Very confusing!

[moominmama]

I recently sold two of my homemade cakes to a local sandwich shop, unfortunately even though they sold out the same day, the propietor told me that she wasn't able to make enough profit on them once they had been cut into slices. She advised me to try and get the cakes into local cafes or resturaunts as they they are able to charge more per portion. Disappointed though i was, i quickly started to think along the lines of...if these cakes are good enough to sell why not sell them myself?
This of course is leading to all sorts of thoughts about coffee shops, online cake shops and many other ways to start my own business selling my own cakes but i really have no idea where to start!
If anyone has any advice to give it would be great, I wouldn't even know how to go about assertaining whether or not there will be market demand for this sort of thing.
I feel that the most viable of the options would be some sort of cafe selling these glorious cakes and maybe light snacks.
All advice/critism/guidence very welcome......thankyou

[Gaulkin]

Start by selling to local cafes and restaurants.

[Mega B]

Welcome to the forum,i have no idea about cakes apart from eating them:-)but the profit margins in them must be very small and i stand to be corrected on that one but the only way to make a living out of is production in very high quantities and as you only make homemade cakes i honestly cannot see the way forward.

[Mediamind]

Im with Mega B as far as quantities go. However, I suggest catering to weddings or other big events such as those. If you can create a brand image with your cake then these events will take care of your advertising for you.

[JLeezer]

I'd suggest working to see how best to freeze and thaw your cakes. If you can figure out how to make them to allow them to thaw and remain just as good as they were when first baked, you could start working on shipping them. If you can ship individual cakes, you can market yourself as a premium product only available through specific venues.

Just a thought.

[moominmama]

Thankyou all for replying and welcoming me.
i did realise that there was going to be little profit in the cakes on the scale that I am able to produce them, which was why I was thinking more in terms of a small eatery.
The freezing idea is a good one, but really not sure how that could work ith the icing. It's worth a go though and I will try it.
And yes, I think I will just have to trawl round the established places and see how they feel about buying some, if they sell ect, and basically just get a feel for the business.

[Aletheides]

Don't listen to Mega B or Mediamind, their posts in a summary are "Go big or don't go at all" which is the wrong approach. Everyone has to start somewhere, even many of the largest corporations in America start the same way you are.

JLeezer brought up a good point you might want to consider.

When I was young I worked in a coffee shop and there were always businesses coming in that wanted us to stock their products, this is pretty much what you have to do unless you want to hire someone else to do it for you.

What I would do is bake some of the best cakes possible and give generous samples to owners of independent coffee shops. The key here is independent, a franchise like starbucks already has exclusive suppliers on up-sell items like these. Always always talk to the owner and ask when the owner will be in, because only they can give you a real answer.

I don't have much experience in this, but its just my 2 centavos.

[Yiie]

There was a success story about a graduate who sold muesli bars to cafes to start off. After it gained popularity, she has her own range of products in supermarkets. You can view her success story here: Carman's Fine Food

I just think there's nothing wrong with starting off small, it's getting your products out and exposing them to the public. Sure, the profit might not be great to start off, but that would slowly grow and the experience of running your own business is priceless.

Instead of whole cakes, why not try sliced cakes or cupcakes so the shop can save cost and time on cutting the cakes themselves?

[rogercbryan]

What ever you do make sure to pay close attention to your branding on a project like this. You want your customers (the coffee shops or end consumer) to ask for your product by name. A great piece of cake will make you some $ but a brand name (even if its a niche in a single market) will make you much more.

As other posters have stated- hit the pavement and go door to door. I think there is an 51 door rule from the insurance industry. For every 51 doors (businesses) you visit you will make one sale. So you have one down and 50 to go. It isn't going to be easy but if you are passionate about what you are doing then it could be fun!