I've heard from some people in Virginia that it depends on your county. Some don't require a license, some do. What I DON'T understand is why you wouldn't get one anyway if you have the option. The license fee is based on income in this state, so unless you're making a lot more than most of us make you don't end up paying anything. I don't remember what the threshold is, but I've never paid for a license fee, I just fill out the form and they send me my license every year. That lets me get the benefit of wholesale prices from people who ask for your license, and you can also tell clients that you're licensed, which matters to most people. I tend to get everything I can in terms of credentials, though, so I can safely say that I'm licensed, inspected and insured. If you live in a state the went to a cottage law directly from not allowing any home kitchens you probably aren't going to get a licensing option. The health department here has a love/hate relationship with cottage bakers. They love that they don't have to inspect them, but they hate that they have to respond to complaints even if someone isn't licensed.
Very little surprises me anymore.
I am a new, legal, hobby baker with a full time job. Pricing was a challenge for me. Expenses including overhead are not the problem. It's my time that I had difficulty calculating. It takes much more time for me to complete all tasks involved in delivering a cake. It takes me much longer to complete a cake than a seasoned professional. Even shopping requires me to spend more time researching/calculating the amount of product needed. I spend hours and hours learning new techniques for each cake request.
I baked for a while for just friends and family without charging. I talked to several people in the business before I decided to start baking for $. While no one would tell me what they made personally, they all told me not to undercharge. It was easy to research the going price for custom cakes in my area. I try to base my pricing at the low end of the prices for those bakeries.
If I bake a cake that I don't feel is worthy of that price (and this has happened), I discount the cake or don't charge for it at all.
So far my system seems to be working. I have steadily increased my speed and my profit margins have improved. I am still on the low end of the pricing scale in my area, but not so low that I hurt the more established and more talented bakers either.
Life is a slice of cake.
Life is a slice of cake.
I believe if you were to do this then have a section for hobby decorators who don't feel that their cakes are worth the same as a more experienced decorator. I don't feel right charging some one $100 for a cake because I am not worth that much. I am an amateur and not afraid to admit it. I am not trying to take business from someone else. I am a SAHM who likes to decorate and I feel as long as I make enough money for my supplies then I am doing great. Not everyone is in it to make money and what's wrong with enjoying a hobby and making some money. Do you really think us hobby SAHM decorators are taking away from local bakeries. If anything we are taking away from the supermarkets. Most people I am doing cakes for want something nice but can't afford to pay $3 a slice for a cake but they can pay $1 to $2. I just am not sure where that should factor in for pricing and comparison. People think I am trying to do better than our local bakery but I am not I am just having a great time being creative!!!
Does that mean you're running a subsidy program for people who can't afford the cake they want?
Wow that was super rude!! The definition of an amateur doesn't speak of money at all, so hmmmm. I guess if someone wants to be a professional they just start out being that way never having to work their way up or start as a hobby!!
Also if someone is going to a supermarket to buy a cake and they decide to go to me instead then I am not hurting a local bakery only a Kroger or Publix.
I guess the whole world is full of greed and nobody can do something for a friend without charging an arm and a leg!!!
No, it wasn't rude at all. If anything it was an impressive display of restraint. People like me whose sole source of income is cakes constantly see the effects of undercharging in their business and it's infuriating to hear anyone blithely going along thinking he or she has no effect on the cake market when of course he/she really does.
I can't make a living if I undercharge. So if you're undercharging, you're helping to put professionals out of business. If you don't think so, I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Consider listening to people who know this business and this subject instead of assuming you understand something that you dabble at. Or try making a living at this and your tune will change pretty quickly. Maybe this will help you see it: Do you vote? If you undercharge, you're voting to put people out of business.
Oh please, his answer was 100% correct. And polite.
Yes, it sure was.
Your professional definition works "on paper" but not in real life! Thanks for the help and understanding you have been truly professional , you actually sound insecure and worried about a little SAHM decorator in the middle of nowhere Georgia!!!
Here we go with personal attacks. Where is a real defense of your position? There isn't one, so there's nowhere else to go but personal attacks if you won't admit that professionals know what they're talking about.
Whoa there...Nobody's afraid of little SAHMs, I'm a little SAHM who runs a legal business out of her home. You can be a SAHM and follow the laws, the two aren't mutually exclusive. It sounds like there's a cottage food law in Georgia now, so you should look into that and get legal. I got a business license before I sold any cakes, so it isn't something that you have to do illegally at all.
Exactly.
I am a homeschooling mother of 2, who also helps run my husband's body shop business! I only make 2-3 cakes a month, mostly to family and friends. I know how much time and work it takes to run a small business and I dont have time. I use my cakes to make a little money and to give me a creative outlet! I don't have time to do anymore than what I am doing and the logistics behind a "business" isn't worth it for the little bit I do!
Is that some kind of smoke screen? It really doesn't take much time to find out the market value of your cakes is and charge that.
If you own a successful body shop then you have to be aware that people who do repairs for super low prices on the weekends drain business from licensed shops. One thing that just irritates me to no end is the people who say that what they're doing as far as underpricing has no effect on other businesses. Of course it does, it drags pricing down and drains business away from others. It makes life more difficult for legitimate businesses who have to deal with a market that suddenly becomes saturated with lower priced suppliers, and it drives some people out of business.
There's an article in my local paper today about an art supply shop that's been here for 32 years that's now closing. When the reporter asked them why they said "amazon sells art supplies now." People who shopped there for years are willing to go somewhere else if they can save a few dollars, even if the service isn't the same. I'm not saying that it's good or bad ( it's obviously bad for the art shop) but to pretend like a lowballer price doesn't affect the market is just wrong.
I wrote a blog article about this last year after talking to a wedding planner who was saying that all of the people who were pretending to be planners were fine because "there's enough business for everyone." No, there isn't. If anyone thinks this is mean and cruel to say then too bad, it's just reality.
Generally what I see happening is the people who blithely say that they're just selling cakes for the cost of ingredients and so what, suddenly have a change of heart when they go through the process of getting legal. As soon as they have to actually run a business they realize that the undercutters (which they used to be) really do hurt the market. You see people on here posting about it relatively frequently and saying things like " I never knew what a pain it is to deal with this."
http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/04/no-theres-not-enough-work-for-everyone.html?m=1
Jason's definition is correct. You appear not to want to agree klhoward42, because it effects what you are doing. The world only gets better if we each try to understand how our own actions effect others.
So what is a person, who likes to bake, suppose to do to start out, give away free cakes and then one day start charging the going rate in the area, never sell them to anyone before they make it where they feel they can charge the full price. Not all of us are as confident!! So back to my question how many people started out exactly where I am?? Nobody wants to admit for one moment that the majority of people who make it started out exactly where I am , so what is someone suppose to do?? All of you professionals did you start out selling your cakes for free and then one day charge full local area pricing???
Practice was practice and I didn't charge anyone to eat my sample cakes. As a professional, I still constantly give away things I'm working on, that aren't ready for retail. I don't want to sell something that isn't up to a professional standard.
I think it's about taking your work seriously.
Your either striving to be a professional or not. If your not, then you need to take responsibility that your stuff does hurt the market! As a business owner for a different market (cars) it seems your being stubborn not understanding this issue.
You don't want to be responsible, because it takes effort. As long as it does't hurt you, you don't want to care about others.
