For marketing purposes, do you have a tagline after the business name that describes what you do? My business name does not have the word "cakes" or "bakery" so I used to use "cakes for all occasions." Now I've branched out to cookies and cupcakes, but I generally just do decorated goods and not regular dessert cakes. So now I need help describing my business in a short and sweet tagline.

Artisan bakery?
Artisan desserts?
Custom bakery?
Custom desserts?
Any other ideas?

Do you give yourself a title on things like business cards? Decorator, owner, chef, baker? It's just me so I don't think it's really necessary.

We don't have a tagline, but when I structured our business I created the LLC with a descriptive name that defines our competitive advantage ("The Allergy-Friendly Patisserie"), and combined that with the relatively common (but apropos) d/b/a name "Let Them Eat Cake" to form our complete brand.

I run the business side of our bakery so I use the title "Business Manager" (I was thinking of President or CEO but I wanted to retain a more small business feel), and my wife is the "Executive Pastry Chef".

Even tho you are the only one doing the decorating I would still put on the biz cards something like Cake Artist, it sounds so much more interesting than baker or decorator. Afterall you are an artist. Many ppl don't realize that until they decide to "decorate" a cake themselves and realize just how much it takes to do it neatly. I would even have the words Custom Art Bakery since you are now branching out into other areas besides just cakes. Make it creative and sound like you are completely different from the Walmart down the road per se. I am just getting ready to open a cupcake/cake shop in the next few months also and I'm about to order up some biz cards also. You can bet it won't just say baker/decorator on them

I like "custom art bakery." I'll play around with that a little bit. Thanks!

Now I need to invest in photoshop elements so I can create my logo. I know what I want so I don't want to pay for someone to create it, but still, this startup is getting pricey!

I use "Custom Cakes and Confections"

My business name is Pat-a-Cake Parties.

Underneath that, on my business cards and on the rear window sticker of my car, I have 'Wedding and Celebration Cakes'.

My business name is Pat-a-Cake Parties.

Underneath that, on my business cards it says 'Beautiful cakes and cookie favours for all occasions'.

Next time I get some business cards printed (which won't be for quite a while, as I've just had 1000 done) I'll change it to 'Wedding and Celebration Cakes' (I'd like to push the wedding cakes more than birthdays, etc....)

I've recently embraced "Cake Artist" and "Custom Cake Studio". It is more on target of what I actually do since I don't have a bakery per se and I think "Baker" or "Cake Decorator" is a little dated. I was using Pastry Chef but I don't make pastry on a regular basis. I use "custom homemade confections". It has a nice ring and again, more on target of what I do.

I agree. Cake Decorator sounds dated to me too. I thought about pastry chef, but my focus is more on the decorating side instead of the dessert offerings. I do like the sound of "studio." It's crazy how words have such a huge impact on everything!

My new business name is - Sweet n' Rosy Custom Cakery
and on my biz cards I have my name and " contemporary cake artist".
It took me some time to actually get the biz cards done with that title on them, as I felt I may be seen as a bit full of myself, but a friend says I am deserving of the title, and that nobody who's ever got anywhere far in business, has done so without a bit of assertiveness! i had to agree with her

You may want to consider writing a mission statement. I used to have my marketing firm clients do the classic example of summarizing their business in seven words or less. This takes some thought, but if you do this before you open, it's a lesson in staying focused. This line is now good for adding under the name of your business and, at a glance, any potential customer will know exactly what you do.

I won't share my bakery mission statement, but the one for the marketing company was, The Market Place (name of business), "Comprehensive marketing plans for small businesses".

Jason's is an example of a mission statement vs. just custom cakes. You instantly know everything you need to know about his business and can make a decision about contacting that company.

By the way, artisan and custom are very different things. Artisan implies using time honored skills at a master level. Artisan also implies tradition. If your cakes and style of decorating are a wider range of styles, artisan may not convey that message. Custom is of course, one-of-a-kind to customer's specs. You can be one or the other, or both, but be sure your description actually matches what you want to convey about your business. In my business, artisan works for me because I specialize in traditional cakes made from scratch with many old recipes. But custom is something I rarely do. And I don't get those calls at all. So word this carefully. Use an online thesaurus or synonym site to help with the wording.

Mine says "Custom Confections" so as not to limit myself should I want to branch out to add other desserts!

I wonder if my town would know what "confections" meant. While I would love to focus on the higher end market doing things like tiered cakes and parties, I feel like getting things up and going business-wise will mean marketing to both higher end and somewhere in the middle.

If I use the term "custom desserts" what does it make you think of? Does it imply decorated cakes/cookies/cupcakes? I could use "custom" and "cake" but since I offer broader products do you think it would be limiting to just use the term cake?

Thanks everyone for your input! I love how so many people at CC are willing to help others out!

"Confections" is usually associated with candy.

And you are so right to make sure that your name is understood in your region.

My description is desserts because I didn't want to be boxed in, especially with a retail bakery business plan in its final stages. and my business is strictly an upper income target market.

If you want a link to my site, pm me.

Mine is "Custom Cakes & Baked Goods"