I WAS JUST WONDERING....LOOKING FOR IDEAS.....HOW DO YOU GET THE BALL ROLLING WITH WORD OF MOUTH "CUSTOMERS?" I HAVE DONE ALOT OF BIRTHDAYS FOR FRIENDS AND THINGS BUT.....FEEL LIKE I NEED TO GIVE A PUSH......ANY SUGGESTIONS?? EVERYONE SAYS IT TAKES TIME....BUT IM ANTSY, I WANT TO KEEP MAKING DIFFERENT STUFF, I LOVE WHEN SOMEONE CALLS AND SAYS "HE CAN YOU DO..." JUST THROWING IT OUT THERE...
Are you legal or an under-the-radar baker?
If you are not legal, you can't advertise but you can take samples to the places you frequent...doctor's office, vet's office, pet store if you can do pet shaped cakes or cookies, wedding stores and even rental places.
Word of mouth is the best way to go...I started doing cakes for teachers in the school that I used to work with, then they told 2 friends and so on and so on.
It does take time. My business has slowly grown since 2000 and this is the ONLY week that I have not had more than 3 orders. But the week is still young.
Whenever I make a cake for someone at work, I never have any problem with word of mouth getting out. I always get 3-4 referrals from people at work( I work in a Hospital, so departments are always intermingling) with every cake I do that is served at work (baby shower, birthdays, etc..) We have big celebrations for Employee of the Year about this time of year. There are 10 winners, all of which get a cake. I make a 12x18 for the occasion. so I have every department tasting and seeing my work... Maybe you could donate a cake to a benefit dinner or benefit BINGO? Maybe you could coordinate with a local nursing home to offer birthday cakes for sale for those family members who want to celebrate their loved one's birthday, and you could be a contact for the cake?? Just a few ideas... hope this helps! -B.
I WOULD BE THE UNDER THE RADAR. SO WHEN YOU SAY TAKE THEM TO DOCTORS OFFIE, VET....ECT...JUST FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WORK THERE RIGHT? I AM ASSUMING THEY CANT HAVE THEM OUT ANYWHERE RIGHT? I HAVE TO SAY I NEVER THOUGHT THAT MAKING CAKES AND COOKIES WAS GOING TO HAVE SO MANY RULES!!! GEEZ!!
Yes, only for the employees. When I had bilateral hand surgery for carpal tunnel, I made the surgeon and his staff a cake as soon as I was healed so he could see that the fruits of his labor were back to making the fruits of my labor.
When we went on vacation and had the dogs boarded at the vets, sent them dog-shaped cookies for a thank-you. I also send them to the groomers' that make my babies "purty".
The ideas are endless.
LICIA, you can go to your state's website (NorthCarolina.Gov?) , and go to the Business tab on the top 1/3 of the screen, this will take you to a large list of things. You want to go to the Business permits and business licensing sections. This will tell you how to apply for a license, and what you will need to meet the requirements. I hope they arent as strict as Maine! Good luck- PS, this is the same method for every state! (Yourstate.gov, continue with next steps!!)---B
Licia,
What I have learned so far NC is pretty easy to get liscensed. There's not near as many rules or as strict as alot of other states.
HTH
You are right, it does take time to get started, some things to get word out that i did were
* charge only for ingredients for your first few cakes you do for friends (only at the start), make sure you let your friend customers know that they're getting mate's rates, and that is not your regular price.
* Take cakes to work often, take different flavours, use your co-workers as guinea pigs to try out new recipes, they'll love it. I have one co-worker that has bought at least 7 cakes from me in the past 18 months (none of the cakes were under $70)
* Donate cakes to high profile events, i donated a few cakes to a community group when they had large celebrations.
I also advertise in the bulletin board at work, i've gotten quite a few wedding cakes through work. There are 4,000 staff in my company just in the building i work in, so i've got a few potential customers there.
In three weeks we have the football grand final coming up, there is a comittee organising a barbeque to celebrate and to raise funds for charity. I've contacted the organisers and offered to make a cake for the event as a donation. I believe this is going to get me a few customers as well. This is a worthwhile cause as it's going to help a charity, but it's also going to help me get some cashed up customers 
hehehe
I hope some of these suggestions help you out.
cheers
Nati
Nati, Do you know if you have to be liscensed to donate cakes for fundraisers since they are selling them. Or is it that they are not actually purchasing the cake but donating money for charity and they just get something in return.
Thanks for the help.
Nati, Do you know if you have to be liscensed to donate cakes for fundraisers since they are selling them. Or is it that they are not actually purchasing the cake but donating money for charity and they just get something in return.
Thanks for the help.
Im not sure if you have to be licenced. I donated my first cake to a charity before i was licenced, it wasnt going to be sold but consumed at a celebration they were having. Im also in Australia, so the laws that apply here are different to over there.
Does anyone local in the USA know the answer to this question>?
Nati
Bunit--
I went to ky.gov, and I couldn't find what you were talking about. Everywhere I clicked thinking it was it, it took me to something else, and never really found anything about license for a home business.
Anything else you can think of ?
There is an article on the site about starting a business. Hopefully I paste it correctly. It has links to most state's websites. Hope this helps.
http://www.cakecentral.com/article57-Wanting-to-start-a-Cake-Decorating-Business-but-where-do-I-begin.html
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