Tweet

Starting Your New Cake Decorating Business

Written by:

Article Overview: In these recessionary times, many people are thinking of starting a new business and cake decorating is certainly a popular choice. It is one of those businesses that you can start in a small way, providing you are able to obtain the necessary health certificates and business licensing.

Starting Your New Cake Decorating Business

In these recessionary times, many people are thinking of starting a new business and cake decorating is certainly a popular choice. It is one of those businesses that you can start in a small way, providing you are able to obtain the necessary health certificates and business licensing.

This kind of business can be fun because you are dealing with people who are celebrating, but it can still be hard work and your MUST make sure that you have enough money to make a go of it. As you are dealing with food it is vital that you first undertake training in food handling and the appropriate health and safety rules. You will need to ensure that you have a kitchen that is both clean and well equipped to a professional standard and many countries insist that you hold health certificates and are regularly inspected.

If you have a good business plan, price your cakes to make a profit and are good at time management, this can be a lucrative business. Your main reason for wanting to start a cake decorating business should be that you are getting so many cake orders that you feel you can go into business and make a go of it.

There are certain items you will need to start. You will need a few icing tips (the ones you use most often), a heavy duty mixer, mixing bowls, food colouring, spatulas, the right cake pans, enough room to work without being cramped, and an oven.

You will need to remember that family and friends are customers, and you will need to charge them for the cakes they want you to make. You have expenses and it will cost you to make a cake and you are in the business to make money. You may want to give them a discount, but you will definitely need to charge them for your time and the money you put into making the cake. You will need to check nearby bakeries and stores to find out what they charge for cake decorating.

Set your prices at the same level or just above the bakeries but aim to provide more unique and interesting cakes. As you become more experienced and can produce better cakes you can start to increase your prices and make a better profit.

At first you need to be able to offer any kind of cake, but you might soon be in a position to specialise in wedding, party or celebration cakes.

When you first start you should aim at producing about 10 different types of cakes with various types of decoration and colouring. So for example you can offer:
• 3 different types of wedding cakes say with different shapes.
• 4 different children’s party cakes such as “cartoon”, “car”, “teddy” and “pirate”.
• 3 different celebration cakes such as “golden wedding”, “engagement”, “retirement” and “birthday”.

Once you have made these cakes you should then photograph them and use these photos for your brochure. You can then donate the cakes to raffles and good causes so spreading the word about your business.

While it would be great if the business was all fun, it does require a commitment. Some areas to consider are:
• Weekends are usually tied up with baking cakes, as most events are held on the weekend
• You will need to plan your cake decorating in advance and keep good records.
• You are going to need extra storage for all of the equipment you need for your business.
• You may find expenses for special equipment and classes to improve your art, can run a bit high.
• You may need a separate kitchen to use for your business because of health requirements. You will definitely need to keep your pets out of the kitchen.

However running a cake decoration business can be great fun so enjoy and good luck!

Related Articles
  The Cake
  5 Steps to Starting a Home Staging Business – Part 2
  Having your cake and eating it too
  Brand Extensions: Is it Time to Broaden Your Horizon?
  The Future Looks Bright for a Career in Real Estate Staging

Article Tags: aim, bakeries, business plan, cake decorating, cake orders, cakes, family and friends, food colouring, food handling, good business, health and safety, health certificates, heavy duty, lucrative business, mixer, mixing bowls, recessionary times, safety rules, starting a new business, time management



Related Forum Posts
How much is too much competition? - So I recently starting taking part-time classes at the Bonnie Gordon School of Cake Decorating and Design and I was surprised at how many students (predominantly women...in fact, I was the only guy in the 3 classes I've taken so far) were interested in starting their own cake catering business. My question is: So if the majority of students from this school (in Toronto) are taking classes to start their own small business (rather than just for interest), how likely will one of them succeed? How much is too much competition?
Business Innovation - Hi Simon If you can finish off the Business Plan and think about your strategic direction or how you are going to use your product to convince people it's a great idea, it will set the foundation for your programming project. You see, when you are looking for funding you will need a Business Plan and Strategic Plan that will convince companies to invest into your new idea. Has anyone achieved this idea before using another industry besides health and fitness that you know of? You should also design some mockups as a "preview" for your programming project. This will also help reduce your programming costs as everyone will know exactly what you want if you have detailed mockups already completed including any functionality you require. Starting mockups for websites and software applications on paper is the best way if you're not a guru in graphic editing software.
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: Moderators on vacation - Hi Everyone, I will be away for the next 4 days. Starting now.
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Ways to Improve Your Landing Page Conversions

Are You Listening?

How to develop the best lateral thinking skills

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.