Small business frustration

[cowgirl9768]

Uhg, so I know this has nothing to do with rabbits but a lot of you may understand being small business owners with your rabbits. I own a very small cake decorating business out of my house and I can never seem to get steady orders. People would rather just get a half crapped cake from walmart with uneven boarders and cracked frosting then put in the extra time to get a nice cake and support a local. My prices are even competitive with walmart... Witch is a joke for the time and effort I put in my cakes. I dont have a single order till November! Uhg... Okay rant over... I'll do a little showing of to lift my spirits. Here is some of my work.

 

[BlueHaven]

I hope you have a facebook page for your business. Its an easy way to promote it for FREE. Share with all your family, friends, and past clients.
Post pictures. Also join any garage sale, sales pages in your area. Your cakes are amazing.
One thing I did with my dog grooming business, that for some odd reason really worked amazingly well, was. I had a garage sale.
I sold everything I could think of and had friends bring over a few of their items too. I set up a table with a huge display of my grooms on a photo board. When people came to the sale they saw it. Amazingly I booked about 25 grooms and my business was off like a shot.
It sound crazy but it really worked. You can set up a table at a neighborhood sale and sell some cupcakes for samples. Just really get yourself out there. :smile-ban: :smile-ban: :smile-ban: :smile-ban:

Oh yeah, I had a rule that I could only have a tiny sign on my house for my business. Since my house sits off the road and nobody could see it it did no good. Even though they said not to, (from advise from a friend) I went ahead and set it out by the road. Boy did that ever work. That was ten years ago and nobody ever said a word about it. Get a sign out there. It works wonders.

 

[Dood]

Cool ! Youve really got a knack for getting the fondant evenly over the cake! That alligator looks awesome !


I've dabbled in cake decorating and make cakes for special occasions for family and friends but I have no interest in making it a job

I also make them for cake raffles my nieces and nephew schools have as a fundraisers and often people ask if I take orders so maybe donate to local charity events to show off your work and rustle up some business

 

[TF3]

Don't compete with Walmart.
They are not your competition... you don't make what they make.
Raise your prices, market yourself to people who buy good cakes, not people who want something cheap.

I make handmade natural toys for a living (having quit my day job last year)~ people do have a "I can get that cheaper at Walmart" mentality... they are not my customer. They just aren't.
You have to know who your market is and sell to them... picture the person who would buy your cakes?":
Age? Job? Location? Wardrobe?
Where do they shop/ live/ eat?
Put yourself there... with cards, with samples, with shows... whatever gets them to see you and try you.

With a consumable like cake (everyone will order more cakes for other parties) word of mouth is important.
Let people know you exist and that you can meet their needs... go the extra mile for the good customers, so they return and share with others!

Your work is lovely!

 

[cowgirl9768]

I hope you have a facebook page for your business.

I do if any of you guys want to check it out or follow me here is the link. https://www.facebook.com/kiannascakecreations

Also join any garage sale, sales pages in your area. Your cakes are amazing.

Good idea, i do this with my bunnies... Never thought of it for my cakes. Just requested to join a few groups now.

One thing I did with my dog grooming business, that for some odd reason really worked amazingly well, was. I had a garage sale.

Good idea... But garage sales do not get much business at my house. We are way back a windy road. That is why I also delver my cakes haha :lol:

Cool ! Youve really got a knack for getting the fondant evenly over the cake! That alligator looks awesome !

Thank you :bow:

I also make them for cake raffles my nieces and nephew schools have as a fundraisers and often people ask if I take orders so maybe donate to local charity events to show off your work and rustle up some business

I have done this for a few 4-H events... But would like to make a donation cake for a fundraiser event where sponcers and people with money to give attend. They would be the ones who may buy special order cakes more then 4-H kids and parents. So im on the lookout for that.

 

[Miss M]

Don't compete with Walmart.
They are not your competition... you don't make what they make.
Raise your prices, market yourself to people who buy good cakes, not people who want something cheap.

^^^YES! My thoughts exactly!

Reminds me of a yard sale we had once. Actually, we set up at the flea market, because we were too rural. Lots of people had yard sales that way there. But anyway...

We had a set of speakers to get rid of, but they needed new wiring. My husband happened to have plenty of the needed wire on hand, so he rewired them himself, and set them out on the table for $5, noting they were newly rewired.

I can't tell you how many people picked them up and looked them over with this funny look on their faces, and then put them back down and moved on. After watching this for a while, I finally told my husband that I thought they were priced too low. Everybody thinks something's got to be wrong with them.

He raised the price to $10, and they sold within 5 minutes to the next person who picked them up.

TF3 is exactly right. Walmart is for people who are looking for a cheap product. You are for people who are looking for an awesome product. If you try to compete with their prices, you will lose money, and you can't stay in business like that. Decide how much of a wage you want per hour. Keep track of that, and of the cost of the supplies used for the cake. Double or triple the cost of supplies, and add your wages calculated for that cake. That will help you price similarly involved cakes in the future, so the up-front price you give becomes a better reflection of what you put into it.

Then it's all a matter of marketing. If you don't make it, it won't be because your prices were too high (you're not getting the business now, even at Walmart prices). It'll be because the market simply is not there in your area. But with good marketing (great suggestions already made by others), you might be able to create the market.

 

[akane]

Honestly I've never even thought about finding an individual/business that just does cakes when I need one. I don't really care what the walmart ones look like (we don't actually use walmart for anything but similar places). I would be more likely to buy a cake if it tasted a lot better as well and of course it would take more advertising. I'm sure plenty of other people also just don't think about it. General opinion in my experience is you go find such a place when you have an extra special event not just for small parties or gatherings. We do go look for good pie making places and order them ahead even when we are just getting together with my husband's family to eat with no special event. It's all because of taste and available varieties.

 

[macksmom98]

I agree about advertising on face book. You may also want to consider doing some sample cupcakes, and taking them to businesses where potential clients might work, or consider selling at a local vendor show if you have one. You can buy cheap business cards on vista print, and have those to accompany any samples or single serve cakes that you donate or sell. You might also talk with a friend who might be into amateur photography, and see if she will exclusively order smash cakes for first birthday photoshoots from you, if you agree to advertise for her also. Maybe she could tack on the price of the cake into the photo session, and give out one of your business cards to the client when they are done. Consider doing the cake or cupcakes for something at your childrens school. Our school has at least one silent auction as well as teacher appreciation week, and would gladly take a free delicious cake anytime. There are local veterans celebrations, girl scout, boy scout, or American Heritage girls troops that could all use a locally donated cake for awards ceremonies too. Honestly, if you start with your inner friends and work your way out, as well as advertise using some of these ideas, you should start to have more orders than you want. Seeing and trying a product, then knowing that you do the cakes out of your home and take orders, will help a lot! Good Luck! You seem to have a quality product and deserve some business to put those talents to work!

 

[Zass]

Consider offering gluten-free cakes too. (and maybe egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc)
I agree that you shouldn't try to compete with walmart in price, but you can certainly carry specialty products they do not have.