I am just beginning my cake decorating adventure. I have taken all 4 of the Wilton classes and would love to do this as a p/t business. However, what is the best way to get cakes for a portfolio? My family is already sick of cake so, they do not want anymore... Just looking for suggestions so I can get more practice and build my portfolio. Thanks.
I try to do birthday orders by word of mouth and always take pics and i have a friend putting those together in a book for me... i have been working on it for almost a year now and finally have plenty of cake pics to fill it. I just completed my first wedding cake this past Saturday!!
Start giving them out to neighbours (or ask if they have anything coming up that you could make a cake for) That way you can make them and not feel bad about throwing them away! You could also talk to a local charity and see if you can donate a cake or 2 for a fundraiser that they could auction off! Then you get cakes for your portfolio AND donate to a good cause!!
Order yourself some cake dummies and decorate them. No wasted cake and you are only out the cost of fondant to cover them (or BC if that's what you do).
Make sure it is legal to sell cakes from home in your state/county though... the last thing you want to do is go through all of the work of making a portfolio only to find that you can't bake from home and have to rent a kitchen.
I get the biggest of my cake orders from friends and such on my facebook page. I started one up just for my cakes. it worked out good for me .
GOOD LUCK ! :o}
Volunteer to make them for friends etc for awhile until you get your portfolio where you want it to take the next step. It does take awhile but remember... Rome was not built in a day either!!! :-) Start a blogspot and post pics of everything ou bake that you get pictures of. I love my blogspot and I send people there that want to see my work. Sure beats printing out pictures and making an album!
I started out making cakes for friends and family. Then they told thier friends, etc. Now I have none SEVERAL cakes since August last year and I have about 11 to do before December of this year. I like to give cakes to one person that may be able to "hook" me up with lots of thier friends. I have donated a cake to a local committee set up to give HS Seniors scholarships. (That cake raised $300 for them and several cake orders for me. I also entered a cake decorating contest for a local benefit and won a 1st place trophy, day at the spa and several cake orders from it. That one raised $!25 for it's charity. My family is also SICK of cake. So I take all of my practice cakes to work and give them away to family members to take to work...along with my email address and phone number. lol Good Luck and keep us posted on how things go.