How to Sell Fewer Cakes and Make More Money

by Sweet Success Magazine Staff

In the cake and baking community there are a few hot topics of discussion that constantly circulate every year. One of them is pricing, and another one is its younger sibling - earning more money! While both work together and are fundamental to a strong cake business, this article will focus on how to earn higher profits (by increasing your value), and sell fewer cakes.

How are you adding extra value to your cake orders?

Let's talk value. Top sales experts will always advise on focusing on showing value to your clients, versus focusing on the price. What does that mean to you, the cake business owner? It means offer something that makes the sale and purchase better for the client.

Value is the extra enhancements or services that you can provide the client, but they do not necessarily have a dollar amount. Although sometimes they can, that is not the primary intent. Value allows you to have a higher price point because you are offering more than “just cake”. For example, the average customer cannot tell the difference between a grocery store cake and a custom cake made from scratch.

That is why you see over and over again, people who balk at the price of a cake and then they can get it at the local big box retail store for less than your price. They do not know the difference until you show them the value of what you are providing.

The average customer also does not know that retail stores get their cakes shipped in from a manufacturer who froze the cakes 3 months ago, and then it was distributed to stores. They also do not know that the grocery store icing comes in a bucket and is not made fresh. It is also manufactured and made with fillers and preservatives so stores can keep stock on hand that is easy for them to sell.

This is not to say that a customer can't get custom designs and flavors, because they can, there are just limitations to what they can get, the designs come from a book, and the flavors can only be a combination of what the bakery offers from their distributor. The grocery store shows their value by providing something fairly nice, consistent in looks regardless of the location, consistent taste, relatively inexpensive, and fast!

Grocery store cakes get the job done in a pinch, but are far from custom or high quality desserts.

Your value as a custom baker is in the quality

Show your value by highlighting the time and effort that goes into creating a custom cake. Show your value by:
Showing the care that you take when delivering and setting up your cake,
Illustrating the different flavor combinations that you have available, and the fresh fruits and special fillings that you provide,
Offering personalized tasting appointments and then customized sketches to the client (after they hire you of course)
Your customer service from start to finish,
Showing your value in your work
Offering a specialized menu and flavor offerings

To maximize your earning power, evaluate your work. Ensure that your icing and piping work is clean and well put together. Your cake is well stacked and level, and your overall presentation impeccable. Clients buy with their eyes first, and if your work appears flawless, you set yourself apart from the rest.

Increase your prices...continuously

We would not be doing our due diligence if we did not bring this up. Bakers are notoriously bad about making up arbitrary prices, or copying someone else, instead of doing the math and calculating the numbers themselves. While we won't cover exactly how to do that right now we discuss it frequently so you want to make sure you are subscribed. We offer tips, tools, and even webinars on how to price your cakes and desserts. This information is only available to subscribers so make sure you sign up below!

A last word on pricing. When establishing your pricing, your numbers must be aligned with your skills. What that means is that if you have not perfected smooth icing, sharp edges, and preventing cake bulging, you are not ready to charge top dollar. A few might pay for it, but word will get around through mediocre or bad reviews, and then you will have another problem to handle. This does not mean you need to be the cheapest, it just means that your value and pricing must be in alignment and includes alignment in your skills....

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