I've had a cake business for just over a year now, and I'm really happy with the success we've been having. We started off strong, gained a reputation quickly, and it all came together nicely. I have a business / marketing background.
Also, this is in a state that does not allow home bakeries, and where most / all venues check to make sure that you are licensed and insured before you deliver the cake.
I've noticed recently that I have been completely inundated with calls / emails from people that seem to have romanticized the idea of having a cake business. I just did a big public event yesterday, and I was shocked at the number of people that approached me about this, so I had to post!
I notice a couple different kinds of people.. the first (and most prevalent!) is the person - usually a housewife or student - who emails to say that they are an artist and/or big fan of Ace of Cakes, and have decided that Cakes are *THE THING* they were meant to do with their life. They want to open a business, and either need advice ("Where do I start??"), or want to work for free to get experience before going out on their own.
This gets annoying, as I've had people contact me before even finding out the regulations... ie I have to start out by saying "You need to find a licensed kitchen.." which gets me a "Oh. I can't do this at home??" in reply. Ugh! Why email me if you haven't at least STARTED research first??
The other is the recent culinary student who usually goes to a crappy school (that they picked off a TV commercial during horrible daytime talk shows, I bet!), then decides they know ABSOLUTELY everything about the biz, and either wants advice / work for free as above.
I've called it the "Ace of Cakes" effect, but maybe there is more to it. I have friends that are wedding photographers (yay, networking!), and they experience the SAME sorta thing there... only in their case, it's people who go buy a nice camera, and decide then and there that they are a pro photographer. In this case, it's the "I just took a Wilton course, and now I'm going to get rich by making cakes!"
Anyway, I'm firmly of the opinion that you need to be a *business person* to be *in business*. I'm sure there are many successful cake people out there without a background in business, but I doubt there are many successful cake people who aren't at least naturally gifted with a business mind.
I'm just wondering.. is this a nation wide thing? Has this been the way it always is in this industry.. or is it just an economy / trendy thing? You really don't see the same sort of blindly romanticized outlook on starting a business the same way with most industries!
Talking to some of these people, I really think they have these visions of nothing but being artsy and piping frosting all day.. and they have NO idea how boring / mundane / annoying / expensive the REAL ins and outs of running a business are.
Know what I mean?
Also, this is in a state that does not allow home bakeries, and where most / all venues check to make sure that you are licensed and insured before you deliver the cake.
I've noticed recently that I have been completely inundated with calls / emails from people that seem to have romanticized the idea of having a cake business. I just did a big public event yesterday, and I was shocked at the number of people that approached me about this, so I had to post!
I notice a couple different kinds of people.. the first (and most prevalent!) is the person - usually a housewife or student - who emails to say that they are an artist and/or big fan of Ace of Cakes, and have decided that Cakes are *THE THING* they were meant to do with their life. They want to open a business, and either need advice ("Where do I start??"), or want to work for free to get experience before going out on their own.
This gets annoying, as I've had people contact me before even finding out the regulations... ie I have to start out by saying "You need to find a licensed kitchen.." which gets me a "Oh. I can't do this at home??" in reply. Ugh! Why email me if you haven't at least STARTED research first??
The other is the recent culinary student who usually goes to a crappy school (that they picked off a TV commercial during horrible daytime talk shows, I bet!), then decides they know ABSOLUTELY everything about the biz, and either wants advice / work for free as above.
I've called it the "Ace of Cakes" effect, but maybe there is more to it. I have friends that are wedding photographers (yay, networking!), and they experience the SAME sorta thing there... only in their case, it's people who go buy a nice camera, and decide then and there that they are a pro photographer. In this case, it's the "I just took a Wilton course, and now I'm going to get rich by making cakes!"
Anyway, I'm firmly of the opinion that you need to be a *business person* to be *in business*. I'm sure there are many successful cake people out there without a background in business, but I doubt there are many successful cake people who aren't at least naturally gifted with a business mind.
I'm just wondering.. is this a nation wide thing? Has this been the way it always is in this industry.. or is it just an economy / trendy thing? You really don't see the same sort of blindly romanticized outlook on starting a business the same way with most industries!
Talking to some of these people, I really think they have these visions of nothing but being artsy and piping frosting all day.. and they have NO idea how boring / mundane / annoying / expensive the REAL ins and outs of running a business are.
Know what I mean?
