I had something interesting said to me today....a lady trying to gather vendors for an event website...anyway she said "Someone said something about you and I'm not sure if its true..."

I was like "?????"

She said "They said since your oven is small you can only do a few cakes per weekend."

I thought that was the weirdest thing. I explained that well yes I do have one oven and its from home (my oven is big for home standards) and that anyone working from home is going to be limited to a certain number of cakes per weekend and my customer base is trained to book early to make sure they get their spot.

Why would someone have said that about me? Weird.

That's just weird. I rent a commercial kitchen but I still have to limit the number of cakes I can do in a weekend.

It may be weird, but I can't see why this should be a negative thing. If your customer is the only one getting a cake that weekend, s/he is more likely to get the "personalized" service that people so covet. Obviously, as tracycakes points out, it's more a question of how many cakes you can handle at a time, evren if you have a small oven. I mean, if you wanted to (and were able to) do three or four cakes per weekend, you could start baking on Monday and not stop until Thursday or so, when you could start doing all the hundred or so other things that go into making a wedding cake. But why would a customer think it would be better to be one of the crowd rather than THE recipient of a spectacular cake on the special date?

I think that people that "aren't in the know" don't really know what we (the cakers of the world) are capable of doing "in a weekend." Obviously with a home oven, we learn to adapt and plan our baking/decorating schedules accordingly. Just keep doing what you're doing and don't worry about what people think you're doing.

I can do 3-4 tiered cakes in a weekend...sometimes I limit it to 2 if they are really involved sculpted or large cakes.

Its not really my oven that's the problem so much as my time, and having a family!!!

I limit myself per week as to how many orders I take. It has nothing to do with the size of my oven either! I've had clients tell me they prefer a smaller operation versus a larger walk in shop. I only do a certain amount of cake too because of my family.

It's true that I can't do as much in my smaller home kitchen than a person with a larger professional kitchen can make in the same amount of time, but the comment seems to be a needless one no matter what the circumstance. Many professional bakeries have to stop taking orders after a certain amount of orders are placed, so it really is a moot point. I agree with Marianna. Your clients should be honored to have a cake with a personalized touch.

I work 2 real jobs, so I can only do 1-2 cakes a week.

Even if my kitchen had 20 ovens that would not make it so that I could make more cakes. There is still only 1 of me. It isn't the baking that takes a ton of time. That is an odd thing to say.

Kitagrl, when I read your post the first thing that popped into my head is that it was a comment from a competitor...like a "mine is bigger than theirs" kind of thing. Do you happen to know who said it or in what context it was said?

Doesn't matter anyway. You keep turning out those beautiful cakes and don't give it a second thought. Your customers are happy and that's what matters!

I agree with everything here. Balancing my kids (now on summer break), home management, husband, self, and cake orders (not always in that order) is tough sometimes. So I sometimes have to limit the orders I take based on my schedule of other stuff going on that week.

No it was a lady who is trying to accumulate vendors on one website for a certain type of celebration (don't want to get too specific) and she was talking to me...and I was actually talking to her about another baker (something I NEVER do and should not have done in this case, its a bakery I know bad things about) and she came up with the fact that someone had mentioned that I am very limited in how many orders I can take in one weekend.

Just interesting...kinda opened my eyes to how much gossip possibly goes around about venues. I try to stay out of it...should have this time as well. I just try to be friends with the cakers in my area.

I wouldn't be bothered by it. It's true, after all, and like someone else said it's a truth that is merely factual and doesn't imply anything negative. And, like you, all of my clients know to book out as early as possible. In fact, I think that it makes what I offer even more desirable since it can get pretty exclusive as to who can actually get an order placed with me. I tell everyone their deposit reserves their date. I don't reserve a date based on discussions but based on money in hand and it's first come first serve basis.

This ended up biting me in the butt though as I found myself booked so far out in advance that "I" couldn't plan ANYTHING in my own life since I had cakes lined up months ahead of time. So, I've changed it now and advise them to contact me no sooner than 4 weeks ahead of their due date to check for my availability (with the occasional exception, of course). If what you offer is worth it they will wait, order early or do whatever they have to do to get a cake from YOU.

I kind of like that my cake art is known to be more of a "commissioned" piece from a "private studio" than something easily massed produced. And people feel better about spending their money on something not just everyone can get. Don't lose any sleep over it.

Gosh, CakeDiosa, I want to be you when I grow up (LOL - the LOL is because I'm retiring in a few months)! I just wrote my brother and sister and I used almost the same words to tell them what my vision for my post-retirement business is (it's just now getting off the ground). I told them I wanted to have a "cake studio" where people could "commission" a special occasion cake that I would either design for them or try to realize a vision that they already had!