AI have recently taken my cupcake and cake hobby to the next level and made my own business (with the help of my parents). I'm only sixteen, but I've found I really have a talent for baking and decorating, and I was constantly encouraged to do this for profit- which I have now for about 2 months.

I'm hoping to get some tips and feed back from you more experienced ladies :) Specifically on... *How to price cakes *Best ways to minimize time taken to make a cake *What kind of cakes and cupcakes are the most commonly ordered **How to deal with customers if they get out of hand!

Any sort of advice about anything related to cakes would be wonderful!

Here's a picture of a cake I finished today and charged about $160 for. What should I be charging for this kind of cake? [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/2952832/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

there is a lot of discussion already logged in the business section on these topics so that's a great place to start doing searches for the subjects you describe

one of the anomalies of this business is that people encourage anyone who can pull a cookie out of the oven to start a business i don't know what it is

you, my friend, have started your business journey prematurely

i recommend that you do your homework first before proceeding any further

making nice cakes and being a business are completely different things

you are asking the right questions so that's good--now go get your answers they are in these forums already

making pretty cakes is easy compared to running a viable business

my suggestion is do some research here and then come back & ask some more specific questions & i & we are here for you

best of the best to you

To add on to K8's post, I have found the best way to search CC for specific questions is to use google.  type in       contracts cake central        or      pricing cake central       difficult customers cake central        ect works really well.  I don't sell cakes so can't say how much for that cake but I am quite certain that you only made a buck or two an hour for that cake.  The first step in pricing is to figure out your actual costs.   Your cake drum, boards, supports, cake, buttercream, fondant, etc.  You need to calculate out each amount of ingredients for the cakes in question.  That is the easy part, then comes your time.  Start keeping track of all your time.  how long to shop, make the batter and icing, to prepare your pans, bake, trim, ice, apply fondant, make figures.  Start keeping track of each step and you will better be able to calculate a reasonable return on your time and to be estimate future projects as well.  Then there is electricity, gas to shop,  profit, market where you live, etc.  It is pretty common for people to charge at least $4 per serving for fondant, with additional for figures and details.  The wilton chart   http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm  is generally the industry standard.  Your cake looks like it would be a couple hundred servings which means you made less than a dollar a serving.  You basically are selling your cakes for a little over a buck a serving.  You are making a little over your expenses but very little for your time, utilities, etc.

AYour first step before launching a business should be creating a business plan, you can find more info here: http://www.bplans.com/

with my aim to save on cake cost on occasions, i decided to learn how to bake and decorate a cake. Right now I am accepting orders but without a business plan.. :D thanks to jason_kraft