Getting Started In The Business, Have A Few Questions
Business By FlowerGirlMN Updated 7 Sep 2007 , 8:59pm by Carson
So, I'm on my way to being licensed. Have 1 caterer interested in the possibility of renting me their kitchen, have a couple backup ideas to that, etc. If the ag inspector (that I left a message for a WEEK ago!!) would either answer his phone once in awhile or just return my call.. that'd be great!
Anyway. I went and bought 3 sets of dummy cakes yesterday - I have all kinds of ideas for cakes I want to portfolio-ize (I make up words all the time, get used to it 
), want to get started. Am signed up to do a wedding show in October, now hoping to be able to offer cakes in the product/service lineup!.
Had an interesting convo with the cake supply employee, and the customer right behind me (wearing a bakery's apron, and covered in powder! LOL). When the I said I was planning to get into the business, the one behind the desk said "There's a lot of money in cakes right now!!", the person behind me piped up in agreement. I'm a bit cautious about the whole thing, as I live an hour from the twin cities, and am not sure about the state of the business here, yet. I know there is one bakery in town and that they do cakes.. but I doubt they do fondant.
Anyway, between that and the fact that I hate decorating with buttercream, I expressed my caution at the whole venture.. but they disagreed with me. Apparently there aren't many people working with fondant anywhere near me, and that "all the brides" want fondant.
I left feeling pretty encouraged, so I'd like to question more pros here. Is my hate of decorating with buttercream going to be a huge obstacle for me? I can think of a million things I'd do with fondant, and I'm getting pretty good at using it.. but I blank on the buttercream.
Also, many of the cake places (in the city and beyond) only do buttercream, or only do fondant. I guess that's encouraging, but there are MANY more that do buttercream than fondant. Should I take that as a bad sign?
Also.. do you guys notice anything different about the types of cakes small town brides order, vs city brides? I'm wondering if city brides are more likely to order "different", and small town brides more likely to order, you know.. buttercream with fountains and plastic bridesmaids and stuff.
I think that's about it for now. I don't have a lot of doubt that I can get my skills up to "competitive" quickly, I just worry about the possibility of no market for me!
some people only do BC, some people only do fondant and both types of people are usually successful. the reason they both can be successful is because of how you market it to the bride. if you love fondant, tell her why, how much cool stuff you can do and show her your awesome fondant cakes. same idea if you were a person who only loved BC cakes. it all depends on how you present yourself to the bride. so far my brides have wanted fondant because they see it in the magazines. (they don't know its fondant, they just say "i want it to look like that"). my fondant tastes great and i let them taste it too, to show them. if you feel confident in what you do, others will listen to you. good luck!
I agree that you can pick your decorating medium and go with it. It won't hurt your business at all.
I'm a BC only person and I have a full calendar .... AND I'm in the 14th largest city in the country, so it's not a case of BC for the country girls and fondant for the city girls. In the very few cases where a bride has requested fondant, once I've shown them I can get the smooth look with BC, they are fine with BC.
I still do cakes with fountains and stairs.....even in "the big city" 
Some years ago I would have agreed with the thought of small town brides order this and big city brides order that. But with the information age upon us and EVERYONE having access to the internet, the wedding channel, the style channel, all the wedding shows, martha stewart, the food network, etc., everyone .... even those who live far from a metropolis, are seeing all the options.
Back when I got married, I had the choice of white cake or white cake with white icing or white icing. The bride who introduced chocolate cake at her wedding ???? RADICAL, MAN, RADICAL!!!! We also didn't have all the information available ..... all we had was Bride's Magz, which only showed weddings suitable for the New York Waldorf Astoria Hotel and NOT for the middle class midwest ..... OR we saw what cousin Suzy had at her wedding last spring.
Brides today have so many options .... which, in my opinion can be a bad thing because now they have SO MANY options to choose from, making the decision making process a little difficult for them sometimes.
If your area doesn't have many who do fondant, then I say market that and run with it! You can probably get a newspaper story on how you're the "sole source" for fondant in your area!
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The subject of Fondant:
When I have a tasting, I always make a little fondant covered cake, to show them how pretty it is. 85% of the brides go "Yeck, I hate fondant".
I tell them I am on a mission to change the reputation of fondant and that they will LOVE this fondant! (I use Satin Ice and sometimes Masse..I prepare it the day before so it has a chance to dry and do a very nice, thin layer) I give them a whole speach about how Fondant from Michaels sits on the shelves for 35000 years and the fondant I use is fresh and doesn't have all those chemicals in and it isn't it just beautiful? I also only charge 25 cents per serving more for a fondant cake. They actualy enjoy the flavor and the look and man, it changes their minds!
So you CAN convert people!!
hehehe. Some of the brides really must think I am nuts. I love Wilton fondant for my fake cakes...(use those good ol 50 percent off coupons!) but how anyone can use that stuff on a wedding cake, and expect people to actually eat it is a pure out and out shame. No wonder fondant has a bad name!
I have fallen in love with Masse Americana, but I can't afford it. If the price ever goes down, I was debating using it on my wedding cake snd use the Satin Ice on party cakes...
When I did my friends wedding cake she had a classic and simple design picked out. I told her that I wanted to do it in fondant because my bc smoothing technique isn't the very best. I did a practice cake for her husband's birthday and she was so blown away by what I can do with fondant that she ordered the design I did for the birthday cake for her wedding cake. I like fondant and I am from a small place where no one knows much about it - they think I am simply amazing LOL! Not even close! My point is - brides need to see options for themselves and realize what is out there, some like bc, some like fondant, some don't care as long as they get the look they want. My bc and fondant prices are the same because I want to do fondant and don't want to discourage it by having it as a higher price. All small town brides want their day to be as classy/fun/elegant/funky as city brides - it just depends on the bride!! Hope this helps!
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