Am I making profit or loss in my cake business?

Am I making profit or loss in my cake business?

 I don't know how to charge my customers.

How can i convince people to patronize me?

 Here are some questions young bakers ask

 Now, let me address the issue " The pricing of a cake "
 In pricing a cake, First, you have to consider " The cake" , when i say the cake am not referring to the decoration.
In considering the cake, you ask, What type of cake do you want? Is it vanilla cake, red velvet cake, fruit cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, coconut cake, etc.
After that, you ask what size do you want? How many inches am i baking? In how many steps? The steps are they same type of cake or different types? What shape of pan do you want? (Because some pans consume more batter than the other). When you consider all these, you will be able to know the required quantity of materials needed to get the cake your customer wants, you write it down.

 Second point, you will consider "The baking process ", in baking this cake, what amount of energy will be used up in creaming and baking? If am using a mixer, how many minutes will it take?  If there is no electricity supply, calculate the cost of fuel to be used, If you are using the manuel method, what amount of energy will i use to get the right result? After creaming, how many kg of gas will be used to get the cake done?  Calculate all these and write them down.
  Third,  Consider " The decoration", What type of decoration do you want? What are the materials needed ? How many kg of these materials do i need?  Materials here includes  icing sugar, eggs, gelatin, glucose, flavour, margarine, colours, corn flour, vegetable shortening, cmc, whipping cream, etc. Calculate the cost of all the materials needed and write it down.
 How simple or complex is the decoration? How many days will it take me to finish the decoration?  Does it include lots of drawings, sketching, carving? Are there any special effects to the decoration for example, edible prints, frozen character, stickers, crowns, soccer players, biscuits, chocolate bars, fruits, cherries, etc, calculate the cost all these and write it down. Also, you have to consider the price of the cake boards, box, wrapping paper, etc. If am delivering, how much will it cost me,to go comfortably and drop the cake without altering the design of the cake,then  the fee to  come back to my shop, write the cost down as well, but if your customer is coming to pick up the cake in your shop, you will not charge transportation fee.
 How much does my time,energy,intellect in putting all these together to satisfy you cost? Be careful in this aspect because you have to consider your environment. If you are in the environment of the high class, who can pay well for your services,then cost according to that, helps you get more profit  😉 ,but if you are with the middle class, student area or in the village, where much people are not even interested in cakes, but will like it if it comes for free, please cost accordingly as well. Finally, add all these together and arrive at your price.

Important  information : Do not inflate your price unnecessarily, do proper costing and give your customers something good, so that they will come to you again. Also, do not compromise your quality to please or get more customers. Have a standard and maintain your standard. Do not allow people with cheap quality to influence your standard and pricing.
Your cakes and products should be affordable but not cheap.
I think i have made my points clear on how to charge your customers.

Note: Buy your materials in bulk, it helps to save cost and helps to get more profit.

  How can I convince people to patronize me?
  First, you have to be friendly and jovial, no one wants to make business with a hostile person. Then, let people know the business you are into in your place of residence, worship place, let them know you can bake cakes and other baked products, inform them, they will inform others, you can put  a banner up in your house and also in your shop. 
Second, make them taste your cake,bake some cupcakes and give it to them for free,let them have a taste so they can know you can give them a delicious cake when they order for it. Also, print a flyer so they can go through different flavours of cake you can make for them and their price tag.

Third,have a business card and distribute.


 Lastly, get their birthday date and month and send them messages on their birthday, make them feel special and important, remind them they can make their cake at your place with very affordable price, you can make a small cupcake for them as birthday gift. You can also apply this format for your  regular customers to make them stay.

Important information : You have to be wise when doing all these,after trying these and the person refuse to patronize you, stop giving out your cakes, just inform them about your business, so you will not run at a loss, they will remember you later and come to you.

 How can I convince my  customer to go for a particular flavour of cake?

Vanilla / Sponge cake is the most common flavour of cake and that's what some people order for when they need cake, some people don't know there are other flavours such as chocolate, carrot, red velvet, blue velvet, carrot, strawberry, etc. So as a baker, let these people know there are other delicious flavour they can go for, give them cupcakes of the flavour you want them to have a taste of, let them take some home for their children/Family. They will come back to order for that flavour even if there is no event pertaining to eating of cake.  This way, you have convinced them of the flavour, introduce another flavour to them if they don't like the  previous one.
They will be grateful to you and introduce their friends and neighbors to you,hereby,giving you more customers  and more money to your account.

 Try out these method and let me know your response.