Do you offer any goodies, perks?

I offer a first anniversary cake to the bride. This is my small gift to the bride for choosing my cake service. This way all the wedding cake can be served at the reception and they have their anniversary cake all boxed in a small box and ready to be put in the freezer. It saves them from trying to get the top layer off and messing the trim or borders. Eveyone loves that I offer that.

Then on the 1st Birthday cake for a baby....I make them their own little personal one layer 6 inch cake for them to dig into for pictures. This is my little gift to the baby. Both of these PERKS have helped my business to grow and be something different than other bakeries or bakers in my area.

Diane

I feel like my cakes are better... ---but aside from that, I can spend more time on each cake than other bakeries can.

Oops, just re-read. I'm not an actual bakery--just home based . So my answer may not apply!

I give the brides a 6in cake for free, either as the top tier of their cake or as a fresh cake made for them on their anniversary.

I saw these perks on a website and liked them I was wonering if anybody else did it I love that idea,

I give my customers good service and make them feel welcome in my shop. I am truly thankful for their orders, they keep me going... without them I would not be in business.

My customers would rather receive service and pay more, than go somewhere unfriendly and deal with unknowledgeable employees or cranky business owners.
mpc
www.mypastrychef.com

I am opening the first week of May, so I'm technically not open yet...but I do work from home right now.

I offer a complimentary 6" tier for wedding cakes.
I do many different edible favors for weddings and parties.
I offer organic baked goods. (this has opened up a whole new market for me.)
I offer sugar-free baked goods.
I deliver (not many do around here).
I can do dessert buffets for parties.

My prices are still reasonable, but I have very personalized service, a range of flavors available, and always bake fresh.

to mypastrychef........I just looked at your web site. Goodness! Your cakes are absolutely gorgeous! I saved it to my favs for inspiration. You truly are talented!!!

If they don't want me to stay and cut the cake, I have an a la carte cake price....we call it "D&R" (Drop-n-Run). The price gets you the cake, delivery and set-up. The package price includes punch, cups, mints, e linens, etc.

The a la carte price is used when the facility allows ONLY the wedding cake to be brought in from the outside ... no punch, etc. These are usually the same places that charge a cake-cutting fee. Places who allow outside caterers usually don't apply a cake cutting fee.

I would not sell the package unless I stay and cut it simply because I have linens, punch bowls/fountains, and other equipment at the facility that I don't want the bride to have to be responsible for. If they don't want me to cut it, then they are buying the cake-only.

Drop and Run???? Oh, that is toooo funny!

OK--now I understand. I didn't realize that you provided other services, too. You must be one busy person!!!

Let's see...I never use a mix for anything,nor do I use shortening, artificial flavors or colours. My carrot cake has won the state fair in every state I've lived in ( 4, and I plan to win NC this year) and for every dollar spent on our pastries, 10 cents goes to a fund that ships cookies etc to deployed military units in Iraq and Afghanistan, birthday cakes for kids in non-custodial foster care, and desserts for our two local homeless shelters at Christmas and Thanksgiving.

txkat wins! Your actions are very inspiring!

How ironic!! Hubby and I were talking just two days ago. We are adament about "you have to give back" and we've been tossing around a number of ideas of how we can do that. Since my first marriage was a violent marriage, I will be donating 2 cakes a month to the local battered women's shelter. It must be hard enough having to escape with your children to a shelter like that and then spend your and/or your child's birthday there, so we are going to do our small part to try to make it a little better for them. We are also exploring how we (as a caterer) can help the food banks and similar organizations.

I really like doing all of the charity work. Once you meet a child of 7 or 8 who has never had a birthday cake of their own before, you're hooked.

I just bake from home for now...does that count?

I think what makes me different has become my 3D cakes as that is becoming the main reason people are ordering from me. It is rare that I even do a sheet or round cake anymore, and even weddings are few and far between. Almost all of my weekend orders have become something 3D. I never thought when I started decorating for fun 7 years ago that I would end up mostly making 3D cakes!

I wouldn't mind donating cakes but besides my church I am not sure who I would choose right now. I would probably want to choose the children's hospital since I have a friend whose 14 mos old daughter fought leukemia nearly all her short life and then passed away last year...I would love to brighten those kids' days with a really cool cake... but I would rather be officially licensed before doing that since the kids are sick. (I was working on getting my paperwork ready to get licensed and then OOPS we got pg and so I have to put that off for awhile yet. So I'll keep going on my word of mouth weekend cake orders until I'm able to put the time and money towards really making this thing real!)

I am a true believer of helping the community also. I am a PTA parent and know what is like to have to call retailers and request donations for carnival and bingo's (to raise funds to buy new equipment). So when I do have my business I would probably be a big sponsor of education. All of us find a cause that hits home but also understand that we can't help everybody either we all have to do a little to help big, may be all of you with a set business should consider that as part of your perks sometimes we don't even know how much is needed. I guess I have been doing my share I do donate a lot of cakes for the teachers and cake walks. Good for all of you sometimes customers like the perks and the fact that you care! I called a photographer to request a donation and she said she volunteers her time and money to take pictures of families that have lost children and gets their pictures taken free of charge. She says at a time like this parents don't think of getting a last picture of taken with their child. It almost brought tears to my eyes and although she didn't donate anything I kept her number for when I need pictures I remeber her kindness.

Forgive me if I'm not getting this right, but she takes pics of dead children? Am I missing something here?

every 1st birthday I give a 1 layer smash cake......

I think it's probably for babies or very young children. I've seen this done a lot, not personally, but online, especially if the child has been sick from birth and has never come home. Most of the pics I've seen are of mom and dad holding baby, or baby wrapped in a blanket, etc. They are done very tastefully. My mom lost a baby back in 1970 and she didn't even get to hold her let alone get a picture of her while she was alive (she lived for 2 weeks, but never left the hospital). Things were very different back then. Sometimes that picture is all they will have to take home, besides maybe a blanket.

Ok...that makes more sense. I just couldn't get my head around that.

I'm new to this site and I have been reading some of the posts, I'm fascinated.! I own a small town bakery in OHio, and some of the posts really struck some interest, like when I read about donating a dime of every dollar toward childrens charities. If it's ok I beleive I'm going to start doing something similar to that here. we have some group homes here in our area and foster care programs, I think I'll check into, thank you so much for the idea.
becmax1