Starting You Own Cake Business, 11 Yrs Experience
Decorating By CelebrationCakery Updated 26 Jul 2007 , 5:06pm by indydebi
I live in a small town, have two beautiful little girls and a wonderful husband. I am a stay at home mom and need to get the show on the road for my own cake business. I have space off of our garage to start my own little bakery. (No money to do that yet though)
I have been doing cakes since I was in college, 11 years ago. I have to say sometimes I am quite proud of the work I have done. But I do have to admit, most of my cakes have been done as gifts and this is getting old. I need to learn how and where to start? And I have to admit that the mental hang up has been....I still use a boxed cake mix, people always rave but I don't feel like I can charge my family and friends for something that I bought the ingredients for under $10-$20....Please help me get the show on the road and start the business...for the sake of everything....
Thank you all in advance, I know this site is so supportive of each and every person trying to make it in the business.
Go for it! Don't cut yourself short on the boxed cake mixes; what's the difference if it tastes great. I can't give you any advice but you may want to post in the forum for cake businesses here on CC. There are alot of professionals on this forum that I love reading what they are doing. good luck.
I think it's time to just jump in both feet! I looked at your photos and you really are talented. You just have to back that up with some confidence and a plan. I too am just beginning ~ I decided a few months ago that I was going start. Just going to do it.
First thing you have to determine is what kind of license you need. If you are lucky enough to be in a state with limited requirements, you will be able to get going fast enough. If not, I recommend just keep doing it through word of mouth. As advertising could cause you bigger problems in the long run. Ask family and friends to pass around your # with a website address (or online photo album would work). If you don't need a license or can get licensed, you can then advertise online or in your paper, or phonebook. I did a few free ads, then I was recommended by a bride on the knot ~ and now just a couple of months in I have 6 weddings to do.
I have a commercially licensed kitchen so the licensing was already in place when I decided to go from just a deli to Wedding Cakes. Eventhough I have decorated lots of cakes in the past, including Wedding Cakes...it has been a scary but wonderful adventure. But, truthfully...the only thing stopping me was my confidence (which I still have trouble with) and guts. So, if you are ready to start...just do it. Don't talk yourself out of it. Do something that "makes" you start. Mine was doing a website. Once I had that up, I felt more confident. Then the real kick start was putting a deposit down to do my first Bridal Show (which some c.c.ers helped convince me to do). Now, I feel like it's too late to back out.
Good luck and have some confidence in your product. And once you "announce" to your family and friends that you are beginning this, you may feel like you "have" to do it. Might be the kick start you need. Your cakes are really special, you can see that you have a talent...now just put it to good use. Good luck!
Kristen
pm me if you have any questions. We are both new at this...we could help eachother!
And I have to admit that the mental hang up has been....I still use a boxed cake mix, people always rave but I don't feel like I can charge my family and friends for something that I bought the ingredients for under $10-$20.....
There are many many viewpoints on this issue, but I've been a box baker for 25 years. If it works, why fix it? I get rave reviews on my cakes from people who are self-professed cake-haters. I will swear until the day I die that the difference is, cheesey as it sounds, the love and passion we pour into our work! I use the oatmeal cookie recipe from the side of the box of oats .... yet other people can use the very same recipe and they like my cookies better.
It's not the cake they are paying for ..... it is the talent and skill it takes to turn "just a cake" into a masterpiece of edible art. The knowledge it takes to bake a cake the right way so it can be stacked 5 tiers high on 7" pillars without falling over.
When you are offering a talent and a skill, it is the talent and skill you are selling. My daughter worked in a dermotologist's office. She used to get skin peels (or whatever they were) at cost. Not sure of the exact numbers, but she paid something like $7 ..... a regular patient price is $200-$300. But you're not paying for the chemicals .... you're paying for the doctor's skill and knowledge, and his ability to do it properly. Should he feel bad because his "ingredients" only cost $7? Heck no! He's paying for his talent, time, education, rent, overhead, employees, insurance, and all the other business expenses.
As you start your business, you have overhead to pay for, so set your pricing accordingly.
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