How to Get the Best Orders for Your Baking Business
When it comes to product choices…
LESS IS MORE!
Baking business owners are FLOODED with ALL KINDS of product orders, from dipped fruit to cupcake bouquets to 5 tier topsy turvy cakes. And EVERYTHING in between.
It is very common for new bakers to try and meet ALL the demands and requests that our customers can dream up, but over time, this usually leaves us TIRED and HATING to make many of these products.
If you can believe it, you could actually be HURTING your business by making all these random things, and I will explain why, below.
It is statistically shown that most consumers and customers are LAZY when it comes to searching out products and service providers. They are also unaware of many of the intricacies of running a business.
(Example: asking a home baker for 12 cupcakes, all different flavors, with 2 hours notice….. umm NO! )
With this in mind, it is our job to keep our product offers as straightforward and simple as possible, to aid in client understanding, attraction and branding. You want your offers to be CRYSTAL CLEAR. And you want them to work for YOU, as well as the customer.
This will help people categorize you and your business, refer you to others, and know what to expect when they patron your business. This overall understanding helps to build trust with your current and future clients.
“By offering just a handful of excellent products, your business trust factor and memorability will grow in the eyes of customers, and it will be easier for them to recommend you. “
—> What if you are new and don’t know what products to focus on yet?
If you are new to your baking business, I assume you may need some trial time to figure out what you personally DO and DON'T like to make, and that may mean that you take a bunch of different orders for the first few months. Brownies, pies, cake pops, candies, cakes, etc.
You may notice the following feelings:
I don’t really know how to make that product, but I FEEL like I should take the order for the experience.
I don’t really WANT to do that, but I guess I will for the money.
I don’t EVER want to do that again!!!!
I wish it was easier to make ads and talk about what I offer, because I am tired of getting orders that I don’t want to do.
Having these thoughts are all signs that it is time to get SMART and start slimming down your offers, so you can effectively position yourself in your community.
—> Ok, you are feeling like you KNOW what you want to be making, so how would you ever choose what to let go and what to KEEP?
Questions to Ask Yourself to Slim Down Your Products
(Make an actual list and add/cross things off as you go through the questions!)
What do you HATE making?
—> Stop offering that product IMMEDIATELY, and take down ALL images of it online so no one orders it again (even if it is beautiful and amazing). (Check all social media channels.)
What products make you the MOST MONEY for your time?
—> Choose at least 1-2 of these products to make a main offer.
What product do you LOVE making the most?
—> Keep the top 1-2 products you love to make, and raise the prices on these so you can make it one of your top earning products.
Take a quick look around your community. What are other people offering? Can you find something you already make to be your SPECIALTY positioning item?
—> (think cultural specialty or something no one around you offers). Ex. macarons, gluten free, keto, special flavors or ethnic sweets, etc.
After asking yourself these questions, you should have 3-4 main product categories left to work with.
STICK TO THESE ITEMS ONLY!!
—> Now that you have your beautiful product categories chosen, what can you do with them?!
Create a stunning menu to share everywhere. Get started here.
Focus on these categories in your social media and website. Make individual albums on your Facebook page or website so people can browse images within these select categories and/or sub categories.
Focus on these categories in your advertising. Create 2 ads set ups for each product that you can copy/paste/reuse to help you easily advertise on Facebook and Instagram on a consistent schedule.
Make sure the pricing on these products is straight forward (for the customers) and profitable (for you).
Take the Bakery Business Guide: Part 2 - Pricing for Profit course, if you are currently underpricing, estimating or not understanding how pricing works.
Run promotions or specialty offers on these items, making new variations or offering them in packages. You don’t need to add TOTALLY DIFFERENT products to spice up your business, just use the existing core products in new ways.
Allow these products to help you determine branding, logo, business name, site images, taglines and advertising messaging. Take great photos of these products to share on social media.
—> So what do I tell customers that want to order OTHER bakery products that I don’t offer?
You may have an urge to take their order out of guilt or monetary need, but I HIGHLY discourage this. Choosing to do this almost always ends in negative feelings towards your business.
Instead, I suggest to befriend as many local bakers as you can to create the human baking business funnel!
Ask kindly if you may recommend them when you get an order request you can’t/don’t want to do. Usually, people are pretty open to this suggestion. Ask what they offer so you know who to send their way, and of course, let them know all about your business and to send people your way too!
Trust me, this is the best way to handle customer service and create a community with other bakers in your area.
—> What is an example of a product category set that has worked for a baking business?
I’ll use my own business as an example.
After determining what I LOVED and HATED to make, I came up with 4 product categories to offer:
Custom High-End Cakes
Custom Cupcakes
Custom Designed Cookies
Ganache Cake Truffles
Once I made these choices for my business, I was very strict. I didn’t take orders for cake pops, drop cookies or pie, and sent those out to others bakers, who in turn sent me the above categories.
My customers loved that I always led them to a person to take their order if it wasn’t something I offered, and I saw a BOOM in customers because I was making what I LOVED… and it showed!
