Looking for some advice/opinions please :)

I almost feel unqualified to answer some of these questions but please hear me out. I’ve had my cake business for 6 years and it keeps growing. I’ve made a lot of observations and It is in my personal opinion that learning the Business is a learn as you go type thing.
Have I ever had this problem? No, I wish. I’m sure that I like you have stood for endless hours until my feet ache and my hands cramp from squeezing a pastry bag.
Of course you need help! You can’t do it all on your own!
If I had to introduce a new cake maker in my business, I would keep it very upbeat and positive, “We are proud to announce the newest member of our team, Suzy! Suzy is very creative and has a natural ability and talent and we are very excited to see what new flavorful creations she is going to make!”
(Okay, so I’m not a writer I’m a baker but you get the point)
Personally I feel honesty is the best policy where customers are concerned. I am honest with my customers no matter what and I feel they respect me for that.

I understand where you are going with the hair dresser in training but lets look at it in a different light. Let’s say you were a builder building a house and you had someone apprenticing with you. You wouldn’t charge any less for the house would you? When I apprenticed in the bakery years ago, they didn’t charge any less for the baked goods I produced. If I messed up it got trashed and I did it over again until I got it right.
I feel that if you are giving customer the same quality and standard of cake you have always given them, then no worries. It’s a business run by a team.
Additionally, that particular customer that got perturbed when you had said you had someone new helping you?
I would work personally with that customer. They’ve been a loyal customer for quite some time and deserve your attention.
As a customer, If I was getting the same quality, taste and service as I’ve always gotten, I’d be a happy customer.
One little extra: I might think about making “Suzy” sign some kind of contract that states that my recipes are MY recipes that should not be sold or reproduced in any way. (Lord knows how much time we put into finding , creating, trouble shooting and tweeking recipes! )
Good luck to you, I Hope this helps, It’s good to see you successful you have become!

I, like Donna am sure I’m qualified to answer your questions. As I was reading your post, I was thinking about Duff Goldman/Ace of cakes. In his shop, he does not do every cake personally, impossible, there too busy. That’s why he has trained decorators making cakes for him, it’s a team effort. I’m sure many cakes are done collaboratively. Like Donna mentioned, that if you have picky customers, like the one you mentioned, guarantee you will make there cake personally. Kinda reminds me of those Hollywood types who believe only the owner of the fancy expensive hair salon can do justice to there hair. When in reality, any of the well trained staff could do as good a job…and that salon owner started as an apprentice at some point too…

If you have trained her then she is learning your skills. I hope to have this problem one day! You could always let her do the sitting with any new customers and let her build her clients within the business but ultimately this is going to be a team effort like you said so people have to understand that you won’t do 100% of a cake. Maybe even display some of her work and eventually maybe she could enter a local competition so people see and hear how great she has grown. This should also show people what a talented teacher you are too x

By the way, I looked at your website, EmzCakes. You have a lovely shop and I love all that you are doing with it! Good luck!

I am not in your shoes either so not sure I can say what is right or wrong but I can tell you what I heard on the Steve Jobs movie and it makes sense. In an orchestra there are many musicians, each musician is very good at what they do but it will be the conductor who gets the recognition. The musicians play their instruments but he plays the musicians, I believe this is also the same in your business. You will have many people playing a part in making your business successful but at the end of the day you are the one who will be credited for the work that comes out of the shop. That conductor is not going to lower the cost of his show tickets because he has a new band member. The price will be the same because he is the one still leading the show. So I agree with what Donna said also.

Now in the same movie there was also another quote which went something like this but please don’t quote me word for word,lol. In a play a play right does not stop and ask his audience what they think the next scene in that play should be, no then it would not be his play it would be theirs. I feel this is so in your business also, it is your business you get to call the shots not your customers and they should not get a discount because you had to add staff. The recipe for your cakes are still yours, being cooked the same way and put together the same way, so what should it matter if it is you or your assistant who actually puts it all together. In fact if I was training someone my hopes would be that one day that person could do the cakes herself with no guidance so as I had more free time or could take on even more orders so as I had to move even another girl to the back to teach her and so on and so on. I think most of us that run businesses hope that one day we just get to stand back and reap the rewards. You are on your way to that so do not question yourself you are doing the exact right thing and if your customers don’t like it they can go elsewhere but you know they will come back, as your product speaks for itself, it is not just about you, you have already put the ground work down to guarantee that not be the case.

Remember this is just my opinion but I think you got this lovely lady! Big hugs, Shags

Hi Emma,

Like you, I have a cake shop/cafe and I have a team working with me. We also supply cakes to a nice coffee shop, so it is no longer possible for me to do everything myself. We have a dedicated baker (I taught her how to bake, measure, etc and she uses my recipes). I also taught another employee how to frost coffee shop cakes and with practice she now makes perfect cakes (personally I think her round cakes now look better than mine, she’s that good haha). Now that she has an eye for what looks great, I think she is ready to ganache cakes for fondant cakes. I bought ganaching plates and will use them with her so she can easily learn the skill. It is perfectly fine for another person to help do your work but you have to really teach them well and guide them while they are learning. She is now good at making fondant decorations like stripes, flower cutouts, etc —this is a big help because it cuts down on my time. And then as a group I show them how I would assemble the decorations on the cake. My customers know I have a full team behind me and they are skilled and they have my guidance. For wedding cakes I check everything and the brides know I’m hands on, but they know I no longer do everything on my own. They are even surprised and happy when they learn I really take the time to watch and finish their cakes. Sorry this is a long post but what I am getting at is you cannot grow doing everything yourself, and it is important that you grow so you can fill the demand to accommodate orders. No need to lower your prices. People will be fine with it when your cakes are still pretty and delicious. Hope this helps, and good luck! :)