Part V: Thinking Outside the Cake Box in .NET framework

Generator Code 128C in .NET framework Part V: Thinking Outside the Cake Box

Even if your town has a bakery on every corner, there still may be room for your cake creations because you can offer a product that s superior on many fronts You just have to determine what categories your product will be a leader in To figure out what specialties your cakes will focus on, think about what has pulled you into considering a cake decorating business and what you think makes your cakes special Use your answers to these ten questions to identify ways to distinguish your cakes from the local competition: Do you have a cake flavor that everyone loves but few have heard of Do you use imported ingredients Are your cakes made completely from scratch Are your designs singularly unique For instance, are your cakes particularly stunning or humorous or colorful in their design Do you have signature frosting colors that no one can mimic Do you use decorations that are particularly hard to find Do you use only fresh flowers in your decorations Do all your cakes include amazing marzipan creations or beautiful gum paste flowers Do greetings on the cakes feature clever and memorable wordplay Do your cakes come in interesting sizes or shapes (such as ovals and hexagons) or only one size (such as cupcakes) In organizing your business from the start, you must examine and define your cakes incomparable qualities to come up with what marketing experts call a unique selling proposition, or USP Your USP is what you know makes your cakes so different, so special, and so alluring that customers will flock to your business over others For instance, the combination of delicious, unusual cake flavors with whimsical designs was my USP My red velvet cake was often the talk of a party so much so that people often came up to me to ask if they could order one When I started making red velvet cakes in Southern California, they were (and, often, still are) quite a novelty even though they re a staple of my Southern heritage My other unusual cakes included the Bubblin Brown Sugar Cake (with a subtle caramel flavor) and the Best Carrot Cake Ever (refer to 6 for the recipe) The cakes were out of the ordinary and delicious, and people always knew that the designs would take the cake to the next level, either with artwork and words that were very specific to the celebrant, vivid colors, or a humorous rendering for the event

When you re considering starting a cake decorating business, you can t ignore the risks; being cautious isn t cowardly, it s smart But the world of cake decorating isn t totally treacherous there are many upsides to encourage you For example, there s no limit to the profits you can reap, and you ll be absolutely amazed at how flexible your schedule becomes In fact, if you have access to the right equipment and workspace, you literally can bake and decorate any time of the day or night Some of my best work has been done at 3 am! As I mention throughout this book, cake decorating allows you to be creative, experiment, and flex your artistic muscles Your cakes are your canvases, your frostings are your paints, and embellishments are your assorted, colorful accoutrements And being responsible for the sheer delight of partygoers as they dive into a cake they absolutely love is tantalizingly priceless (and the fact that you get paid in addition to the warm fuzzy feeling is even better!) My many cautious words in this chapter aren t intended to scare you away from a cake decorating business but rather to make sure that you take necessary steps to avert costly mistakes and time-consuming surprises if you continue on toward your goal of starting a cake decorating business