I decided to stop baking cakes for now cause I want to set up a shop beside my house so I don't have to do the back and forth baking or locking up my fur baby and scrubbing down my kitchen every time I need to make a dozen cupcakes. Also, I've had to take on a second job to start saving for that and to keep up with the bills in my house...AND I'm working on getting my bachelors degree in small business management and entrepreneurship from the University of Phoenix. I didn't mind the decision because it would give me time to perfect my decorating, build a proper portfolio (not the crappy cell phone pictures I have now lol) and learn the proper way to run a business. And I really wasn't getting many orders so I figured it wasn't a big deal....Well now that I've made up my mind my phone has been ringing off the hook and my Facebook is full of messages from people wanting orders! Well, no real reason for this mini rant except that like always, the timing of things is always so off lol...Hope everyone has a great day!!

Congrats on making your decision and implementing the necessary business education that is so often overlooked (or ignored totally) by people who wish to earn money with a cake decorating business.

You can start your BUSINESS thinking right now. If you have made your decision "to stop baking cakes for now", then stop. Just because you are getting orders does not mean you have to accept the orders.

The paragraph below consists of pure guesses on my part. If any of these guesses are true, you may want to think long and hard about accepting the orders.

Are these orders for under-priced cakes? Will these same customers who may be ordering cakes at today's bargain-basement prices pay 2 or 3 times as much for your cakes when you have established your business? How much will this interfere with your plans? How can you politely tell these customers that you are updating your cake business model and will be suspending orders for this holiday season in order to better serve them in the future? How can you use this opportunity to support your future business aspirations? (Example: Get their contact information and tell them they will be the FIRST people to obtain information when your grand opening occurs! Get the information on their birthdays/anniversaries/upcoming weddings, etc.)

Well everyone that has tried to order are people that I know and I hadn't gotten around to letting everyone know that I was taking a break for now, but they all understand and are totally supportive. And with working 2 jobs (averaging 14-16 hour days, 5 days a week) and doing college there's no way I could keep caking even if I wanted to lol...right now I'm lucky to get 4 hours of sleep a night!

What a lovely thing to have supportive friends and family. Perhaps you could prepare a short statement and post on FB. "Thank you to everyone who has ordered cakes during the past _____ (years/months). Because of your encouragement, I will be pursuing a new business model for custom cakes. In the interim, I will not be taking any cake orders."

Thanks Apti for the advise and support! Believe I will be in here plenty bugging all the successful people on here for advice as I work to build my future

You are MOST welcome! This forum has many wonderful folks who can help with cake techniques, business ideas, or just friendly chat.

Good luck with your new endeavors.

Apti has given you GREAT advice! I'm just stopping in to say, "Go, You!" I think it's impressive to see someone really doing the work it takes to be successful from the foundation up. You will find yourself prospering!