Wedding cake home based business
Thank you
Lisa
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on
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Well Lisa
I am a hobby baker and have made several wedding/shower/celebration cakes. For those that were friends & family, I did the consult at the house. But others, I met them at a local coffee shop. Brought my binder to with info & to take notes. I could have used my IPod touch. But ai type too slow...he.,.he.
I chose to bring a couple of cupcakes with me on my last consult with 2 types of frosting so bride & mom could "taste" the quality of my work. Everyone I have made a cake for has known I do it out of my house. I have never had anyone want to "inspect" my kitchen, that's for sure.
Most important Lisa is to take detailed notes about the cake. Everything you can think of. The more details you get, the better. There is a site, cakeboss.com, not the tv boss. There is a section called: " how much should I charge?"
Make a contract. Ask for 25-30% down, balance to be paid a couple of weeks before wedding. Have a disclaimer if they Arf picking up the cake, ie: not responsible for damage during delivery. If you are delivering & setting up. Charge for it. If I have to go more than 40 km's away. I would charge $40-50 depending on who it was. There are a list of questions you should have for consults, & you add questions to it as different situations come up you have never encountered before. This way you cover as many bases as possible.
Hope this dosen't sound confusing & was helpful.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Chavez on
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I agree with June. I've never had anyone ask to see my 'store' or 'kitchen' before. Many people who have home-based businesses will use (rent) commercial kitchens for baking their cakes. Perhaps you could explain that to the potential client.
I have created a really nice website (without the annoying pop-ups and ads) that displays my portfolio of work. I would highly suggest that if you want to pursue this as a continuing business. Until then, create a nice photo album of your work to take with you to appointments.
Most of my appointments are in my home, but I have met others at a coffee shop. If a tasting is requested, I make cupcakes for them to try and charge for it. (I can't tell you how many times I had a couple/bride not show up for a tasting). So, now I charge $25.00 for the tasting and will apply $15.00 of that to the cost of the wedding cake if they decide to book with me. If they decide NOT to book with me, they get $15.00 back. If they are a no-show, they forfeit the $25.00 altogether.
Hopefully that will help. Best of luck in your endeavors!
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Permalink Reply by Roxanne Peterson on
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I am thinking of pursuing this also but my question to those of you who have responded, are you licensed or reg. by your state's dept. of health or agr. I have been told that this is the way it has to be...if you are baking cakes and selling to customers you need to be licensed to do so....or do some of you have disclaimer's or such..I know that with most wedding venues unless you are a licensed baker they will not allow you to bring in outside cakes. The bride must order from wherever she is having her reception. I have been thinking about this for a while but not sure which way to go with this....and please be honest ... if you are licensed great....if you aren't, please don't say you are.....I really just want some direction here.
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Roxanne,
I am licensed with the State of California. In the county that I'm in, we are not allowed to bake out of our home, so a commercial kitchen must be used. However, you can have a home-based, licensed business. Best of luck!!
Roxanne Peterson said:I am thinking of pursuing this also but my question to those of you who have responded, are you licensed or reg. by your state's dept. of health or agr. I have been told that this is the way it has to be...if you are baking cakes and selling to customers you need to be licensed to do so....or do some of you have disclaimer's or such..I know that with most wedding venues unless you are a licensed baker they will not allow you to bring in outside cakes. The bride must order from wherever she is having her reception. I have been thinking about this for a while but not sure which way to go with this....and please be honest ... if you are licensed great....if you aren't, please don't say you are.....I really just want some direction here.
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Well Roxanne
I am strictly a hobby baker. Mostly for family & friends. I have sold cakes, but not on a regular basis. I am Canadian, but even here the rules/law varies from city to city depending on the local health dept. The next city to me, where I grew up, you MUST have a separate kitchen. Not where I live tho. Because I don't make a living selling cakes, I am not licensed. But licensed is really not the correct word. If you are a electrician/plumber you have to be licensed. To be a decorator here you have to have a copy displayed from the health dept that you have complied with all their regulations. So yes, to make a living, you must comply with health dept. And as I said, it differs from city to city. You also are required to have special insurance on your home insr policy if having a home based business.
I have never had a venue ask me If was a "professional". Not too many venues here care whether they make/provide the cake or bride "brings it in". Most here, you must provide your own cake. There are a couple of venues that are what you would call " all inclusive", like a resort. They do it all,including the cake. Only one I know of will not allow a outside cake.
Hope this answers your questions
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Stephens on
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June and Lisa, thank you so much for your help. I do have a web site my husband is a web developer and built me a fantastic site. I have mostly do e special occasion cakes and wasn't sure how to handle wedding with tastings and such being small and not doing much business it's hard for me to financially bake a few different cakes for tastings and not know if I'm going to get a job out of it so perhaps a nominal charge that could be applied towards their cake might be a good thing. I sent her an email asking her to call me so we can discuss her needs and potentially set up a meeting and I hope that will give me the chance to tell her more about myself. We will see. Thanks again ladies.
Lisa
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Your welcome Lisa. What is your website? Be careful how you "get out there".......meaning advertising..... through flyers/website/business cards, especially bridal shows. Greatest advice I got from a Cake Pro/Shop owner was that if I didn't want to commit to full time to decorating, stay under the radar. Pro's will rat you out to the health dept., then you will have to go with all the expenses that incurs. Of course, if this is your goal....go for it.
Here, as long as I make under $30,000 per year, it is not a problem with Revenue Canada. Well, I certainly wouldn't EVER make that kind of money, so that's not a worry. I just don't want the local health dept on my door step.
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June, I maybe get 1 cake a month if I'm lucky! It's not full time although if I did get more business I would love to have enough to open my own shop as I absolutely love baking and decorating. My website is www.imagineiticed.com and thanks again for your advise gives me something to think about
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Well I wasn't trying to scare you Lisa, but I know a couple of decorators....whoa, if they thought for one minute I was "invading their territory"??? Well you get the picture. They have taken classses and have a business in their homes, and consider someone like me who is mostly self taught...NOT a true decorator.
There are a couple of decorators near me whose websites I regularly check. One is amazing, the other??. Well in my opinion, despite her "classes", there isn't anything on there that I couldn't do if I set my mind to it. Some of the best cake artists on this site are mostly "self taught".
By the way, your wee girl is a cutie pie!!1
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I didn't think you were trying to scare me but warning someone about the types of people that are out there's helpful I would have never thought someone would be so jealous that they would try to sabotage me. I am not a professional by any means and would hate to have one decide I was stepping on their toes. I took a beginner Wilton class a few years ago and realized I loved making cakes and have learned everything else on my own and have tried to improve with every cake I do because I love when someone gets their cake and they are totally in love with it. It gives me such a thrill to see others so happy.
How long have you been decorating? If you don't know of her yet my biggest inspiration is a lady on YouTube serious cakes she does fantastic work although hasn't been doing much lately but I could lose a whole day watching her videos.
Thanks for the comment about my daughter I need to update my picture she is now 2 and a half but still as cute as anything and she knows it ;) thank you so much for helping and any advise tips you might have are always welcome.
Lisa
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Well my dear. I am old enough to be your Mom!! He! He!
I took my first class with an actual decorator who use to have a shop in my city. My children were small. She & the store are long gone. So I dabbled here & there. But between working & rep sports with my children, I was pretty busy, so cakes went on the back burner. Fast forward....my niece was getting married, & I had taken a coupe of Wilton courses, and I offered to make her wedding cake, that was 6 yrs. ago. So I didn't really get back into it until then. I just retired this past April, so now I have the actual time to fiddle and practice. We started a huge reno project at the same time, and I was without a full kitchen until end of July. We just had a wall taken down, and as of last week all that was finished, and my hubby is on the last stage by completing the hardwood floor. So with the "mess", I haven't been always able to bake & decorate. I moved about 1/2 of my decorating stuff downstairs with my old Ikea kitchen island. The other 1/2 is still upstairs in my daughter's old room, now a spare/tv/guest room. There is so much stuff in the basement, all my furniture for F/R, D/R stored for the reno, I haven't been able to move down their. Plus there is hockey/lacrosse equipment, just stuff that has to be moved around or gotten rid of. I did carve out that small space, but our basement isn't finished. When ALL the reno's are done, and ALL my furniture comes back upstairs, my hubby has promised we will move ALL my cake stuff downstairs. And he will help me organize, get rid of stuff, create a raised floor off the concrete, put up shelves, put in a sink, etc., etc. So I can't wait to have a space all my own where I can make a mess doing my "cake stuff", close the door & walk away.
PS:......I am waiting for grandchildren!!!!
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