I received my first, "That's too expensive" message from somebody!!! Quite honestly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Let's talk about that for a minute, shall we?! What REALLY goes into the price of a cake that's "too expensive"?
*Internet (for receiving & sending emails and WhatsApp / Facebook messages, and for finding sample images for inspiration / colour samples),
*Ingredients for the cake and icing,
*Electricity to preheat the oven & bake the cake,
*Electricity to operate my mixer,
*Electricity to switch the lights on in my kitchen & at my work station so that I can see what I'm doing,
*Electricity to boil water in my kettle (when a recipe requires boiling hot water),
*Use of my utensils / equipment (to cover wear-and-tear ... mixers, cake tins, ovens, spatulas, mixing bowls, cooling racks, piping nozzles, decorating tools etc. all need to be replaced eventually),
*Water & dishwashing liquid to wash the utensils / equipment used for the cake,
*Cake board(s)
*Dowels (if it's a tiered cake),
*Fondant to cover the cake and / or cake board,
*Ribbon to put around the cake board (glue to stick the ribbon to the board, and 2 pins to secure the ribbon),
*A sturdy box to put the cake in once it's ready for collection / delivery,
*Any fondant / sugar decorations required,
*Petrol to drive to suppliers,
*My time.
Here's an indication of how much of my time goes into completing a cake. I'll be using the cake that's "too expensive" as a reference.
*Texting a client regarding the flavour, design & colour scheme of a cake = 15 minutes
*Calculating the price of the cake & drawing up the quotation = 45 minutes
*Making changes to quotation, as per client's request = 10 minutes
*Texting the client to confirm that I have received their booking fee = 2 minutes
*Drawing up an invoice (which reflects the payment I've received) = 10 minutes
*Sending the invoice to the client = 2 minutes
*Driving to suppliers and buying what I need = 60 minutes
*Mixing cake batter & baking the cake = 45 minutes
*Calculating how much icing will be needed, measuring ingredients & making the icing = 20 minutes
*Filling & crumbcoating the cake = 15 minutes
*Covering the cake with icing once the crumbcoat has set = 15 - 30 minutes
*Dividing the remaining icing into 3, and colouring each 3rd a different colour = 15 minutes
*Preparing & filling the piping bag, and piping decorations onto the cake = 20 minutes
*Making fondant decorations for the cake = 60 minutes
*Kneading & rolling fondant = 15 minutes
*Covering the cake board with fondant = 10 minutes
*Adding fondant & sugar decorations to cake = 15 minutes
*Measuring & applying ribbon to cake board = 5 minutes
*Washing the equipment & utensils used to make the cake = 20 minutes
*Cleaning my work surfaces = 5 minutes
*Cleaning the floor in my work space = 5 minutes
So that's 409 minutes / 6.816 hours! And that's excluding the time needed for the cake to cool down, or for the crumbcoat to set, or for the final coat of icing to set before I can actually start piping onto it, or for unexpected delays when things just don't go according to plan, or for fondant decorations to dry. 3D and detailed designs take even more time to complete.
I've been running my own business for 6 years ... I've been baking for 30 years ... I've been experimenting & perfecting my recipes for 20 years! I've spent in excess of R15000 on classes to improve my skills. And I've spent thousands on equipment.
Please, never tell somebody who CUSTOM MAKES a product for you FROM SCRATCH that their price is "too expensive". Rather tell them that their price is out of your budget :)
Let's talk about that for a minute, shall we?! What REALLY goes into the price of a cake that's "too expensive"?
*Internet (for receiving & sending emails and WhatsApp / Facebook messages, and for finding sample images for inspiration / colour samples),
*Ingredients for the cake and icing,
*Electricity to preheat the oven & bake the cake,
*Electricity to operate my mixer,
*Electricity to switch the lights on in my kitchen & at my work station so that I can see what I'm doing,
*Electricity to boil water in my kettle (when a recipe requires boiling hot water),
*Use of my utensils / equipment (to cover wear-and-tear ... mixers, cake tins, ovens, spatulas, mixing bowls, cooling racks, piping nozzles, decorating tools etc. all need to be replaced eventually),
*Water & dishwashing liquid to wash the utensils / equipment used for the cake,
*Cake board(s)
*Dowels (if it's a tiered cake),
*Fondant to cover the cake and / or cake board,
*Ribbon to put around the cake board (glue to stick the ribbon to the board, and 2 pins to secure the ribbon),
*A sturdy box to put the cake in once it's ready for collection / delivery,
*Any fondant / sugar decorations required,
*Petrol to drive to suppliers,
*My time.
Here's an indication of how much of my time goes into completing a cake. I'll be using the cake that's "too expensive" as a reference.
*Texting a client regarding the flavour, design & colour scheme of a cake = 15 minutes
*Calculating the price of the cake & drawing up the quotation = 45 minutes
*Making changes to quotation, as per client's request = 10 minutes
*Texting the client to confirm that I have received their booking fee = 2 minutes
*Drawing up an invoice (which reflects the payment I've received) = 10 minutes
*Sending the invoice to the client = 2 minutes
*Driving to suppliers and buying what I need = 60 minutes
*Mixing cake batter & baking the cake = 45 minutes
*Calculating how much icing will be needed, measuring ingredients & making the icing = 20 minutes
*Filling & crumbcoating the cake = 15 minutes
*Covering the cake with icing once the crumbcoat has set = 15 - 30 minutes
*Dividing the remaining icing into 3, and colouring each 3rd a different colour = 15 minutes
*Preparing & filling the piping bag, and piping decorations onto the cake = 20 minutes
*Making fondant decorations for the cake = 60 minutes
*Kneading & rolling fondant = 15 minutes
*Covering the cake board with fondant = 10 minutes
*Adding fondant & sugar decorations to cake = 15 minutes
*Measuring & applying ribbon to cake board = 5 minutes
*Washing the equipment & utensils used to make the cake = 20 minutes
*Cleaning my work surfaces = 5 minutes
*Cleaning the floor in my work space = 5 minutes
So that's 409 minutes / 6.816 hours! And that's excluding the time needed for the cake to cool down, or for the crumbcoat to set, or for the final coat of icing to set before I can actually start piping onto it, or for unexpected delays when things just don't go according to plan, or for fondant decorations to dry. 3D and detailed designs take even more time to complete.
I've been running my own business for 6 years ... I've been baking for 30 years ... I've been experimenting & perfecting my recipes for 20 years! I've spent in excess of R15000 on classes to improve my skills. And I've spent thousands on equipment.
Please, never tell somebody who CUSTOM MAKES a product for you FROM SCRATCH that their price is "too expensive". Rather tell them that their price is out of your budget :)