If you told me 4 years ago I would be making money selling wedding cakes in a home baking business I would think you were lying!!!!! But it’s true!
Starting in 2020 I began making money selling my baked goods, fast forward to this year at least 95% of my orders are wedding cakes.
I started off with the love of baking.
Watching every single baking and cooking show available and thinking that it would be amazing to do that! I started to explore my passion but my extent of baking was mostly cookies and cupcakes for our family holiday celebrations or birthdays. Nothing crazy! Many things came from a box and with very few supplies.
LIKE THIS ONE THAT CAME FROM A BOX AND I PIPPED IT WITH A ZIP-LOCK BAG!
The more I baked the more I loved it. I started to imagine a future with baking. But with 2 babies two and under I could not imagine going to pastry school yet. I planned once my kids are in school I would go to pastry school and follow that dream.
Have you thought the same thing?
So I continued to look for other ways to make money from home.
I had a degree in elementary teaching so I looked for jobs in that field. I started teaching English to kids in China and I very quickly learned waking up at 2 in the morning to work when you have a newborn and a 1-year-old is a recipe for disaster.
I substitute taught which was great but tiring and meant that one of the grandmas needed to watch my kids. I wanted to be home with my kids and take care of them. I also felt bad knowing that one of the grandmas was missing out on making money to watch the kids while I worked. I knew this wouldn't be something I could do for long.
I watched a million and a half (I honestly don’t think this is much of an exaggeration) “How to make money as a stay-at-home mom" videos. I was constantly on the search for something I could do that would fit my family!
From all of my research, I started to try everything. I did custom resumes on fiverr, resold designer items found at thrift stores, sold baby teethers, tried accounting and an online children’s boutique… I know there is more. I tried a million things. Eventually, I would stop.
Either my heart wasn’t in it, the return was slower than I wanted, my living room was full of boxes of thrifted clothes or I just got distracted by something else.
Nothing seemed to be working.
And then 2020 hits. Forced to stay home I was desperate for parties. I love absolutely love having the family together to celebrate all the exciting moments of life.
Being confined to our home I wanted to make these moments even more special than before. I knew that although it feels like our lives are on pause we won't get these moments back.
So I made every holiday and birthday as special as I could from home
One thing that I started to do was make dessert tables. I wanted each of my family members to have a special cake that was unique to each of them.
Very soon my husband would start getting questions on Instagram. Where did you get that? Does she sell them? How much does she sell them for?
On top of that, every time I made any cakes, my family would start fighting over who would join me in business and how much we would sell the cakes for. I found it flattering but couldn't imagine it happening any time soon.
One of my husband's friends asked if I could make her cakes for her clients. I was scared out of my mind but started to make cakes as birthday gifts for her clients.
When I think about how much I charged for those cakes I can't help but laugh!!!
I would make naked no baked cheesecakes layered with cake for 40. Now I would charge at least double!
BUT………
It helped me to practice
That is exactly how I viewed those cakes. As paid practice. I would make about 2 - 5 a month for 3 months. The very first one I made for her I had to make 3 times before I got it right! So all though 2-5 cakes a month might not seem like a lot it was fitting to my abilities at the time.
It took me those few months to get used to the process and the flow of baking. The more I did the faster I got and the smother the process went.
She was urging me to start an Instagram page to sell my cakes and finally, I decided it was time.
I don’t know why I thought it was time, I had a 1-month-old along with a 2 & 3-year-old. But in my mind I was ready.
I made an Instagram page and started posting some of my treats.
I knew if I was going to take this seriously I could not rely on one platform. I created accounts for all of the platforms I could think of to start selling my desserts.
I started getting order after order after order. I quickly was challenged with new techniques and my portfolio began to grow. I was now doing about 3-9 orders a week. I loved the challenge of different themes and styles that I was asked to make. In 3 months I started earning a consistent 5k a month.
I decided to go big and started following wedding planners in my local area.
When the first planner reached out to me I kinda freaked out because I had zero idea what to charge!! But I got the hang of it and now 2 years later I specialize in wedding and large event cakes. I made this shift because I knew in the end it is what would work best for my family.
The average order value is so much higher in wedding cakes than in custom birthday cakes. Meaning I can make more money from one order than I could before and have more time with my family.
Along the way, I was surprised by the lack of information out there on starting a baking business. It was not easy to learn what I needed to know to have a smooth and successful business.
That is why I started teaching others. You don’t need to go to pastry school like I thought. You can have a successful business out of something that was once a hobby. I love teaching other bakes how that is possible!
If you are looking to turn your hobby into a successful business, you are in the right place. I am here to help. I am an open book. I love helping other bakers make their dreams a reality. Obviously there are many steps that took place in between.
There is no way I could fit it all into one blog post! It would turn into a book! But don't worry I will be breaking it all down in my posts.
Make sure to subscribe to my blog to get all the content and info directly to your email (don’t worry I never spam!) and if you want personalized help discussing your baking goals sign up for a free call with me!
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