quiet toys for them).