Grocery store bakery vs Custom Cakes
From the Cake Boss and colleagues in the business:
* Custom cakes are NOT JUST cakes. These are edible works of art, made from scratch, that require skill and artistry, and can take days to complete.
*It's not the size of the cake, but the time that goes into the conceptualization, design and labor that is the biggest factor.
*As artists, it is hard to know wha
t value to place on our work. We don't want to sell ourselves and our talents short, but neither do we want to shock our customers with high prices, leave them feeling like they paid too much, or even worse - have a customer argue with us about the price of our cake.
*The first thing to remember is that we are our own worst critics. When YOU value your cakes and price them appropriately, your customers will too.
*Even though you don't have the overhead of a cake shop, you owe it to the cake decorating community to maintain the value of your goods.
*Never, ever compare our/your prices to Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, or a grocery store. That cake at Wal-Mart was made months ago, flash-frozen, and shipped to the store, where an employee working as quickly as he/she could frosted it with icing from a bucket, and maybe added some airbrushing or buttercream roses. That employee probably had 50 other cakes to complete in the same shift. The difference between your cake and Wal-Mart's cake can be likened to the difference between custom garments and off-the-rack clothes.
*You'd be surprised. It won't take long for your customers to realize that you are providing the kind of cake that commercial groceries/ stores simply can't.
*When someone complains about your price, then, that person is probably not meant to be your customer. Do they complain about the price at the hairdresser? At the grocery store? If they will complain to you about the price, imagine what else they will complain about.
*Don't think: "Their prices are way too high." Think: "Wow! Look what a custom cake is worth!"
