success

2019 Must Do’s For All Cake Business Owners

We want this year to be better, right?

I too want the same for your business.

It is no longer status quo. Your business should be moving forward not remaining stagnant or worse going backwards.

I have complied some vital tips you should be doing to have a successful 2019.

Read and apply.

Get Organized

To be successful in business you need to be organized. You should have a data list of all your customers like their email, telephone number, office or home address.

With a data list you can be periodically be sending them marketing campaigns or text messages of your promos, announcements, contests or new additions to your product line. Look for ways to thank your loyal customers like sending them a surprise box of cupcakes at their workplace or inviting tem to a special vent where you will be.

You should always be in the mind of your customers. Don’t just throw away their information after the order is done with. Continually stay in touch with them. Alsothis goes for people who did not go ahead with an order still keep their information and send them your marketing material also.

Have a Written Plan

What do you want your business t look like in 2, 3,5, 10 years’ time? Write it down and make a plan of how you will achieve it. Without a plan, it is merely a dream. Outline your business plan, your goals, income goal, a sales and marketing plan, and a determination of the cash you need to get things done. Writing it all down is a crucial first step.

Read

Don’t just read bakery books. Read books on Finance, business and entrepreneurship. Make it a goal to read at least one business book a month for a start and grow from there. Expanding your knowledge is vital for not only your growth but also your business growth. There are many books you can find online that are free that can expand your knowledge. So there is no excuse.

Be Creative

Always be looking for ways to improve your business and to make it stand out from the competition. Look for partners, training, courses, seminars that you can learn from.

Remember that you do not know everything so be open to new ideas and new approaches to your business.

Increase Your Marketing Efforts

Effective marketing is key to getting customers and increasing your cake orders. Marketing takes a lot of forms. And you can include it anywhere in your business. Everyone by now should know you are a cake artist or baker. Make use of branded t-shirts, badges, even stickers on your car. Be very active on social media and never ever stop talking about your business to everyone you meet.

I have been working on a new Marketing Course that is guaranteed to supercharge your business. It will be coming out towards the end of January so start saving up for it. You will not want to miss. I have given you enough warning.

Provide Great Service always

Customer service is important. If you provide a very good service to your customers, they are more inclined to remember you when next they need a cake instead of going to your competition.

Study Your Competition

To be successful, you can’t be afraid to study and learn from your competitors. You never know they may be doing something right that you can implement in your business to make more money or if they are doing not something that you can easily provide, that will be an advantage over them. So do some research and see what new things you can implement in your business.

Understand how to price your cakes

I am not going to say much here as I have written so many articled on how you can price your cakes. You can download the free guide on how to price your cake here.

Pricing your cakes is vital. If you do not know how to price you will just be undercharging yourself. So learn how to price and do not be afraid to quote and defend your price to your customer.

Download Your Pricing Guide Here

To be successful in business, is not an overnight thing. You have to plan and work hard at it. If you want more success you will have to make the necessary changes for success to happen.

The change may be as simple as getting a finance person to teach you accounting or taking a Marketing Course.

Take these tips I have written and apply them. Learn something new each day and just dont read and forget, read and implement.

Here is to you having a successful and profitable 2019.

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About Me:

Hello, my name is Rotimicakelady and I am a cake business coach that teaches cake business owners how to grow and have a profitable cake business so that they have a constant stream of customers buying their delicious treats.

I have been running my own successful home based cake business for some years now. I have also been teaching bakers through my online courses who are struggling with low sales, with strategies on how to market, and price their cakes for profit.

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have helped over 50 bakers through my online course ‘A comprehensive guide to starting your cake business in 30 days’ with much needed information on how to start a cake business in Nigeria. I also teach close to 4000 cake enthusiasts through my Facebook Group how to run a money making cake business.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

If you are struggling with getting customers for their cakes, I can help you solve this problem by showing you how to market, sell, price, plan, structure and brand your business so you are constantly selling to the right people who want your cakes.

A Sure Way On How To Get More Sales And Orders For Your Cake Business

I am always getting messages from bakers asking me how they can get more orders. They have done the social media thing, given out their business cards, told family and friends.

But they want more, they want something bigger. They want to be fully booked out for months. So that each month they have like up to 7 or more orders.

So how do they achieve this?

Sell Your Cakes At Outside Events.

What do I mean by this?

Outside Events include such things as selling your baked goods at, food fairs, food festivals, church fairs, markets, interhouse sports competitions in schools,, charity events, expos, trade fairs, musical shows, pta meetings, club events and so on. Anyplace that has a congregation of people in one place.

You can make a list right now of places you can sell your cakes. Start with your church or mosque and then move on to schools and then sponsored events.

Every or so month there is usually a fair or festival going on. Such as the GT bank food festival. Also churches nowadays hold charity events where you can purchase a booth for a low price and you can sell anything you want.

These events are great way to make your brand known and to sell directly to the people that matter.

Not convinced enough?

Here are some reasons why you should do outside events:

You will make some much needed cash

Fine, you will not make millions, but if you are short of cash, you can make a few thousand of Naira just by selling some cupcakes and cakes. And after deducting the cost of the stall/booth and ingredients, you should have some tidy profit.

You will get new customers

You will get a steady stream of new customers who have never heard from you. So when they come upon your stall, you will have a chance to market to them. So you are reaching out to your target customers. You do not even have to wait for people to come upon your stall, go around the event with samples of your cakes and when they take a taste, give them your business cards.

You can even take Bookings there and then

As people come to you to sample or buy your cakes, have your cake photo album/portfolio with you and tell them that that if they make an order now you will give them a discount.

This will encourage them to at least book a cake with you now instead of waiting to later when they might have forgotten you.

Great way to get people’s contacts

You can have a little notebook for people to write down their details. As they come to taste a sample or to buy, ask them politely if they can leave their name, phone number and email address. This way you will have their contacts and can contact them directly through your email or sms campaigns.

It is an opportunity to promote your business

You are meeting your direct customer’s face to face so talk to them about your business. After they buy, give them your business cards and tell them that they can order online on your Facebook or Instagram or your website and that all the information is on your business card.

Free Advertising

Most times, such events will be covered on social media or even newspapers, radio or even the church magazine or bulletins.

So this is free media and social media coverage for you. Also there is usually a photo wall at such events and your logo will be featured. Take pictures on that wall, encourage your friends and customers to take pictures eating your cake by your stall and post on social media.

You can run a raffle

If you want more participation and engagement. You can run a raffle where the winner will win a big cake. You can sell raffle tickets at the events for a minimal fee and make a grand display when announcing the winner.

This will generate interest and a crowd. Let someone be handing out your business cards or flyers to the people around.

You will get out of the house at last

If for nothing else it will give you a chance to get out of the house. We bakers are an introverted lot and we like nothing more than being in our cocoon. But we need to go out and be under the sunshine and meet people. So even if you do not achieve much, you will get much of the needed vitamin D and at least make some sales.

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How To Increase Your Prices Without Losing Customers

Prices of ingredients have increased, but yet customers still want to pay low prices for your cakes.

How can you keep up?

Are you afraid of increasing your prices because you want to keep the few customers you have?

Are you out of pocket for most of your orders?

Are you losing customers because you just increased your prices by just 5%?

Are you using your own money to buy ingredients?

Are you now using cheaper and substandard products because you can’t afford buying quality ingredients anymore?

Have your profits gone down?

Then you need to come for this Webinar.

Just go to the link below to Register for this Webinar:

https://www.subscribepage.com/increasepriceswebinar

See you at the Webinar!

Have Pricing Woes?

Want to Grow A Sustaining Cake Business?

Want to Have A Regular Inflow of Profit’s Coming in your Business?

Ready To Have A More Profitable Cake Business?

Want To Make More Money In your Cake Business?

Get More Customers and Orders to buy your Cakes?

This Masterclass is an absolute must for those bakers that want to build a sustaining business, that is, you want your business to continue making money, and I mean profits year after year, even though you are not physically there.

This offer expires on 30 September 2018. Read more about this Masterclass + sign up for the Masterclass below.

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Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

Should You Take A Free Job Now On The Promise Of Future Orders?

Sometimes we may feel that for us to get more customers, we should cater for an event at our own cost or enter into an agreement with vendors who need our products and do it for free on the promise of future work, which may or may not happen.

You may feel that on this particular occasion you will do it for free, with the hope that that particular vendor will love your products so much and will be ordering from you for all their future occasions.

So what do you do in these types of transactions? When a company or a vendor asks you to provide your cakes for free and that they will start paying you next time.

Here are a couple of ways to handle these kinds of situations:

Offer Them Something Of Extra Value

Instead of you using your money and doing all the cakes and they not paying anything. Why don’t you tell them that they will pay the full price for the cakes but you will add something extra like maybe free delivery or an extra batch of cupcakes.

Think of something that will be of value to them and offer it to them. So this way, if they decide not to order from you again in the future, it will not be a complete loss as they would have paid you money to cover your costs.

Offer Them Wholesale Pricing

Create a pricing list just for them. In this sort of pricing, the price goes down as their order numbers go up. For example:

1-50 cupcakes: N700.00 each

51-100 cupcakes: N500 each

101-200 cupcakes: N400 each (and so on.)

This will encourage them to stay, but also encourage them to place the bigger orders with you.

Be Firm

If a vendor says just do this job for free and I will promise you the next one you will get paid. If you are not happy with that arrangement, you can say ‘ I don’t work that way but I’m happy to negotiate on a deal that will be beneficial for both of us.

“How about this, I’ll do such a good job on this first one at a very good price, that you’ll come back for the second one, and we can talk discount on the next job.”

This way you are letting them know that you value repeat customers, but you’ll provide them that value when they fulfil their promise.

Too often, very well meaning potential customers offer us the sun,moon and stars– that is they’re offering us plenty work in the future. Too often, this future work never pans out.

This was for an order I had for 100 cupcakes

If working with other vendors is something you want to start venturing in, then by all means go for it. It can be a very profitable market – just remember that they are not working for free or cheap so neither should you. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship.

MOST important of all, make sure you’ve got the same target market as they do. If they do not have the same customer base as you …don’t align with them.

Align with companies and vendors that share your values, share your demographic, and share the understanding that this needs to be a win/win relationship, not an opportunity for them to exploit you. You are not the cheap cake lady.

Start an Online Course See our Free Resource Library Read our Blog

Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magaz

The Real Reason You Are Not Making Money In Your Cake Business

Okay you have finally taken the push and have started your cake business, maybe part or full time. You have done most of the necessary things. you have the passion You have done business card, printed fliers and have gone for training to improve your skills, but still you are hardly getting any orders.

And when you finally get an order, the customer prices your cakes so low that you are telling yourself what is the point.

If this is you, please continue reading.

The hustle is real but here are some mistakes you probably are making that is preventing you from making money.

1. You are Selling Cakes That People Do Not Want To Buy

Maybe you want to do something different, like maybe do different flavours of cake. Maybe you offer unusual flavours like beetroot, peanut butter, avocado, wheat germ, etc. Yes if you were abroad, you could get customers but here, there are few adventurous types in Nigeria.

So it’s best you stick to the common flavours like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon, chocolate and red velvet. Maybe when you become more popular you can expand your product range after you have done enough research and offer those unusual cake flavours.

2. Not Realizing You Are In Business

You are still seeing yourself as a hobby baker, even though people are paying you money for your cakes. Once money is exchanged, this is a business transaction even if you are selling to your sister or a close friend.

As a business owner, things become different. You are now a professional baker and you should see and portray yourself as such.

3. Not Keeping Track of Expenses

You have to keep track of what you are spending. You have to form this habit or keeping bookkeeping books and keeping receipts and not using your personal money to pay for cake stuff.

A helpful guide is a webinar I did- Booking Systems for Cake Businesses. Click here and here to watch. (Just send an email to cakelady@bakingbusinessschool.com.ng to get the password).

4. Waiting For Customers to just Miraculously Appear

Customers are not going to magically appear. They just don’t fall from the sky. Yes it will be lovely if that happens. You have to go out there are find them. And that means you have to market your business to the hilt. If not you will just be staring at the sky. I have a Marketing Course that can help. Here are the details.

5. You Discount and Negotiate Too Much

Once a potential customer starts complaining about your price or question your pricing or do not immediately order, you start offering discounts.

I know especially when you first start and really want to make a sale you give discount, offer extras, and promise all sorts of things just to get that order.

The problem with this, is that I might set of a trend and sooner or later you will be known as the cheap baker and you will be working for next to nothing.

6. You Are Not Confident

You are unsure of yourself or your skills. You still view yourself as a beginner or a learner. When you are describing your business or describing a cake you want to do for a customer, you do not talk in a confident tone.

You do not own the conversation. You don’t give ideas and just accept whatever the customer wants. When you do this, people can tell that you are a learner, even though you may be the best baker in town. You are scared of charging high prices, you don’t sound confident about your skills, you can’t really articulate why someone should pick you to make their cakes over another brand, and you can’t say no to the customers who price you cheaply.

Need help? In the Ultimate Guide to marketing Your cake Business, it teaches you how to be more confident in your marketing. Click here for more details.

7. You Are A Jack Of All Trades

You are one of those people that have multiple businesses. You not only sell cakes, but also clothes, shoes, toys. You also are a network marketer. You need to concentrate on one thing or at least a similar line of business. People will just get confused not knowing what exactly you do. In your profile you advertise all sort of stuffs. If you are serious about your cake business and want to make a success of it, then you should let go of the others and concentrate on cake.

Whew!

I’m going to stop at these reasons ( so I do not overwhelm you), but believe me there’s still so much more.

There are a lot of reasons you might not be making money, and my question is always this:

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Are you going to allow this your business that you are so passionate about go to waste? Because if you keep going from month to month without making money…it’s only a matter of time”

Let’s solve this problem together.

Let me help you make your money

Need help in your Pricing. Then join this Masterclass- Pricing your cakes right to build a profitable cake business.

This course is a 30 day Masterclass program that will help you gain the confidence to price your cakes, how to market to get customers, how to price your cakes easily, how to deal with customers and also pricing system to have in place for your cake business so that you can build a profitable cake business.

I am sure you know that this is the course for you…so Join the Masterclass.

Start an Online Course See our Free Resource Library Read our Blog

Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

5 Things To Stop Doing Now To Prevent Your Customers Going To Your Competitors

Whether you’re a big time cake seller or a small home based baker, you know how painful it is to have a customer leave you and go another baker or your competition.

It hurts. It makes you feel you are not good enough. You start questioning your abilities and wonder what the other baker has or is doing better than you.

Competition is not nice, especially when you’re the one losing. But that’s business life. When you are running a business, you’ve got to face the fact that you are going to face competition, somewhere down the line of your business journey.

So how do you deal with the competition?

There are plenty things you can do but the best approach, however, is to do all you can to keep your existing customers. Your customers are essential to your business because no customers= no business.

Luckily, there ways to prevent your customers from going to your competition or leaving you.

These tips you are going to learn will help to keep your customers loyal to our business so that you will have a customer for life.

Know your customer

Have a thorough knowledge of your customer. You should know your customer — even if it is just their email address and birthday.

You may ask why does it matter?

Having a thorough knowledge of your customers such as their demographic, occupation, age, gender, motivation, hobbies, will help you know how to attract a customer and serve them better.

If a customer decides to order a cake from somewhere else. You should try and find out why they left. You can send them a feedback form and structure your questions to find out what are their motivating factors for ordering a cake

Understanding your customer better will help you hold on to them.

In this Mini Course, we are going to learn the following Lessons:

What is social media marketing;
Why you need to be on social media;
The different social media platforms;
What to post on social media;
what social media platforms to be on;
and much more

Know your competition

Know who are you dealing with. Do you know where your leaving customers are going?

The first thing you should do is to discover which of your competitors the customer prefers, and they prefers them. You can simple ask them or try doing some undercover work on the competition.

Find out what types of cakes they are selling, do they have a website, how much are their cakes, how are their designs, what additional services do they offer their customers.

A simple fact could be that the competition makes it simpler for people to order or their prices are cheaper. With this information you can now look at your business and see where you can make changes.

So do a little spying of your competition. You may be surprised at what you will find out.

Get your USP Right

What is your unique selling proposition or USP.

A USP is the reason why your baked products are different from the rest. What makes your customers prefer you more than the other bakers.

Your USP is the reason why your customers decide to order from you and why they decide to remain with you.

Think about something in your business that makes it different from the rest. Your business is unique; it has its own personality. So think about what makes you distinct and special. Do you make awesome cupcakes or your cakes are fat free. Take a few moments and think on this.

Try Incentives to make your customers spend more.

One way to keep your customers is by upselling.

Here’s how it works.

A customer calls you to make an order. Great, but they only ordered 6 cupcakes, which is like 3k. Not much of a sale right?

Your next goal? Get them to spend more money.

You could tell them that if they spend a little bit more money they can get a dozen or more cupcakes and you will throw in free delivery.

Why? When a customer spends more money, they value the product more if they spend additional money on it. So it will make them harder to leave

The more your customer pays and the longer they stay, the more likely they are to spend more.

By encouraging upsells, you’ll prevent your customers from leaving.

Get this Mini Course for just N3,500. In this lesson, you will get the following lessons:
1. 7 step guide to pricing your cakes
2. How to respond to customers who complain about your prices
3. When and how to raise your cake prices
4. How To Price So You Do Not Lose Customers

Reward your customers for doing something for you.

Reward your customers in some way. Give them a freebie, a gift, a discount, voucher Make it valuable and desirable.

But before you give them something for free, make sure they do something for you. Something like what? Make them promote your business. Tell them that if they refer your cakes to someone and that person makes an order, they will get a free cake or cupcakes for their next birthday.

If a customers gets something from you for free, they are most likely to be singing our praises to other people and think of you when they want a cake.

This practice works, because it’s built on reciprocity. Reciprocity is simply just a mutual exchange. It means giving something to someone thereby motivating them to return the favour.

In Summary

In summary, knowing your customers and your competition is the way to get started, them with that information, you can hone down on your USP, try to make your customers spend more and then give then freebies for dong something for you.

In the end you could have a customer for life.

Let me help you make your money in your business.

Here Are A SELECTION of our EXCLUSIVE MINI COURSES Available For Sale

You asked for it and now it is here.

One of the BIG QUESTIONS I always get is “What’s the best way to get new customers for my cake business?”

The answer is …you need to get knowledge on how to sell sell your cakes to the right customers.

So i have done that for you.

I have complied a collection of superb mini courses from the Baking Business School secret stash.

These Mini Courses deal with different aspects of the cake business to help and guide you in making your cake business more successful and of course profitable.

If you have never taken one of our course or you have ever wondered what a Baking Business School is like or you have not really been able at a point in time to afford a Baking business Course.

Well now you can have access to 6 awesome lessons, ALL at a very AFFORDABLE price.

I have handpicked my bestselling lessons from my various courses and put them in a mini form for your convenience.

Each lesson is less than 45 mins and in easy to follow steps, so you can start implementing immediately.

The lesson will be yours forever and you can watch it on any device.

If you are interested in any of these lessons or the whole collection just select the lessons you want and make payment to;

Bank: Diamond Bank Plc

Account Name: Three Sisters Cake and Pie Company Ltd

Account No: 0074933012

Once payment is made just send me an emailat cakelady@bakingbusinessschool.com.ng telling me what lessons you have paid for and i shall send them to you in less than 24 hours.

Seriously isn’t this an awesome deal or what?

AND THERE’S MORE

If you want the whole collection, you get a great discount as you will only have to pay N10,000 (instead of N13,500)

GET THE WHOLE COLLECTION FOR N10,000

Just make payment to;

Bank: Diamond Bank Plc

Account Name: Three Sisters Cake and Pie Company Ltd

Account No: 0074933012

Once payment is made just send me an email at cakelady@bakingbusinessschool.com.ng telling me what lessons you have paid for and i shall send them to you in less than 24 hours plus some bonuses.

If you need any more information, just comment below or send me an email at cakelady@bakingbusinessschool.com.ng

Start an Online Course See our Free Resource Library Read our Blog

Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

What Other Successful Cake Business Owners Do Not Want You To Know

As a Cake Business owner, I’ve learned that it takes a lot to start a business and grow it to profitability so that you can get the kind of income you want.

Over the past two years, I’ve grown this website to more than 3,000 monthly readers, launched various online courses, started a successful cake business, built an online business and more.

Now, I’m teaching other cake business owners how to get started in starting their cake business with my Free Course – Start Your Cake Business In Nigeria Today and also been teaching bakers how to be a master in the art of selling, pricing, marketing, branding and structuring your cake business. Just click on this link to view our available Online Training’s.

This week, I want to share some of my best business advice and success tips so you’ll be prepared to start and grow your successful cake business in Nigeria.

Start Today

You can’t afford to sit around waiting for to get capital to start your business, or hoping and praying that an angel investor will come along to help you implement your idea or complain that you don’t have the time. If you do not have money to start your business, with as little as N4,000 you can buy ingredients and start selling cupcakes to people so little by little you can start raising your own capital to start or buy equipment for your business.

The only way to learn is by doing, stop complaining and harbouring negative thoughts, and stop making excuses. All these won’t help you start a business and it sure won’t help you have the income you want for yourself.

It does take longer than expected to get a steady stream of Customers and Income

I’m sure you already know this already. Weather you started big or small, it takes time to develop a marketing strategy, knowing what works in your business get customers, how to price you cakes well and how to use social media in your business.

If you want more orders and customers then you need to market yourself more. I have a marketing course The Ultimate Guide To Marketing Your Cake Business which is a 4 Week comprehensive Cake Business Marketing Course that will guide you on all marketing techniques to promote your cake business

Struggling to book more cake orders in your cake business?

In order to grow your cake business, you NEED more cake orders…right?

If you are stuck trying to grow your cake business with no success, then you need a step to step guide on how to market your cake business.

The Ultimate Guide To Marketing Your Cake Business has many strategies you can double your cake business and book more cake orders

This 4 Week comprehensive Cake Business Marketing Course will guide you on all marketing techniques to promote your cake business and remove any anxieties you may have.

It is not going to be easy, you will not become a millionaire overnight but with adequate planning, being positive and having enough passion you will see that your customers and income will begin to grow.

Have A Good Recipe Base

You must be consistent with your recipes. Do you have 2-3 different vanilla recipes? Once you have found a recipe you like which is tried and tested, keep to it. A customer does not want to be eating different versions of the same cake each time they make an order. Your cakes are your signature and we know a signature usually remains the same.

Cake education is a must. You should know the different types of cakes suitable for different uses like for sculpting, creating tiers, and so on. Also what preservatives to use to make cake last and how to change recipes to suit special dietary requirements or requests.

Have a Good List of Suppliers

It is always convenient to have a good list of suppliers who are reliable and provide good quality. You want a handy list of suppliers where you can readily get your cake supplies.

You do not want to have an order to create a Spongebob cake and you are looking and going from market to market, shop to shop looking for the necessary cake pan. If you have a supplier, you can just make a quick call for delivery. This way you can concentrate on creating the best cake possible for your customer.

Yes I know, it does take time to build these suppliers contacts list, however make sure you find the ones who are reliable, the prices are reasonable, have an option for delivery, give great customer service, and whose products are of good quality.

So do your research, Google and you can even ask your baker friends where they get their supplies from.

Have a Clear Company Policy for giving Discounts

We all get these type of customers. Those you complain about our price, those who do not know the time and energy it takes to create a cake, those who want to pay next to nothing for a cake or just want it for free.

So how do you deal with these customers? Make it a point to have clear guideline as to when and who you will be giving discounts. Know how to charge for family and friends and the general public. For example you can make it a policy to give a 50% discount for family and friends and for the general public you will only go as low as 15% or offer them some cupcakes instead of a discount.

It’s your business, so your rules. Don’t let a customer dictate what price or discount you should give them.

Don’t let the bad days put you down

Like in all businesses, you will have good and bad days. You may deal with a difficult customer, or a cake may collapse as you are delivering or a whole month may go by and you haven’t had a single customer.

Yes it is disheartening and yes you may feel like giving up but this is your business and more than likely you depend on the income you generate from it so even though you have a bad day or a cake disaster, just dry your tears and get on with it.

And lastly,

Build Relationships

Never stop building meaningful relationships with customers and other people in the baking and event planning industry.

Don’t really view them all as your competitors. View them instead as collaborators or potential partners. You never know what additional business you can get from these partnerships.

So what have you learnt so far from your cake business. Will love to hear from you.

Start an Online Course See our Free Resource Library Read our Blog

Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

Your Customers Are Out There

However good your cakes are, the simple truth is that no one will buy it if they don’t know you. And you can’t persuade anyone that they want or need your cakes unless you can clearly understand what it is your customers want and where you can market to them.

Knowing and understanding customer needs is at the centre of every successful business. Once you have this knowledge, you can use it to persuade potential and existing customers to buy your cakes.

Here are 5 ways to help you get more customers:

Word Of Mouth Actually Works!

This I think is the oldest form of marketing and advertising used today. Word-of-mouth remains one of the most trusted methods in the world today because it is coming from someone you know, like and trust.

When a customer is happy and satisfied with a product or a service, it’s natural that they will share, recommend and tell their friends or people within their circle.

So you can view a satisfied customer as a means of free advertising and promotion for your business.

Word-of-mouth is so effective and powerful tool. But how can you encourage your customers to promote your business for you and use it for your advantage.

One thing you can do is to entice or encourage your customers or give them a reason to advertise your business. You can tell your customers that if they refer your business to another and that referral leads to an order, that customer will get a free box of cupcakes or get a discount on their next order.

2. Treat Your Customers Right

If you treat your customer’s right, they will tell people about their experience. Genuinely talk to your customers. If they have a complaint or an issue, don’t just give them standard response .Genuinely talk with your customer, address your customers by name. Help to solve their problems. Ask them about the event that are having, the colour scheme, the number of invitees. As the customer reveal more details, you never know, they may be another money making transaction down the line.

3. Offer Discounts and Special Offers

Offering discounts and special offers are also a powerful way to publicise your brand. To get more customers in your business, you can offer discounts and special offers to entice your customers. You can reach thousands of potential customers this way.

People love a deal. It gives them an opportunity to save money and enjoy something for less money.

In fact, discounts and offers usually sway customers to buy more of a product or service because that product may not be at that price next time.

An example is that on your social media pages, you can advertise deals such as buy a dozen cupcakes and get a box of 4 free.

4. Expand your network

You should constantly be looking for new customers. You can rely on your existing network such as word of mouth to expand your customer base, but you may eventually run out of new customers. When you find yourself in this situation, you need to look to expanding your network.

You can make wonderful cakes, but if you do not have new contacts that want to order from you, your business will remain stagnant.

How do you go about growing your network? Attend networking events, join organizations, form partnerships, collaborate with other business partners, and watch your network grow.

Be On Social Media

Many people now depend on the internet for information nowadays. People watch more of YouTube than they do television.

There are several social media platforms to choose. Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, instagram. Snapchat, YouTube are some of the top places where your potential customers hang out and it makes perfect sense that your business presence be felt on most of them.

So believe me, your customers are out there. You only have to look for them and persuade them to come to your business. So if you want to expand your customer base, just follow the tips above and enjoy getting booked out.

Have you tried any of these methods? How did it work for you? Will love to hear from you. Just comment below.

Here Is What Is On Offer:

The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Cake Business– ~~N35,000~~, now N10,500
Pricing Your Cakes Right to Build A Money Making Cake Business– ~~N22,000~~, now N12,000
The Wealthy Baker System– ~~N50,000~~, now N15,000
How to Sell Cakes– ~~N12,000~~, now N6,000

But you’ll have to hurry and grab it right away because it disappears. To take advantage of this package, just reply to this email or send an email to cakelady@bakingbusinessschool.com.ng and state the course you wish to pay for

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About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

Business Lessons From My Holiday At Disney World

For the past few weeks I have been on vacation. Went to London and Florida where I treated the kids to a few days in Walt Disney World.

Disney World has been described as the happiest place on earth and I thank God he has given me the means and opportunity to take my children as I know they will cherish these memories forever.

Going to Disneyworld is not cheap. From flights, to hotels and park tickets. It can cost a small fortune. And how was I able to afford this? It is from exactly what I am doing now. My business and not giving up on my dreams.

When we got to the themeparks I was wooed by the crowd. On that day alone, it was estimated that 60,000 people were visiting the Disney parks and it is not just tourists that visit the parks, the Florida residents themselves treat it as an ultimate vacation destination.

Almost everyone has heard of Disney, from their films, merchandise, characters, clothes, their resorts and parks. How did Disney become a household name? Almost year round, people all over the world troop, plan and aspire to go to Disneyworld or Disneyland.

Disney world has been described as the happiest place on earth and I thank God he has given me the means and opportunity to take my children as I know they will cherish these memories forever.

While I was there enjoying my trip to the happiest place on earth I could not help myself observing business ideas which one can apply to one’s business. I’ll also offer some insight into how you can take these ideas and apply them to your business to see more growth in your business.

disney 1

1. Treat Your Customers Right

When you go to any Disney theme park, you are met with happy staff that are very much happy to help. Even if they are passing by, they will ask if you need any assistance. I remember one occasion in Epcot Centre I was taking a picture of my kids and my mum. Of course i too wanted to be in the picture so me and my mum took turns taking the pictures. A staff walking by asked to take our picture together. We didn’t even need to ask, she observed a problem and offered a solution.

To be successful in business you need to treat your customer right, from the moment they make an enquiry, to the moment you deliver including after sales service. Treat any complaints professionally. Don’t take your frustration out on the customer. Follow up, talk to them. Find out their needs and problems and try to offer solutions.

2. Incorporate Different Pricing Tiers

If you’ve ever planned a trip to Disneyland, you know that the different pricing options can be a bit overwhelming.

There are different pricing packages, you can buy tickets to all the Disney parks or just a single park or buy tickets allowing you to visit multiple parks in a single day. There are even other packages where it includes hotel stays, princess makeovers and more.

So why does it have different pricing systems.

Because different people want different things, so it’s created a pricing structure to suit the pocket of different people so at least everyone can experience the magic that is Disney whatever your pocket.

Does your business offer multiple pricing packages?

How do you do that?

Simply by offering 3 alternatives for the client.

A budget option, midrange and expensive option.

So you will be offering 3 alternatives to the inquiry, or example:

Box of 12 cupcakes with butter cream icing is N5000.
Small 8 inch round buttercream cake is N8,000.
Fondant covered, 1 tier, 8 inch round cake is N15,000

Now with that, the customer feels they have options or a choice. To leave them when they say ‘Ah no that is really expensive’’ leaves them with no options at all.

But by spending an extra 1-2 minutes teaching and giving 3 alternatives, the customer is back in charge with now making a more informed choice, within their budget.

disney 2

3. Be Innovative

The Disney I visited as a child is not really the same when I visited with my kids. It is much better. They now offer fast track at certain times so you can skip the lines and simply go on the ride. You can check how long you’ll have to wait to go on a ride and so on. There are constantly looking for ways to improve their brand, business and customer satisfaction.

In your business you should continually be looking for things to make your customer experience better. Get feedback from your customers on how you can improve their experience, then find innovative ways to solve their problem.

And lastly.

disney 3

4. Never Give Up

Did you know that Walt Disney did not just become a success. He started many companies that failed. Instead of giving in or giving up, Mr Walt Disney never gave up.

disney quote

cake business pic

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About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

Want A Successful Cake Business? Do Not Make These Mistakes!

During my years as a cake business coach, I observed some common mistakes made by cake business owners. It’s one thing to be a skilled Baker, but it’s something quite different to be the owner of a successful Cake business.

Yes, making mistakes is part of life and it’s only by learning from those mistakes that we become better business owners, but knowing the common mistakes to avoid will make you more successful in the long run.

I remember when I first started and i baked a lovely 12 inch cake covered with buttercream roses. it took days to make and because i didn’t know how to price properly, the customer only paid a very small amount and i was so angry with yourself.

Here are a few of the most common mistakes you should try to avoid as a Cake Business owner:

#1: Not Knowing You Are A Legal Business Owner

Most of us started like this- you make a cake for a few friends and they like it, and tell you to go into business. So you give it a try, make a cake for someone and suddenly you’re in business.

You have conducted your first business transaction. So you are no longer a hobby baker. The thing you have to realize is that the moment you charge for a cake, you’ve moved from hobby to professional.

In most cases, selling your cakes means you’re already a legally registered business. Once you start collecting money for your cakes. The rules become different, and you need to think about things in a different way – even if your cakes are not perfect or you only charged a few Naira for your cakes.

You have to conduct yourself more professionally, you need to have invoices, a dedicated bank account, email address, invoices and receipts, etc.

#2: Working For Free

You need to charge adequately for your time and effort. Even if you are new in the cake business, my advice is to always know what your cakes are worth, and refuse to negotiate below a certain price.

Stop making cakes for free( I know it is usually family and friends that are guilty of this). You are a skilled professional so you should be paid a such. Not only should your costs be covered but also you should be making profit for every cake you sell.

If someone says you should bake a cake for free on the promise of future orders, Don’t do it. If it is for charity, you can decide to do it (maybe twice a year) but for anyone else, they should pay. Will they go to a doctor and tell them to treat them for free? You are providing a service, so you should be paid for the service you are rendering.

#3: Waiting For Customers To Just Appear

Customers do not just fall from the sky. You need to market and get on social media to advertise your cake business. Word of mouth is good and helps bring in customers, but you can’t always rely on that.

The only way you can get business is to market, market, market. Get your business cards and flyers out and go and distribute it to where your customers are. Do Facebook Ads, be active on social media, go to events and tell people about your business.

If you are just home waiting, you will not get customers. You need to go out there and market.

#4: Not Keeping Track Of Your Expenses

Now that you are in business, you should know the cost of being in business. Not only the cost of ingredients, but other things like your stationary, fuel and even phone credit. All these things should be accounted for so you can add them to the cost of your cake.

You are not working for free or using your own money to stay in business.

Every expense should be accounted for and you have to keep track of such monies so at the end of the day you will know if you are making a profit or loss. So having a separate business account and bookkeeping books are essential for your business.

#5: Living In A Cake Fantasy

Running a professional cake business, is not so easy. Many feel you will become a millionaire overnight just by baking cakes.

That is far from the truth.

The reality is that the cake baking and decorating plays a small part.

Not only will you be baking, but you will be doing marketing, social media, customer service, selling, ordering supplies, negotiating with customers and so on. Those business-related tasks are required in running your business so don’t ignore them.

#6: Worrying About The Competition

As a cake business owner, you need to know your competition, like what they charge and what type of cakes they sell. Knowing this is information is vital because it helps you make decisions on how you can improve so that you can stand out from the crowd.

However, if you’re spending the time comparing yourself to the competition and complaining about other bakers is a complete waste of your time.

Spend that time improving your customer service, marketing your business, developing new products, and getting feedback from new and existing customers.

#7: Not Knowing How To Set Prices

You should not just pull prices from the air. It is a calculated process.

It’s important to cost properly. The main reasons why costing properly is very important,

is because if you do it well, you will make a profit in your business;
You will be able to know where to reduce your costs and expenses;
You will know how to give discounts and offers without making a loss.

When pricing your cakes, you should note the cost of ingredients, your profit, your labour, utility and sundry costs.

To know more about pricing register for the Pricing your cakes right to build a money making cake business.

#8: Failing To Have A Business Plan

I know! I know! this can be a hassle, but it is worth doing. When you’ve started your new cake business try to take a break and write a business plan. Know this can be quite boring especially when you not only have to bake, but market, sell and so on.

However, without a plan, you are unlikely to achieve long-term success. A business plan helps you plan your goals and tracks your progress. It provides a continuous frame of reference for your cake business, defining your goals, and making you accountable. So it is worth having one.

So really the Baking is the easy part and it becomes more difficult when you have to deal with the business part. But when you avoid the mistakes we discussed above, you will be on your way to having a successful business.

‘Remember you’re A Cake Business Owner, not just a Baker’

What mistakes have you made while being a business owner and have you learnt what went wrong. Will love to hear about your experiences.

Start an Online Course See our Free Resource Library Read our Blog

Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

5 Ways To Keep Your Customers Coming Back For Your Cakes

After you have made a sale, don’t just move on to the next potential customers. A customer just parted with their money for one of your cakes. So it is a good idea to keep them as a customer for life.

You should find ways to increase sales to your existing customers. It will be a lot cheaper than looking for new ones. Those existing customers have already tasted and paid for your cakes, so the hard work is already done.

Here are a few promotional ideas so that you do not lose customers and they keep on coming back for more of your awesome cakes.

1. Do not forget your customer

You should devote some time after a sale to reconnect with your customers. You can send them an email asking them if they enjoyed the cake they ordered. This is an opportunity for you to get feedback and also get a great testimonial which you can use for your social media or website by the way.

You could send them a voucher where they will get a discount for their next order, or you could simply send them monthly newsletters so that you will be on their mind often.

2. Remember Things About Your Customer

Surprise your customers by remembering important details about them when you contact them. You do not need to know real personal details about your customers, it can be simple things like remembering their name, or their birthday or their spouse birthday or anniversary.

Once you have this information, you can contact them before the event and ask them if you can do the cake for their husband, or child’s birthday. It will be a surprise for them that you remembered and will take off the hassle of you dealing with last minute orders.

3. Make it Easy for customers to Contact you

If you have a website, make sure there is an area on all the pages of how hey can reach you, whether it is your phone number, or email or if you want them to order online. Do not make it difficult or hard for customers to know how to reach you.

If it is a Facebook Page you have, make sure at the top of that page are all the details of how customers can make there order. The same goes for your Instagram Page. Also, always respond in a very timely manner all your emails, social media enquirers or comments or missed calls. If you don’t you will be losing that customer.

4. Say Thank You

A simple thank you goes a long way. Show appreciation for your customers. You can express your gratitude by emailing your customers after a sale with a Thank you message.

You can even do more like sending them a discount voucher or tell them to recommend you business to their friends and if that friend makes an order they will receive a free box of cupcakes.

5. Communicate

Want your customers coming back?Ask them. Talk to your customers. You can send out feedback forms or surveys. This will give you a lot of information of how you can improve your business. And once you have that information, implement it.

Have more ideas on how to keep your customers coming back? Will love to hear them. Just comment below.

THE WEBINAR IS TODAY

Ready to start making more money in your cake business

Get easy to follow tips and ideas on how to increase your prices so that you can have a sustainable business so that it can grow and grow.

Come along and register for this Webinar class (it’s all free).

What you’ll learn

How to increase your prices without losing customers- so that you can stop losing money;

Tactics & Strategies to increase your prices;

How to communicate an increase in prices to your customers so that they can keep coming back

How to convey value so your customers readily accepts any price increase;

How to turn an enquiry into a paying customer at the price you want without sounding desperate.

Secure Your Place Here!

The Webinar is going to hold on Tuesday, 27th February 2018 at 6pm.

The Webinar is going to hold at the Baking Business School Facebook Group. So all you have to do is to go to the Baking Business School Facebook Group and you will view the Webinar.

IMPORTANT: To make sure you are notified when the Webinar starts, please subscribe to my messenger Bot service so i will inform you when i’m live: Just click here: m.me/bakingbusinessschool

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Start an Online Course See our Free Resource Library Read our Blog

Register for a Mini Course Start your Cake Business Today

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About Me:

In addition I am also run a Facebook Group where I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

I have also been teaching bakers through my online courses who are struggling with low sales, with strategies on how to market, and price their cakes for profit.

I coach, offer support and help bakers in their businesses.
I have helped over 50 bakers through my online course ‘A comprehensive guide to starting your cake business in 30 days’ with much needed information on how to start a cake business in Nigeria. I have also taught over 4000 cake enthusiasts through my Facebook Group how to run a money making cake business.

I have been featured in ‘Naija Top Baker’ magazine, one of Nigeria’s foremost cake magazines and also been a Guest Speaker at the Bakery World Convention.

If you are struggling with getting customers for their cakes, I can help you through my online courses solve this problem by showing you how to market, sell, price, plan, structure and brand your business so you are constantly selling to the right people who want your cakes.

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Have a Written Plan

Read

Be Creative

Increase Your Marketing Efforts

Provide Great Service always

Study Your Competition

Understand how to price your cakes

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You will get new customers

You can even take Bookings there and then

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How To Increase Your Prices Without Losing Customers

Have Pricing Woes?

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Offer Them Something Of Extra Value

Offer Them Wholesale Pricing

Be Firm

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1. You are Selling Cakes That People Do Not Want To Buy

2. Not Realizing You Are In Business

3. Not Keeping Track of Expenses

4. Waiting For Customers to just Miraculously Appear

5. You Discount and Negotiate Too Much

6. You Are Not Confident

7. You Are A Jack Of All Trades

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Start Today

It does take longer than expected to get a steady stream of Customers and Income

Have A Good Recipe Base

Have a Good List of Suppliers

Have a Clear Company Policy for giving Discounts

Don’t let the bad days put you down

Build Relationships

About Me:

Word Of Mouth Actually Works!

2. Treat Your Customers Right

3. Offer Discounts and Special Offers

4. Expand your network

Be On Social Media

Here Is What Is On Offer:

About Me:

1. Treat Your Customers Right

2. Incorporate Different Pricing Tiers

3. Be Innovative

4. Never Give Up

About Me:

#1: Not Knowing You Are A Legal Business Owner

#2: Working For Free

#3: Waiting For Customers To Just Appear

#4: Not Keeping Track Of Your Expenses

#5: Living In A Cake Fantasy

#6: Worrying About The Competition

#7: Not Knowing How To Set Prices

#8: Failing To Have A Business Plan

About Me:

1. Do not forget your customer

2. Remember Things About Your Customer

3. Make it Easy for customers to Contact you

4. Say Thank You

5. Communicate

THE WEBINAR IS TODAY

What you’ll learn

Secure Your Place Here!

About Me:

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