Questions for shop owners

jason is right--i was going to try & answer some of these but a lot depends on your focus and personal preference, and the volume you generate etc.

are you a full bakery with all the trimmings or a cakery only or a breakfast/lunch & cake or a yogurt & cake or a candy & cake or a dessert bar/ wine & cake?

yes you use your mixers and ovens to their full capacity/advantage according to your volume

i fill my cakes then freeze--then at the appointed time I final ice and decorate--everybody does that different

sure you could have different priced cakes--but i try & keep from dinging the customer for every jot & tittle too

what is your focus?

define bakery display items

question 4 can be found in one of my threads.

1) scratch baker here as well. I do not think it is more expensive as the ingredient you still have to add to the mix mix are the expensive ones.  We offer a huge flavor list (www.spdak.com) but almost all of those come off of our white cake.  We make one huge batch and portion off and flavor what we need to bake for that week.

2) 20%ish (just food cost)

3) admin work and sugar pieces mon and tues, bake weds, fill thurs, decorate fri, send out saturday (typically), off sunday

4) i dont crumb coat.  i buttercream them all then put all the orders in time order and finish.

5) yes

6) about 35% in store sales and 65% pre orders

7)  all 3 of us buttercream to completion, then break up the orders for decorating

8) Most of my employees are hourly (paid 1st and 15th) and I have one person who just comes in as needed and is paid on commission (but you still have to track their hours and make sure you aren't paying them less that minimum wage even if they are crazy slow). 

9) I charge one price for any flavors.  Fruit, booze, cheesecake, I don't care.  Just set that price high enough to cover all of that and also the customer doesn't feel nickel-and-dimed.  win-win. (of course the base price can go up based on decor)

10) cake testings are scheduled individually mon-weds 10am-4pm, cost is $35 which can be applied toward wedding cake orders (party cakes no)

Kory, your number ten made me think of angry cat-

Hello,

I am currently in the process of opening my own cake shop. It is fairly small in size and I had a lot of the same questions a few years ago, prior to working in the industry. I have worked for 2 cake companies and I've learned a lot of what not to do.

To answer a few of your questions, I prefer to bake from scratch as well and I find that offering a variety of flavors is always good. However for my business a lot of the cakes start off with the similar bases and the fillings and frostings are were I tend to get creative flavor wise. The beginning of the week I will do a lot of my admin work and any gum paste or fondant work. I plan on baking in a span of 1-2 days, then filling on the Friday and decorating on Saturday morning. I wouldn't charge for consultations, it tends to draw people away. If you have a great product and a beautiful display or cakes, there should be no reason why 90% of your consultations should be leaving without a booking. Also I believe using cake mix would be easier but I have yet to try one that I actually like (if you have one that tastes reasonably good do tell) but for now I am sticking to scratch. Also, I would invest in an at least 20 qt mixer, using a kitchen aid is extremely time consuming and time is money. The faster and more efficient you are your business will be. I am no expert but these are just a few tips I plan on using for myself. Goodluck!