I dont want to sound like a complainer, but man I am tired! Wedding season still hasn't ended for me, and we are now getting all these holiday requests orders. Every single day my schedule is me getting up at 3 am, working till 11 PM and this includes Saturdays and Sundays. I took few days off a couple of weeks ago, but I am still wore out! Ok, so I went looking for help. I figured if I take in one extra cake a week, I can afford help. After many many disasters, I FINALLY have someone who helps crumb coat, and decorate party cakes She is very good and has saved me from having to Say NO to every body who calls. I decorate all the wedding cakes, as they are so specific to what the bride wanted. Sometimes she will do the piping for me if its like the old fashion Cs and S's or swiss dots. I tried to hire someone to do baking and the torting and filling part (which just takes so long)but I had such problems with people torting and filing (dont have the skill and nobody seems to care that maybe the person DIDN T want strawberry mousse?) that I do that myself. I also do all my baking. (I tried different people to bake and again, nobody wants to do it. I had one girl say to me But there are 15 steps in this recipe!. Unemployment rates are crazy, but people dont want to work hard! One girl I had for two weeks and she was upset becasue she had to stand all day. I think she thought it was like ace of cakes and everyone laughs and plays with gumpaste all day. So I am happy to have my decorator, she is my god send. I keep looking for that baker..(and yes, I had several culinary students..wow, what a disaster that was!)

weekends? I spend Saturdays on deliveries and I spend Sundays doing consultations. I even have someone working the office for me a couple of days a week to keep things under control. The business is just busting at the seams and I realize that it is the nature of the beast to have to work this many hours. I just want to know how you deal with the exhaustion. There are some days where all I think about is I wonder what it is like to go to bed and sleep for 8-10 hours. Or maybe just sit and watch the tv or read a book. I thought November-December it would quiet down but we are as booked up as we were in June. And I already have 45 weddings booked for 2010 and things are just starting to roll! Do I just learn to live on 3 hours a sleep a day, 7 days a week? How do you cope when you look in the mirror and go Oh, more grey hair and realize its the permament buttercream in your hair. Or how you look at everything and wonder how you can make it into a cake and don't know how to talk about anything else? (I dont watch any cake shows on tv anymore...I am so sick of the same silly stuff!) I had a day a couple of weeks ago where I said to my husband We are Going out to eat because I haven't left the house in two weeks. So how do you cope?

Anyway, thanks for listening. back to work for me! (have been up stil 2 am today...)

Would it be possible to invest in some equipment that will make life easier? A bigger mixer that makes 20 lbs of buttercream at once? An oven that bakes 10 layers at once? A fondant sheeter?

It sounds as though you have enough business to make such things cost effective, and they would save you a ton of time. Also, how about hiring someone just to clean up? When I get as busy as you THAT'S going to be my first investment.

YOU HAVE GOT TO SCHEDULE SOME REST FOR YOURSELF. If you don't, you will get sick. Then where will your business be? The body can only go so long, then it will insist on rest, usually by collapsing in a public place.

Congratulations, you have worked yourself into a total frenzy. My advice, given from my own personal experience, it's time to make some tough decisions. Sounds like your trying to run a bakery by yourself which is impossible. Are you a bakery or a custom cake shop? If your a bakery, you have to get more help, if your a custom cake shop raise your prices and specialize in special occasion and wedding cakes. You have to give yourself permission to turn down every single person that calls. You can't do it all. You will cut down on your work load but still be making the same money and in some cases more. Your cakes are beautiful. If your a bakery, then be deligent about training and finding help. Your health depends on it, let alone your family. Pam from Bama

Sometimes she will do the piping for me if its like the old fashion Cs and S's or swiss dots.

old fashion?
Geesh, I call these "the new modern craze decorations"!

I agree that maybe some larger and/or more tools might be in order. I have a 20-qt and being able to make 15+ lbs of icing at one shot is AWESOME! What would take me 6 batches in a KA is done inside of 10 minutes!

I had to bake a 5 tier hexagon cake this past weekend. I only have 1 set of hex pans, so I had to bake, wash pans, bake. Never realized how SPOILED I was by having multiple pans and a big oven so I could bake sometimes two whole wedding cakes at one time! Geesh, I could never go back to the "one or two at a time" system like I used to!

This past weekend was a "I'm so freakin' tired!" weekend (details here: http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-
ftopicp-6617036-.html#6617036 ). A total of about 8 hours JUST cooking chicken! This is a good example of how larger equipment is a blessing: 8 hours of cooking time on a comm'l stove using 3 comm'l skillets. Can you imagine how much time it would have taken, one skillet at a time at home?

Congrats on building yourself to exhaustion! Growing pains hurt sometimes, but they are a good thing.

I work out of my home, and I'm with you on the exhaustion thing. I think that I've been in the kitchen every waking hour since September. Whenever anyone tells me "that's a good problem to have" I want to smack them!

It was like this last year, too, though. I usually get so disgusted by mid-October I just block off my calendar for the rest of the year and say that I'm not taking any more business than what I already have on the books. Wedding season goes longer than May and June now, and I always forget that October is busier than those months.

I am SO HAPPPY you posted this. It gives all those people who want to start a business a little reality insite & thats it's not all "Ace of Cakes". I'm not sure if your at home or in a bakery, but I can only speek for at home. So, I have 3 under 3 and I haven't had a full night sleep in....oh, about 3 1/2 years. We all know the need to got to the bathroom every 15 minutes while pregnant and then the baby comes and now she is sleeping through the night, but did I mention I'm pregnant again! Oh yeah, she is now sleeping through the night, but guess what? YUP! Her he comes, baby number three. And he insist on sleeping with us & tossing & turning, & baby number 2 still wakes up ever so often if she looses her pacifier! So, yeah, I might be a little tired. It can be done. You can scale back. You can keep looking for help. It is out there...though you will have to go through a few to find the right one. Don't give up. There is a reason I don't have a website, I only want so much business. Most people hear from me word of mouth & get a pretty business card. I like it. Believe me, we could use the money, I just can't take on 5 wedding cakes EVERY weekend. Don't give up & keep your head up. You'll find the help you need or you may need to say, you know that word...NO!

I would say that I wish I had all those wedding cake orders LOL but I don't wanna be smacked!

You could always raise prices, do less work for the same money....step up the budgets of your customer base. I don't end up with hardly any sheet cakes or round bakery style single layer cakes because my minimum per serving cost is quite higher than buying those types at a regular bakery.

My business is growing, but VERY VERY slowly.....not sure if its all the competition in my area or what. I did sign up for a bridal show for early next year so maybe that will help (I have a very hard time getting to those around here, both because of cost, and how they are scheduled.)

Congrats!!!!!

Wow--I agree with the other posters. You have built yourself a wonderful case of exhaustion; but I understand. I ran my business from home for 8 years, I've been in a commercial space for almost 4 yrs. Growth is a monster until you learn what you want and need. My business literally grew too large to be at home, and it was a blessing. When I move for what will be the THIRD time in 3 years before the end of the year it will be back to a live/work situation (these last two moves were not my idea). But I learned what I wanted and needed: I like the convenience and cost effectiveness of live/work, but you have to have a separation of home and work, and I've finally found the space that accommodates that. You have to invest in the equipment that makes the job easier and more manageable. Debi's right, with a 20 qt. mixer things happen much faster.
I had 4 tiered cakes this week and 3 smaller ones. Without that mixer and my commercial oven (thank you DeLuxe) I'd STILL be in the kitchen. The long hours happen. Weds. & Thurs. were 12 hr days. Friday was a 17 hour day for me and I was back at the shop yesterday by 8AM. The day ended at 5. I'm writing this sitting in my bed. You have to find time for yourself. Your mind & body can only take so much.

Where do you live? Maybe someone on here would know someone in your area that could help.

Raise your prices considerably. You'll do half as much work for the same amount of money.

Any and all equipment that saves time is a worthwhile investment. I have a standing mixer that takes both a 10 liter and a 20 liter bowl. I can make icing for the week in about an hour. I can make a huge batch of filling in half an hour and freeze half of it. I can make batter for a large amount of layers all at once.

That commercial dishwasher that costs so much? Well, it doesn't cost so much after all when you think that the program only takes two minutes compared with an hour or more with a regular 'home' appliance.

Many sets of pans so you don't have stop the rythm of your work day just to wash pans.

Commercial oven. My commercial oven isn't that big (I'm saving for a larger one), but I can still bake ten 10" rounds at one time ( and even more layers if I have lots of six-inchers and eight-inchers).

If I was close to you I would certainly love to work with you!!!! Good luck and take some time to breath and maybe go get a mani and pedi!

Amen to the commercial equipment! I recently moved my cake life into my cake kitchen (separate building across the driveway, totally legal and licensed now). However, I still have a full-time job because while my business is growing, it's still not consistent enough to give up the steady paycheck. However, October very nearly killed me ! If I hadn't had the 20-qt. mixer and deluxe oven, there is a very good chance that I would have had to be committed. Between my full-time job, kid's school activities and multiple wedding cakes and other events and cakes ....whew.....I am so thankful for the busy times, but equally thankful for the down times. Now it's slowed down for me for a bit and I'm feeling a bit low for not having much on the books right now. However a bridal show in January should help that out a bit!

LOL! I love it! The "craig's list" bakeries! A new word to add to my baker's dictionary!

i am so glad you posted this! i just recently opened a cake shop and have been doing it all myself! i work 7 days a week and towards the end of the week i am pulling 17-18 hour days, getting 4 hours of sleep and doing it all over the next day. two weeks ago i started feeling bad and lost my voice(i had 3 wedding consults!!!) i stayed sick for 9 days and finally took 2 hours off to visit the doctor! diagnosis: serious sinus infection that had caused my throat to become severly swollen and raw for 9+days! prescription: antibiotics,decongestants and 2 days of rest and no talking! YEAH RIGHT!!.....were those wedding cakes and halloween orders going to bake themselves? this was the first time that i thought......"what have i done"?

and on top of that, everyone seems to think that i have it made in the shade because I am my own boss!! ugh
the only thing i have realized about being my own boss is that i work harder than i ever have and somehow i have less money than i ever had!!

i am so glad that you guys can relate!!

Does anyone know if Delux makes large ovens that will run on 220. I wouldn't be able to
rewire my home for the commercial models.

While I don't have a cake business, (just do it for family, friends, and as my recreation), I do have a longarm quilting business. It got to a point that I had to ask myself if I was "earning a living" or "earning a dying." Exhaustion hurts you and the people you love. I then learned how to say "No, I can't do that." I'm happier, business is good but not crazy, and the income is sufficient.

Just a thought.

1- Schedule your self a day off. I would suggest Monday. Do NOTHING on Mondays that is business related. Hire somebody to answer the phones for you on the Monday.

2- I hate to say I told you so,( actually I don't) but when you asked about the Wake Tech interns I told you they were problematic. Post an internship on Johnston and Wales board. I have good luck with my Johnston and Wales interns. Just make sure they have taken cake decorating 2 before you take them on, or they don't know jack.

3- Consolidate your consults. Only do them on 2 Sundays a month instead of every Sunday. Brides are booking ahead anyway. One week won't make a difference.

4-Make sure that your HOA and neighborhood zoning ALLOW for you to run the kind of business that has regular, long term employees coming into your house. Most don't.

5- If you need to work less, you need to raise your prices. You are at $3.75 including fondant and gumpaste flowers. For pete sake I charge twice that and we are in the same market. We are still so booked that 5 of my staff are in the 100 hour club. ( Working over 100 hours in a pay period- I buy them a tee shirt that says " prisoner of Camp Cupcake")

6- I am going to suggest that you do book some smaller cakes. Those are the cakes you give to your assistant to practice on. If you book 3 $50 -$80 birthday cakes, it goes a long way toward paying her $10 and hour.

7- To train a baker, you give them 1 recipe at a time. Hand them a brand new notebook that fits in the pocket of their apron and tell them " When I am talking, you are writing until you know everything that I know" The first two days, my new assistants do nothing but inventory the kitchen ( they learn where things are) and make buttercream. The second two days they make batter. Usually the chocolate 1 st because it is the easiest. They make 3 to 4 batches. Then the vanilla. etc...

loriemoms, where are you located? Sounds like you are around my old neck of the woods...I grew up between Smithfield and Clayton.

Too bad I'm not still living up there, if that's where you are, baking is my THING.

There is so much necessary information in this thread. Just wanted to pipe in and say that I wish I was closer too. I'd love to work for you.

What are you guys doing to get this kind of business?! Since I went completely legal, my orders have completely dropped off. I get a few but I get more that call, want something special then never call back. I had an appt with a lady last night to finalize details and she calls and needs to cancel. It's just frustrating. I'm advertising, people are recommending me but then very few people order. The only things I've had for the last few weeks are sheet cakes. I'm taking just about anything that comes in right now but it's just frustrating. My prices are in line with the other custom bakeries in town. Are you guys doing anything special for advertising? Where is most of your business coming from?

What are all these consultations? Are you doing consultations for all cakes? If so, stop it. Do consultations for wedding cakes only, or party cakes for more than 100 servings. Otherwise you'll kill yourself.

Tracy, i hear you!!! I had a crazy busy Oct., but now things have fallen off. Just a couple of cakes scheduled each week for the next few weeks. I think we both became legal at about the same time so maybe, we just need to be patient and let word of mouth continue... My DH always says "It's the little cakes that get the big cakes....."

Happy that you are growing. Sorry that you are stressed. I guess I am part of the problem. I have referred 3 would be clients to you because I am trying to manage my family, a separate full-time job, a small cake business and graduate school.

So when mid-terms came around, I had to turn down 6 orders I sent you 3 and 3 to someone else because you have such great reviews.

Get some rest and it's OK to say no sometimes. Rejuvenation is the key to longevity.