They love the cupcakes but don't order - Page 2

I realize you didn't ask for proofreading or editing help. Since others are mentioning it, I thought it might be helpful when finding a proofreader, to give a heads up that I found 128 errors (spelling and punctuation).

My condolences to you and your family for the loss of your sister.

Something that no one else has mentioned and may have a logical geographical reasoning but struck me as unusual - you offer free delivery to three counties but not Dunbarton or Hooksett despite having to go through one of them to get to Manchester. If I lived in Hooksett in the part between Manchester and Bow I'd wonder why I had to pay when other's dont have to.

May not be much of a consideration for corporate customers (I dont know) but as a regular customer it would irk me.

As I said at the beginning though if there is some reason obvious to locals but not me as an outsider just ignore!

When giving out your samples, if you are targeting corporate accounts find out what you need to do to be on their suppliers lists, I know everyone we buy things from must be approved and on headoffice's list of suppilers. Once you get on the list target the people who actually order things for people. Management might like to think they are the boss but when it comes to sending flowers or other small tokens to people it's the secretary or whoever actually does the ordering that counts!

Another thing to think about. My business plan cannot support free delivery. One thing to consider is that one day you may not be the delivery person and you cannot afford to pay another person to deliver for free.

Also, when you consider the commercial insurance (yes, if you are in an accident in the course of doing business, your insurance company does not have to pay if you have not been truthful), gas, wear and tear, and time, this cannot be supported with your pricing structure. I am debt free and I can't do it. That is money straight out of my profit.

In a business that is based on delivery, the only way to do this profitably is to do multiple deliveries while you are out in the same area. We also personally go to my delivery area for shopping, restaurants, supplies, and my daughter's job and school, plus her school sports. So my delivery prices were calculated knowing we were going anyway. But I still make money. With your vast delivery area, this will be virtually impossible. My business does have some outlying delivery areas, but I don't advertise them much and it is mainly research to see if the new area is viable. So far, I have only done weddings and parties in my outlying area (Winchester, VA). The rest of my delivery area is in a neat circle.

If I open my retail store, the outlying areas will be eliminated.

In my experience, I have found the corporate payments to be easy. In every situation, I have gotten prepayment with a credit card. I haven't had to register as a supplier. But this is just my experience. I have schools, hospitals, doctors, retail, and large national offices as accounts.

A good website and Facebook are very necessary to cake businesses. Also, like you, when I started my business last year I tried going around to local businesses with samples and brochures and made sure to tell them I delivered. So, in essence, I was marketing myself just like you and I got the same results! People loved my cupcakes but I only got a few orders from all that effort and the hundreds of dollars spent on the endeavor. So, I stopped doing that and worked harder on networking with my customer base and thanking them and doing extra for them when they refer me. I also began doing tastings for businesses that book events but that do not provide celebration cakes. It took awhile but finally I am getting calls on a regular basis and my website is being found when people search for bakeries in my town. It guess it just takes time to get established. Good luck to you!

I really like your website. Very hip and current. You cupcakes look divine too!!!