I am trying to start with a few basic things before i get into this business thing really big. I am working on picking a few flavors to start out with and other things like that. Fillings is one of my big questions. Do you make your own fillings or do you by filling and add it to the cake. I usually get mine form a bulk food store, already made. Is that okay or should i be making it?

Thank you for your help.

I am just getting the business thing established as well. I am buying my fillings from my local cake supply store.

I buy my strawberry and raspberry and customers love it...so I think why change? My cream fillings are made with jello puddings and extra ingredients depending on which one it is. I recently made a pinapple filling from scratch that I really enjoyed and it was super simple. 1 lg. can crushed pineapple, 2cups sugar, and 2T of flour and you just cook that and bring to a boil till thick. That's the only one I do from scratch though.

Let me tell you my sad story.

I found out I love decorating. I thought I would get orders here and there and as time went on I would get better and better. The little money I made here or there would buy more supplies. Eventually I would open a business. I just needed a start. Wrong.

Well, after free cake and more free cakes, putting an ad in the local paper, mailing out flyers and my prices being more than resonable I have had only 1 customer. No that's not a typo it's 1 customer.

Common sense tells me to just hang it up, but my heart tells me to keep going. So here I am decorating cake dummies (sigh).

Maybe Santa will bring me hope.

So sorry to here that. Thank you for your help. keep on posting.

Janette,

Don't give up!!!! It takes a while to establish a clientelle.The first year I only had a handful of customers also...by the second yr I doubled and now.....I am soooo busy I love it!!! I think you need to start out doing and making certain types of cakes.By this I mean kids cakes,weddings exclusively or whatever but start small.I found that I got and still get my biggest business from Kids birthday parties and so many kids are always there and other Mom's see the cakes and kids want the same cool cake!! Then as you become more confident with that...branch out a bit and try other types of cakes like tiered or fondant etc...Once people see what you can do and have to offer the customers will come!!Please don't give up!!!


Laurel

Well I am the odd man out here. I make my own.
Depending on what cake I am making I use pudding or whipping cream based, then add things. I've been really big lately on an egg yolk based filling, and I have added things to that to flavor- it seems to be a hit with the customers.
I think though that you should experiment with both. See what reactions you get out of people. Do some freebies and give away then take "polls" to see what they liked or didn't like. i find that to be very helpful to me!
Janette- I give away tonz of cakes for free! Starting any business is hard- and alot of work- and they all take time to establish customers. I'm new to this also, but I heard that renting craft booths at local fairs/city events is a great way to get your name and product out there. Something to think about anyway

More off topicness. Sorry

IF you enjoy the baking experience beyond just cake decorating, then you could consider changing your perspective. After all, cake decorating is a very specific service, so it might be harder to run a successful business providing only that specialized service. You could avoid this myopia by branching out to include a wider range of bakery type services. Certainly not selling oncies and such things like single servings, but offer packages which would be enticing for business functions, family gatherings, church groups, etc. Having worked in the catering business for awhile, I know for a fact how many businesses would be eager for the ability to provide fresh baked goods for morning meetings or breakfasts.

An example package would be something like:

2 dozen muffins
2 loaves of bread (cinnamon raison or banana bread)
a dozen croissants or scones
2 gallon sized jugs of juice

Naturally you'd want to only sell packages which are big enough to make the effort worth the money, and bill for dropoff/setup. (Dropoffs are also a good time to leave a few business cards lying around, which is how they also find out you do cakes around the office!) Regardless of how you do it, if you're going to run a business you'll want that equipment such as space and ovens to be in production as much as possible to cover the costs.

Just a thought!

Sorry I started the post in another direction. Thanks to all of you for your support, I'm still going to hang on. I like the suggestions.

re: filling

I bought the stuff in the bags at the cake shop and didn't really care much for it. Seems to have an after taste. Maybe it's perservatives. It seems easy enough to make your own.

My family doesn't like when I use pudding as a filling but I read on cc where someone used whipping cream whipped and added to the pudding. That sounds good I think I'll try it.

I also knew someone that used preserves out of a jar as filling. At the warehouse you can get the really big jars.

On a personal note, I've ate so many cookies I don't feel so swift.