I need some advise on how much to charge.....this is the situation:
I was approached by some of my neighbors to teach them some basic cake decorating. I used to be an instructor but had to give it up due to time restraints when I had my 2nd set of twins. I'm looking at offering just people in my immediate area a 2 hour class with a maximum 4 people at a time. Just the basics and then follow up classes after that if they are interested. My local craft store offers the Wilton Classes for $35 a 4 week course.
My thoughts is to provide them with a list of what to buy for the class, and offering 2 price levels. One where they bring in their own icing off the recipe I provide, and another where if I supply the icing.
Do you think these prices are too low or too high?
Bring your own Icing = $15
Instructor will provide Icing = $25
I need all the suggestions that I can get!
Thanks!
I currently teach cake decorating, but I would never do it in my own home. I'm a traveling instructor, teaching at libraries, community groups, etc. Consider the liability if you do this in your own home. The people might be friendly neighbors, but watch someone trip, fall and hurt themselves in your house...guess what...your fault, your homeowners insurance. I'm covered with my own personal liability ins no matter where I am, but I wouldn't put my own home at risk.
I would stay away from two tiered pricing. When I teach, I require students to pre-purchase the tools from a list I provide long in advance. I provide the cake and all the icing. This way, everyone has the same thing. Think about how differently all of us make a standard buttercream. Even from the same recipe, we can all end up with a different result. It's easier for me to provide a recipe for their future use, and demonstrate a how-to, but a 2 hour class with a very specific objective isn't the place for icing experimentation.
I've also invested in a few complete sets of tools available for 'rent' at my classes. Sometimes people take in interest in cake decorating, but might not necessarily want to make the commitment of buying all the tools in case it's a short lived interest. Instead of having to buy the tools, I charge a (very) small fee to rent them. They have paid for themselves 10 times over from the people who might not have otherwise taken my class.
IMO, your prices are a bit low. Of course it depends on your area and what the market will bear. For 2 hours plus materials, $25 is nothing. I've charge 3 times that plus materials for 1 hour. Your time and talent is what is being sold. Charge what you are worth. Don't try to 'beat' Michaels or AC Moore. What you are offering is different and therefore not comparable. It's a different kind of service and should be considered as such.
I think your class size is realistic, perhaps considering 5 students. I typically take 15 with 1 assistant instructor for a very basic technique class and 10 for an intermediate class. I don't teach an advanced class because, quite frankly, I don't want to give away all of my secrets!
I find instructing very rewarding and lots of fun. I hope this was helpful and good luck to you!
I think that a one-time 2 hour class isn't long enough to learn that much. But maybe I'm reading this wrong...are you offering a few 2 hour classes?
Either way, I would charge more than $15/$25. If it were me, I wouldn't want to mess with making their icing...especially since they are going to have to learn to make their own icing anyway. You can charge more than Michaels since there are only 4 students at a time--that's a lot more one-on-one than a Wilton class (at least my class was a big one).
I would more like $25-30 for one 2 hour class...good luck!
I'm going to be teaching some classes in my home, but they are geared toward children.
I am providing a 3 hour class of either cupcake or cookie decoration, providing all materials and they get to take home a dozen cookies or cupcakes.
I am charging $30, and deliberately scheduling them for Friday nights (when parents would love to drop their kids off and get away for a few hours). The class is limited to 6 kids. That's about a $150 profit for me for 3 hours of time.
Since there will be very little "instruction" on my part, and it's more about fun - I'm not charging more.
If I were teaching adults, the price would go up considerably... however, I thought about adult classes and decided against it. Why create competition for myself? Just didn't make sense at this point.
Hmmm what a good idea teaching kids on and evening.
I teach both adults and kids. Middle school that is, 6th - 8th grade.
This is how it works. Its through one of the local after school programs. They give me $25.00 per person for the entire 6 weeks. I provide everything. From cake, tools, icing and even the baking. Barely covers my supplies, right. However I can in turn use the community room at no charge to me. There I give the classes to the adults and to them I charge $85.00 for 4 weeks of instruction. The provide their own materials.
After the basic course, I offer a number of other classes. Chocolate, Cookies etc. And there anyone who wants to can attend regardless of age. I charge differently depending on the class, time needed and degree of diffulcuty.
For both classes, I have a waiting list.
This sounds like a fun idea, especially with the kids. Does a person have to be licensed to offer this service. With all the info we have benefitted from about being legal and baking / selling from home, does this fall under the same category?
Thanks to everyone for replying. Just to clarify, I do not bake and decorate cakes to sell. I used to be an instructor just because it was/is fun in my opinion. I don't have the schedule to go out to a separate location to setup, teach, cleanup and drive back/forth. Teaching out of my home would give me the ability to get everything ready while my kids are playing in the other room and waiting for my husband to get home.
I'm also looking at doing something along the lines that the craft stores and wilton does by offering a basic class the first night of 2 hours - talk about icing, review the recipe for buttercream and what to look for, then the basics of shells, stars, easy borders, etc. So if someone wanted to do a cake after class 1, they could. Or they could sign up and take the 2nd class with me which would have more 'basic' decorating techniques.
Again - I'm OPEN to all ideas/suggestions/comments. I want to have all my ducks in a row before I start telling people about this and scheduling.
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