What could be better than smelling the sweet treats you bake and having people come into your store to buy them? Nothing, but before you can make your dreams a reality, you’ve got to take the necessary steps to start a cake business.
If you’ve been wondering what it takes to open a cake shop, you’ve come to the right place. Below we’re provided a comprehensive guide that will walk you through everything you need to know so that you can start creating your delicious confections sooner.
Table of Contents
Decide on a Niche
There are several types of cakes out there that all require different skills to achieve the desired look. Before you open your business, consider what you want to be known for.
Do you want to focus on solely creating cakes for weddings? Or, are you someone that enjoys creating cupcakes for birthday parties or corporate events?
Knowing your specialty will come in handy when it’s time to start marketing your services to your ideal target audience.
Research Market Competition
The next step in opening your cake business and becoming the next best cake decorator in the area is doing some research. You’ll want to research how many other bakeries are located in your area, as well as find out what marketing strategies they’re using to retain customers.
Knowing what your competition is doing will help when you’re developing marketing strategies and figuring out ways to outperform them. Your competition may also show you things that they’re doing that aren’t working well, and those would be things you’d want to avoid.
Become a Legal Entity
Before a business can begin, you’ve got to take the time to file the proper legal documents. Your business must be a registered entity in your area, and you’ve got to obtain a permit to do business.
Other things that you need to take time to do include:
- Come up with a business name and register it
- Obtain tax identification number
These are a few things that might not seem like a big deal until you’re ready to open the front doors to your shop and aren’t able to.
Find the Right Storefront
If you’re not willing to do business out of your home, the next best thing is to rent or purchase a storefront. When looking for the right storefront for your business, there are several things you need to think about.
First, ensure that you’re in an area that receives lots of traffic, increasing the chances of more people coming into your store. Next, make sure that your storefront isn’t hard to get to from the roadways.
Lastly, take time to figure out what the pricing will be when it comes to paying rent. There are some situations where outright purchasing the space is more cost-effective than paying monthly rent.
Purchase Equipment
What are you going to store your cakes in once you’ve completed them? Do you plan to leave them on the counter?
The next thing you need to do when starting your cake business is purchase your equipment like cake display fridge gold coast. Equipment needed to run a successful cake business include, but aren’t limited to:
- Mixers
- Ovens
- Cake depositors
- Cake display fridges
Your equipment will allow you to do multiple things at once without sacrificing the quality of the cakes you’re baking.
Practice Your Skills
The only way to stay on top of your cake decorating skills is to practice. Any time that you’re not creating masterpieces for clients, take the time to learn a new decorating skill that you can begin to use when making cakes.
You’ll soon be known as the cake creator with no limits that can bake any cake that a client asks for.
Hire Staff
Even though you might try your hardest once business picks up, you’ll need others to step in and help you. This is when you need to hire staff.
Train your staff in the art of customer service because often, while you’re baking the cakes, they will be the first people that the clients interact with. Ensure they understand the standards that you have for your business.
Hiring staff before the opening gives you the proper amount of time to train your staff the way you want and get everyone on the same page.
Marketing Your Business
Now that you’ve gotten nearly everything taken care of, it’s time to start marketing your business. There are several ways that you can do this, starting with creating a website.
Your website will showcase the cakes you’ve made before and provide a space for people to get in contact with you if they have questions or want to place an order. It’s also beneficial to open a social media account that people can visit and check out your latest creations.
All it takes is for one person to share one of your cake creations on their social media, and business will begin to boom.
Wondering How to Start a Cake Business?
Some specific steps need to be taken to start your cake business. We recommend taking the time first to file your legal paperwork so that you don’t run into issues before your grand opening.
It’s also helpful to remember to research what is and isn’t working for your competitors. This gives you the information you need to do something different that will work for your business.
We hope this post contained the information you were looking for. If you’d like to know more on this topic or others, don’t hesitate to continue scrolling.
