Hello all....

I am not sure if I am allowed to post this here but I will try and see what happens.

I am working on building my business. (not cake related) I have to do a business viability report and was wondering if you all could take a few minutes to fill out a survey for me?

I understand that most of you are not Canadian (i am) so it doesn't entirely apply to you, but I know you all still do grocery shopping, and you all still snack, no matter where you all live. And I truly value your thoughts here on CakeCentral. I have learned so much from the forums here, cake wise AND business wise.

I was given less then a week to prepare my presentation for class, and have used most of my resources here to get surveys done, but I feel I haven't gotten enough answered.

If you could spare 2-3 min of your time, I would truly truly appreciate it!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5DMPD38

If you have any other thoughts or opinions I would love to hear them! Thank you all so much for your time!!!!!

Sonya

Ok, mine is done! On the ones re: "How much would you expect to pay?" I'll confess I picked the lowest one only because there was no "I have no idea" option. I don't know what price range this type of thing normally runs so I'm like a cake civilian on that one!

Thanks so much!
It's really appreciated

Here in Canada, we have dips that are mass produced that go for under $4.00 but what I am making is more of a gourmet type product that you would find in a cheese shop or bakery lets say. Maybe even a fine food store??

I'm just at the begining stages of getting this off the ground and theres so much more I need to learn.......but I am glad I can get the opinions of everyone here!

Done, good luck on your business.

I put I would not buy because I never buy ready-made food. Like my cakes, I cook from scratch too. BUT, there is a market for what you are offering, but you are not going to find it in that survey. As a former marketing company owner, I have some suggestions. First, you have no income, sex, age, demographic area, etc., qualifications. By this survey, you will not find who your market is. But I can tell you. It is a higher income woman who cannot make the dips and soups herself, either becase of too little time or she doesn't like to cook. But she appreciates quality food. These people shop specialty stores and grocery stores. Quality and freshness is important to her. You don't need to see if there is a market... there is unless it is a very small, job depressed area. You need a breakdown of your area demographics, determine where and how many of your target market exists, then make a marketing plan centered around how to reach these people. The stores closest to the highest home values is where to start, then go from there.

I just took the survey, too. Having a degree in sociology has made me a sucker for taking surveys.

Along the lines of what scp1127 said, the feedback you get from members of CC is going to be significantly skewed...I'm thinking towards the end of people NOT likely to buy the product, mostly because of things I've read in the forum. I know there are probably some exceptions, but in general it seems members of CC:

1. Enjoy baking/cooking and would not pay someone else to do it.
2. Say they cannot afford to buy their own cakes.

You might want to do some surveys in upper income areas, as well as pricing out similar products at specialty stores. Good luck with getting your business started!