The Business of Cake Decorating # 4
Building Your Business
by
Earlene Moore
Begin
building your REPUTATION.
In article three we talked about doing cakes for your neighbors
and family. These are the people who know you and your abilities
best. They will enjoy seeing your skills increase and probably be
very helpful in getting rid of those practice (not quite right)
decorated cakes that we all have in the beginning. They also know
if you keep a clean kitchen and have good working habits. As I mentioned
before this is a rather messy product we work with. The sugar, Crisco,
cake, eggs and etc can make a large mess. Cleaning as we go keeps
our work area presentable when we have an unexpected client drop
in. Please, no licking fingers, tips and etc. This is an absolute
NO NO. Your REPUTATION depends on your product, your cake decorating
skill and your own personal good working habits.
Keep
building your REPUTATION.
Most cake decorators will want to build their business slowly and
increase their skills as they are building their business. As your
skills grow inform more of your friends, family, work associates,
church friends, club friends that you are learning cake decorating
and are available for special decorated cakes. The faster you let
others know what you are doing - the faster you will be able to
build your business.
In almost every community you can create a market for your cake
decorating business. Children having birthdays, couples getting
married, holiday festivities and new baby showers are among the
occasions that we count on for building a business. If you are helping
with a festive occasion, volunteer to bring the cake. They may be
expecting a plain cake and you will have opportunity to show off
your cake decorating skills.
Excerpt from the AOL cake decorating chat August 15, 1996.
Dolores777
- Success or the amount of it: Much of your success depends on your
own dedication and mostly --- AMBITION. Recently a married couple
attended my 12 week course and started right off making BIG bucks.
The wife quit her other job within 2 months to stay home with their
baby. The husband goes around taking orders at his job. Example:
For Mother’s Day they took orders for 50+ boxes - of - roses
cakes at $20.00 each. Add this up! You DO have to work at it to
do this well.
Build your REPUTATION
- don’t deplete your finances.
Make sure your acquaintances, friends and family understand there
will be a fee charged. To give a cake away should be your choice
not what is expected of you. Even if I am planning on giving a cake
to a friend, up front I inform them how much the cake they order
will be. When they come to pick up the cake I still have the choice
of charging them for the cake or giving it to them.
Even with Brides and Grooms cakes I never tell a Bride I will do
her cake for free before she picks out the cake she wants. All of
my cake albums have information labels attached to each cake. In
that label the price per serving is included along with any additional
extra charges such as cake tops, lace pieces, arranging fresh or
silk flowers and etc. The Bride looking at these albums can make
an informed choice without asking a multitude of questions to be
able to stay within her budget. If she is a good friend I have the
option or privilege of subtracting a portion of the cost of her
wedding cake. Or I may chose to give her the entire wedding cake
as her wedding present after she has made her choice. In the past
I found that if I told a Bride I would do her cake for free and
let her pick anything she wanted, I resented it when she picked
a labor intensive cake. You might have had a $300 gift in mind and
they choose a $1,000 cake. If they think they are going to be required
to pay for the entire cake they are more realistic in their choices.
Still building your REPUTATION.
Surprise co workers with birthday cakes at work. If you are asked
to bring a dish to a meal function take a dessert and do a decorated
cake. They will be surprised and you will be advertising your skills.
Spreading your REPUTATION
beyond your family and friends.
Donate decorated cakes to Girl Scout functions, Ronald McDonald
houses, Church functions and other worthwhile organizations in your
community. Yes, it does take an investment of your time, talents
and cake expense to get your business started. Once you have shown
them that you are offering a quality product at a moderate price
the orders will begin to come in.
Keeping
your REPUTATION with others in your field builds
a referral base when they have someone who wants something beyond
their skills.
Remember - Don’t
undercut the bakery prices - You should be giving them
as good or better quality product and you will be building your
skills. The best way to make an enemy out of a local bakery is to
undercut and talk bad about them. Most bakeries give a tasty product.
They must operate on a minimum of baking and decorating time to
be able to stay in business. They have a place in our communities.
You can fill in where they leave off. The bakeries don’t have
the time to do the designs that are labor intensive or require specialized
skills. You as a home decorator without the overhead can afford
to spend a little more time with the intricate details. We each
have our own personal skills to offer our communities. We need to
be able to work cooperatively with each other.
Your
product and skill level will go a long way toward building your
REPUTATION.
Your REPUTATION as a sugar artist is built one day at a time. With
one cake at a time. For one party at a time. Sure we get to the
point where we do multiple cakes for multiple parties and weddings.
But your REPUTATION is still based upon each individual cake that
goes out. Always doing your best and making each cake special will
go a long way in building your REPUTATION and BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS
Your AMBITION, REPUTATION, AND SPECIALIZED SKILLS can lead to a
very successful business in the sugar arts. |