Difficulties With Friends & Family - Post by Tonia Setorie

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Faith Gealey-Brown on May 30, 2012 at 12:55pm

Hi Tonia,

I added this to the discussion board because I wasn't sure how to respond to your message.  If you told them what the orders cost upfront, then they owe you that money. Period.  What I do with family and friends is I provide them with an invoice (even if I commit to doing the cake for free as a gift) - this way they have an actual bill in their hand that they know the value of what they are getting.  I tend to offer friends a 15-20% discount and for family, I usually just do it at cost, unless they are ordering on behalf of someone else and then its full price.  For example, when my cousin got married, I offered to do his wedding cake for free.  In the card, I put in the "bill" for what I would have charged for that cake - and then instead of having an amount owing, I just put gifted by me and my husband.  This way my cousin knew exactly how generous of a gift it was that he was receiving and he and his wife to this day continue to be very grateful for it because they understood the cost of the "gift" I gave to them.

At the end of the day you are running a business and a full sheet cake with 200 cupcakes for a sweet 16 party - that is a HUGE amount of baked goods to expect for free.  Whether you want to offer a discount or not, that is entirely up to you. But personally, I would continue to send them bill reminders.  In future, have them pay up front or else it doesn't get baked. Another thing you could do is give them a list of ingredients to purchase and say once all of the materials I need are purchased, then I'll bake the cakes for free. I did that one time to a friend who complained about my prices.  When she got to the check out line and realized she was having to shell out $40 worth of baking ingredients alone (not including the fondant she wanted on the cake) she cancelled it and called me and said my price was more than fair and she would pay it.

It's a tricky line to walk, because you don't want to offend family but at the same time, you are the one who is out of pocket for the cost of the materials, electricity, water, and of course, time!

I hope this helps - I know there are some other cakers on here that can offer you some great support and advice for this!

Permalink Reply by Christina's Novelty Cakes on May 30, 2012 at 10:22pm

My ten cents worth which I will add as a rule of thumb and you can't go wrong.  No matter who it is upfront get a deposit of at least 50%.  Any order over $50 (or whatever makes you comfortable) supply a contract which outlines cost, deposit, final payment, due date and what they are getting etc.  

Too many times us as cakers are left at a lost. The cost out of pocket that we are forced to absorb by inconsiderate people who can't afford it but want it can be significant. 

It's trial and error that will make us get it right.  I did a cake recently  for a customer and was given the run around despite my numerous calls and texts.  That money I have just written off as a lost because it was my dumb mistake to put the cake into the customers hand which I had no prior business relationship with.  Now this person is faced with a family emergency, which means I am at no where in their mind of settling a bill. I just received payment for a cake which was$40, which was owed from Nov 2011. 

I hope this helps you as I intend to practice this moving forward. 

Permalink Reply by claris on June 20, 2012 at 1:00pm

One of the things I learned early on in the cake business, is to have a contract. This is something that tells others you are serious about it. (you can find these easily by doing a google search for 'wedding cake contract.)

In your contract outline everything. Deposit, balance and when it is due, pickup date, time and so on. if it is a price smaller than 100 to 150, I want everything up front. After that they can pay me in two parts which is also included in the contract.

For wedding cakes costing hundreds of dollars, I will allow three payments but the final payment is due 6 weeks before the wedding  because I need to buy everything for that cake to set my mind right.

When you are in business you have to be as professional as you can. When you go to the store you cannot ask for things and not pay, right? so how can you let friends and family take your cakes and not pay?

One thing I did  was to start answering my phone with my business name. Of course the first few times , someone  ask what did you say? and they  chuckle?  I didnt let that bother me and that was since 2003. After a while they  they got it.

I have a contract on my pc, if anyone wants it please let me know.

http://www.caribbeanbrides.blogspot.com