Opening a bakery can be a fun, exciting experience if you’re a budding cake decorator or patissier. Running your own cake shop can give you the freedom and space to make your tasty creations your own and dive into creative projects for customers. The key to keeping your business open and pulling in lots of happy customers is to make your shop stand out from the crowd. Think of things that make your work unique and try to let them shine through in your branding, social media, and company personality. If you can set yourself apart from the competition, you can attract more of the right customers.
Pick a Niche
It’s easy to want to do it all and fill you bakery display cases with every sweet under the sun, but this can sometimes backfire. Customers like to know exactly what they’re going to find when they walk into a business, so if they’re bombarded with chocolate-covered strawberries, cupcakes, tarts, custards, and cakes, they might not know where to start! Especially for bakeries that are just starting out, it can help to specialize in one area of confection and build up to other areas as your business grows. For example, you might open your shop and specialize in only cupcakes at first, then work up to offering full-size cake options.
Be Yourself
Don’t let the corporate world tell you how to you have to run your bakery. Working with desserts gives you more creative license than almost any other industry, so let your personality show in your work. If you’re a bubbly person who loves bright colors and loud designs, display some cakes with a little pizazz. If you like the elegant, traditional style of decorating, put a little sophistication in your cake case. People want to know who you are and that you love what you do, so adding your own personal flair to your products can help to build trust and understanding with customers.
Utilize the Internet
As more and more things move online, you can capitalize on tons of business by setting up shop there too. Add in online ordering forms, a website chat function, or even interactive custom order software where people can design their own cake. These things will go a long way for people who might not have time to come into your store or aren’t exactly sure what they want or need for dessert.
