OT-- Looking for idea's

[mousy_in_canada]

On how to get my cake decorating business off the ground.. I know that this business is mostly word of mouth. I did my first wedding cake this weekend and I loved doing it and want to do more. This one was free because it was for my sister in law. I am going to start a web site soon I just need time to build it but I am looking for ideas on where to advertise. I have placed a ad on kijiji but have not really got anywhere with that. I am south of Hamilton if that helps. any thoughts??

Here is a pic of my sister in laws cake for those of you who like looking at cakes

 

[TammyLynn33]

OMG this is the kind of thing I LOVE doing...Marketing for a new venture..A friend opened a gym and I love brainstorming..Ill send you a PM...

Never should have went into nursing..lol

 

[mousy_in_canada]

AWESOME thanks for any suggestions you can give me!

 

[Hockey Mom KQ]

WOW! You are very talented. Good luck in your new venture.

 

[hockeymom3]

Wow that is beautiful!!! I am a real estate agent and in sales its the same thing - exposure!!! And when there is lots of competition, its not always that easy.

You should get a website - I'm sure you could find a free one. What about wedding shows or anywhere else you can rent a booth and maybe make 1 cake to show and then post lots of pics of what else you have done?...offer 10% off (or something like that) coupons at the booth....

Make a facebook group for yourself!!

Good luck!!

 

[Cdn Gal]

That is beautiful! My sister is getting into it as well down in Eastern Ontario. Put together a brochure with pics of your work. Go to fine dining restaurants and give them a free 'sampling' of your work and a brochure- we used to own a fine dinning restaurant and we used to contract out the cakes etc. for special occasions. It was too much for our chef- he concentrated on the food not the baking! Also, my sister gave our lawyer a cake (freebie) and has got lots of business through that- word of mouth. The lawyer has very expensive clients. Go to B& B 's and country inns- again the same thing- sometimes they need cakes for special occasions. Join the Rotary Club- you make great business connections. Freebies are: a) a tax write off b) great explosure c) a way to continualy be practicing your cakes for pictures for your brochure! Good luck in the future!

 

[mickeywho?]

That's beautiful! Did you take classes or are you just naturally talented? I'd love to take classes for cake decorating but wonder if they are just a waste of time/money - I'd only do cakes for ourselves for birthdays.
Good luck with your business start-up! Keep us posted!


Had to add - my dh and I are graphic designers and are involved in many new business set-ups. Concentrate on a great website - lots of bright coloured pictures, perhaps even professional pictures for better quality - don't bother with a brochure as you'd have to update it often and that can prove costly for design and printing. Instead get a great business card and advertise your website on that. Facebook is a good idea for word-of-mouth - plus it's FREE!
Take a look at lots of websites and take note of what you don't like and what you do like - this will give you the best place to start.

 

[mousy_in_canada]

Thanks for the idea's. I had not thought of going to bridal shows what a good idea! I need to get cracking on making a web site and getting that up.

Mickeywho? I have been doing my kids kids cakes for years but I decided to take the wilton cake class and that helped so much with some flowers that I found hard to do. The classes are fun and hey you get to make a cake a week so the family really likes that!

If you want to see more cakes I uploaded a few to my facebook account. the link is here

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=89071&id=594512078

 

[mom2faith]

OK - i do not want to burst your bubble, but before you invest too much time and effort into this you need to call your public health department.

Here in Saskatchewan, I friend of mine tried to do this and found out very quickly that baking out of the home is a no-no. She was not allowed to make anything that would be served to the public at an event like a wedding. Obviously there are ways around this, but you need to check out all of the rules and regulations for your area. If by some strange occurane people got sick after eating your food, you could be liable.

Other than that, my ideas are:
- make a simple website for yourself (very easy an inexpensive to do - go to your library and borrow books and use Coffee Cup or another simple HTML program)
- advertise on Kijiji, craiglist, etc
- find out about the local trade shows for weddings, baby showers, etc, attend them with samples
- do a home party type thing where you invite your neighbors to sample your cakes and offer incentives for referrals
- see if there is a local florist who is owrking our of her home where you could do a joint prmotion and thereby share clients

Good Luck to you, but check out those regulations first!!

Amy

 

[PrincessTrisha]

There are hefty fines associated with baking out of your home since it is not inspected so please be careful about going to markets or shows.

My suggestion would be to hook up with a local bakery and use their space to bake / decorate your cakes (but not sell out of them). Since most bakeries are quiet in the afternoon or evenings, they may agree to "rent" you some time at a reasonable rate.

Once you get that worked out, my recommendation is to volunter to do as many free cakes as possible and have contact cards available so that if people like your work, they can call / email / fax / etc to order one.

I used to own a bakery and occasionally still do cakes for family, friends and if they catch me on a very good day, work. Every time I do one, there is always one or two people who ask for my information to order a cake (which I politely decline since I'm not in that business anymore).

I would also have a price list ready. This should list standard prices, sizes, and options. You can also use this to create an order sheet. Be clear about what the customer is ordering and what they are expecting. Unless you have access to a credit card / debit machine - state directly on your order sheet / price list: CASH ONLY. Never accept a cheque from someone for an item that will be gone before you can get the cheque to the bank.

Keep a picture of every cake you make (and even make a few small ones for your family that show off your skills) and create both a physical book and an online website. You may want to take different angles of the cake and ensure that the focus of the picture is the cake itself (and not the table setitng).

 

[candielips]

One way to get your name out there is to offer to make people cakes, let me explain. Say you have a bday/shower/any other function to go to, ask the host if you can make the cake in lieu of or as part of a gift. That way all the people at the party will see your cake & it is an easy way to generate business.
Also contact some local caterers & ask if there is anyway you could provide each other references and business.