Cake Decorating Business #1: Things To Consider Before You Start Your Cake Business Dream

The most common questions here in CakesDecor forums are about Starting a Cake Business and Cake Pricing. There are many books and brochures about this topic over the internet already, but almost none of them are for free. That’s why we decided to bring you this series of 10 articles about starting a Cake Decorating Business.

All of these high quality articles are written by professional Cake Business advisor Michelle Green of The Business of Baking

Part #1: Things To Consider Before You Start Your Cake Business Dream

With all the cake and baking TV shows coming out of the United States, the art of baking and cake decorating has become a very popular hobby to have. When you watch cakes being made on TV, pick up a cake decorating book in a store or see a beautiful cake online, it’s very easy to get inspired to try it out. Once you start, you realize that it is a lot of fun to do, and people really admire and appreciate what you have achieved. A lot of people start out having no intention at all to start an actual cake business, they are just excited by the idea of making something fun and edible. They start by making that first creation, get excited by the reaction they got, and then find themselves wanting to do more of it.

Before they know it, people are asking them if they make cakes for people other than family and what they charge and suddenly that person finds themselves going into business without really meaning to. If you’re at the stage of loving the craft of sugar but not really sure if you should go into business, there are some things you should think about before taking the leap. If you are already finding yourself in business, it’s not late to look over these things and think about whether or not you want to stay on the path you started down. There is no shame in choosing to keep your hobby as a hobby, or take it back to a hobby if you found yourself accidentally in business and you would really rather not be there.

The first thing to think about is this: do I really have a dream to own my own business, or have I been seduced by how fun it is, how easy it seems to be, and the idea that someone would pay me to do something I love? Many people who go into the cake business don’t really have the entrepreneurial dream, they’re simply talented people who were pressured into business ownership by other people encouraging them. One thing to remember is that the more successful you become, the less time you have to dedicate to your craft. The more clients you have, the more enquiries you get, the more you are responsible for things like responding to emails, dealing with suppliers and taking care of marketing your business. You become more responsible for the business of baking than the baking itself! For many people, the harsh realities of being the boss and not having as much time to be the creator is what brings their cake business dream crashing back down to earth.

Once you’ve established that you really do want to be in business, it’s time to get real about what that might mean for you. Speak to other business owners about their experiences and the paths they took to get to where they are. Often hearing how others have done things helps you avoid costly mistakes and helps you to better define what you would like to do with your own business. Hear what they have to say and take the good with the bad, because you need a realistic picture of what it means to be a business owner on a day-to-day basis. Speak to people in different situations, too – perhaps one whose business is run from home, one who has a shop front and so on. Next, take the time to speak to your family or partner, as those people often get pulled into the business to help. Are they supportive of your ideas, keen to see you succeed, willing to help if needed? You are going to need their support emotionally as much as anything else, so it’s really important that they are included in your plans.

Lastly, take a really good look at the numbers. When you start your business from home, making a couple of cakes for friends and family, a majority of the costs are hidden in your normal family shopping. Your expenses come out of your normal household expenses so it’s easy for them to disappear in your normal spending. Sit down and work out what it costs you to create your cakes, and start to make a list of other business expenses which might not be in a product. For example, businesses have costs such as website hosting fees, council registration fees, advertising costs and insurance which can’t be hidden in household expenses. One of the biggest challenges small business owners face is money – how to make it, where to spend it, how to ask for it. Starting out your business with a business mindset will serve you really well in the long run as you negotiate the up and down finances of a business. Business needs to be about business more than it is about cake.

Running a baking and decorating business can be such a rewarding experience. Sadly for many the reality is nothing like the dream and they find themselves wishing they had kept their hobby as a hobby. As a cake maker, you know that the quality and time you spend in preparing your cakes has a direct impact on the quality and outcome of the finished product, and preparing to be in business is no different. It’s the effort and preparation at the beginning which often defines what happens at the end so I encourage you to take these starting steps so your business path runs more smoothly and successfully.

Written by Michelle Green 2014, The Business of Baking