Store Front Question

Business By sweet_cravings Updated 10 May 2014 , 7:08pm by costumeczar

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sweet_cravings Posted 9 May 2014 , 5:52pm
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Just wondering if you really need to have a pastry chef degree or at least some sorts of certification to open a cupcake & cake bake store front? I know technically not needed for the process but just for having extra knowledge or experience?... Planning to open a shop but getting SO nervous bcoz my degree is from totally diff field but cake decorating is my SOLID hobby & people are approaching me for orders seeing my designs.

TIA

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-K8memphis Posted 9 May 2014 , 6:24pm
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the average pastry school or the pastry portion of a culinary degree covers very little in the way of celebration cakes--you'd get more from several airings of 'cupcake wars' and just feeding your passion like you're doing with caking--taking specific courses from cakers is much more to the point--

 

it's interesting how many different avenues one can travel in pastry -- the road you go down in pastry school is often geared mostly toward the restaurant & hospitality category with a little bit of celebration cake tossed in for good measure--

 

so it's not only not necessary imo it's a waste of time for what you propose--fun though

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cupadeecakes Posted 9 May 2014 , 7:40pm
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No offense to anyone with a official culinary training, but I don't think it's a requirement.  When I first got the bug to open my cake business, I couldn't afford to go to culinary school so I got a job at a bakery / pastry shop.  I had a working interview where I had to show my proficiency with cakes (basketweave) and that I could follow a recipe.  I have to admit that I did learn a lot about how a bakery storefront was ran and a lot of the tricks of the trade.  Enough so that I decided NOT to have a storefront when I opened my bakery, but I digress...

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MBalaska Posted 9 May 2014 , 8:03pm
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'Baking and Pastry' book by the CIA.

I just borrowed it from the local library.  It has almost nothing about cake, and just a few basic frosting recipes (I'm talking about the decorated cakes mostly shown in the galleries here)  It's hard to imagine how you'd learn advanced cake decorating from that class.

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thecakewitch Posted 9 May 2014 , 8:26pm
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A

Original message sent by sweet_cravings

Just wondering if you really need to have a pastry chef degree or at least some sorts of certification to open a cupcake & cake bake store front? I know technically not needed for the process but just for having extra knowledge or experience?... Planning to open a shop but getting SO nervous bcoz my degree is from totally diff field but cake decorating is my SOLID hobby & people are approaching me for orders seeing my designs. TIA

What's the most important thing you will need? Money!

Business/marketing smarts, accounting, food safety knowledge if not cert. are more important in running a business than a pastry degree.

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howsweet Posted 10 May 2014 , 1:05am
post #6 of 7

Pastry chefs often don't make much money. You're better off knowing how to run a successful business in most cases I'd think. Then you can hire a pastry chef or baker.

 

Someone correct me if this is wrong, but I believe Anne Heap got a degree in marketing, went to pastry school and then did an internship  Ron Ben Israel. That sounds like a recipe for success.

 

But you can learn how to make a few good cakes a lot quicker than you can learn how to run a business.

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costumeczar Posted 10 May 2014 , 7:08pm
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I have a certificate in pastry arts, and there was only one course that dealt with decorated cakes in my program. You didn't even have to take it, it was an elective. Anybody can open any kind of shop, you don't have to have personal knowledge of  what you're selling. You can hire people for that. It's much more important to understand the business end of it. If you're a good manager and understand the accounting side and how to operate a business you can hire someone to decorate the cakes, do the baking etc.

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