Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Bowling Pins
Bowling Pin cookies for a ninth birthday party.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
Bowling Pin cookies for a ninth birthday party.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Bowling Pin Sugar Cookies
Bowling Pin cookies for a ninth birthday party.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Gems Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Gems / Diamonds
These cookies were made for a business event. The acronym GEMS is meaningful to them. The event involved four teams - hence the four colors of gems.
I tried a little something different with the lines on the diamonds. I like how it turned out!
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Balloon and Star Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Balloons and Stars
These very simple cookies were made for a little girl's birthday party. It was a "My Little Pony" party. The balloon and star are her favorite Pony charms.
Easy and cute!
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Maryland Crab and Black Eyed Susan Sugar Cookies
Mini Crabs and Mini Black-Eyed Susan Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Maryland! These cookies were made for a Maryland wedding.
Also included were mini cookies to represent the Navy groom.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Tutorial - How to Decorate Flip Flop Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
How to Decorate Flip Flop Cookies
I took some photos as I decorated simple flip flop cookies.
My set up.....
Outline with thickish icing and a 1.5 tip.
Flood with thinner icing and tipless bags.
Add the straps with the thicker icing to prevent craters.
Add a center to the straps with the thicker icing.
And a swirl.
All together.....
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Spa Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Spa Sugar Cookies Decorated with Royal Icing
Spa girls, flip flops, bubble bath, sleeping mask, jar of face cream and cucumber slices - Ready for a spa day!
The spa girls were done on a cupcake cutter. I got the idea from the tutorial by Sweets 'n' Stuff. Hers are so cute!
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Cookie Decorating Party, July 18, 2015
Cookie Decorating Party in Middletown, MD
Do you know Housewives of Frederick County? If not, you should!
Twin sisters Pam and Terri are the ladies behind the popular blog and facebook page. I met Pam years ago and loved her to pieces immediately. I had the pleasure of meeting Terri once and enjoyed seeing the sisters together. They're just adorable!
Their posts are a must-read if you live in or around Frederick. They keep us up to date on all of the local happenings and they're entertaining! Please check them out and follow along.
Join us for a cookie decorating party on July 18, 2015 hosted by Pam and Terri. I know you'll enjoy them as much as I do!
Friends of the "Housewives" will receive $5 off. For more information and to register, please visit my website.
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Mini Daisy and Leaf Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Mini Daisies and Leaves
These cookies were for a bridal shower. Simple and sweet.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Hot Air Balloon Sugar Cookies
Hot Air Balloon Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
These cookies were made for a couple's first anniversary. I made cookies for their wedding last year. The bride's mom contacted me and asked if I would make the same cookies as a surprise anniversary gift. I love that idea!
You can see those wedding cookies here. The anniversary cookies needed to be shipped. I was worried that the hot air balloons were too fragile for shipping so I suggested putting the balloon design onto a fancy rectangle. I think that I like these even better!
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Notebook Paper Thank You Sugar Cookies
Teacher Thank You Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Engagement Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing for an Engagement
These are still one of my favorite sets, and most popular.
The calendar with wedding date circled, the stick figure engagement couple, wedding gowns, and personalized hearts.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Hashtag Sugar Cookies
Wedding Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Hashtags
These cookies are perfect for the social media loving couple!
This cookie set can include a variety of fun hashtags like #MrandMrs, #wedo, #hitched, #thankyou, but they can also include the unique hashtag assigned to the wedding.
Many couples today are choosing a hashtag to share with their guests for social media sharing. Photos and comments are then shared on facebook, twitter, and instagram using that hashtag.
Cookies are a great way to share that special wedding hashtag with guests!
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Roses and Hearts Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Roses and Hearts
These mini cookies were made for a bridal shower, to match the invitation.
Wet on wet roses with tiny bees.
Hearts with roses.
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Washington, DC Sugar Cookies
Wedding Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Washington, DC monuments and Cherry Blossoms
This spring has been the season for my DC cookies! So many DC weddings in the last two months!
The Capitol, White House, and Cherry Blossom Trees.
These were put into individual favor bags to be included in a welcome box for hotel guests.
I've made pandas for many weddings. I've also made them for many kids' birthday parties. I've put little pink bows on their heads for little girl parties. Never before have I made them with bow ties for a wedding! I am in love with these little guys. It was at my customer's suggestion to add the black bow ties. She wanted to give a dozen of these to the groom. I hope to make more tuxedo pandas!
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Sheep Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Sheep / Lambs
These cookies were made for a baby shower - pink and blue lambs. So sweet!
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Happy Anniversary to Me!
Dear Diary,
One year ago, June 2014, I started decorating cookies full time at the bakery.
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I wasn't sure that I'd make it to one year. Could I make enough money to pay the rent, the insurance, furnish my area of the bakery, buy supplies, etc and still make a decent profit? A decent hourly wage? Would I destroy my back and piping hand with the long hours decorating? Could I balance home and work?
Well after one year, I'm pretty pleased with the answers to those questions. There's definitely room for improvement, but I'm doing ok.
In this first full-time year, I've decorated thousands of cookies, hosted many cookie decorating parties, taught several one-on-one classes, did a few demos for groups and businesses, and had a blast. I've met some wonderful people, enjoyed the support of so many, and taken a small part in some very special occasions.
Gayla, Meghan, and I have worked well together at the bakery. (You'll be meeting them here soon.) I've loved having them as my partners.
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Besides reflecting on the past, this anniversary has me thinking toward the future. What would I like to do in my second year in business?
Of course continue taking cookie orders and all of the rest.
I would like to.....teach more. I'd like to teach other cookie decorators. I'd like to help them with the business side of cookies. I realize that this blog could be a great platform - one that I've sorely neglected. This blog started out as a diary for me to record my cookie experiments - to document what worked and what didn't. After going full time, it became a place to quickly post photos of my recent work with a link to my website.
I'd like for this blog to become something more. A place for me to teach some of the things I've learned at the bakery. Business things mostly. Decorating Things. Baking Things. I'd like to share more about what's happening. Not post and run so frequently.
This means that I'll be speaking to a different audience. For the past year I've focused on potential buyers. Most of what I do online targets them. Getting them to my website to order cookies - through facebook and this blog mostly. I've done pretty well accomplishing that. I receive many order inquiries daily. My cookie calendar is filling up earlier than ever.
I've been working under the impression that I can't do two things at once - make/sell cookies full time and teach fellow cookie decorators. I would be dividing my efforts. I needed to focus on my business to succeed. Can my business now also include teaching to the cookie decorating community?
Well it will in September 2015! I'll be teaching a class at Cookie Con in Salt Lake City.
![http://cookiecon.com/]()
Will that be it for me? Teach my class and be done? No! I don't want that. That's where this blog comes in.
I'd like to start focusing on them also - my fellow cookie decorators. I've got some things to share with them. I receive lots of questions privately. I'd like to answer those questions publicly. Reach more of them.
You'll see segments like:
Poking Around the Kitchen - I'll take photos of my work space, in drawers and on shelves. No cleaning up first. You'll see what it's really like.
Interviews - with people running cookie businesses.
Business Lessons - Things I've learned that might help you with starting or running a cookie business.
Tutorials - on how to do things efficiently and keep yourself organized.
I'm hoping that my customers - past, present, future - will enjoy these behind the scenes posts. They may not ever consider decorating or selling cookies, but hey, who doesn't like to poke around in someone's kitchen and see what's going on? I'm hoping that they'll like seeing how their cookies are made and what goes into the business side of things.
I'll still post my recent cookies also. That won't stop.
Can I do it? Can I take the photos, edit them, write up the posts, get more involved in social media? All while keeping my business going/growing AND the laundry done? I don't know. We shall see!
To those that have been my customers, that follow me on facebook (and leave lovely comments)....Thank you!!
If you're just discovering Sugar Dot Cookies, please follow my blog. Follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. I hope you'll find some interesting things in the year to come!
![Pin It]()
One year ago, June 2014, I started decorating cookies full time at the bakery.
I wasn't sure that I'd make it to one year. Could I make enough money to pay the rent, the insurance, furnish my area of the bakery, buy supplies, etc and still make a decent profit? A decent hourly wage? Would I destroy my back and piping hand with the long hours decorating? Could I balance home and work?
Well after one year, I'm pretty pleased with the answers to those questions. There's definitely room for improvement, but I'm doing ok.
In this first full-time year, I've decorated thousands of cookies, hosted many cookie decorating parties, taught several one-on-one classes, did a few demos for groups and businesses, and had a blast. I've met some wonderful people, enjoyed the support of so many, and taken a small part in some very special occasions.
Gayla, Meghan, and I have worked well together at the bakery. (You'll be meeting them here soon.) I've loved having them as my partners.
Besides reflecting on the past, this anniversary has me thinking toward the future. What would I like to do in my second year in business?
Of course continue taking cookie orders and all of the rest.
I would like to.....teach more. I'd like to teach other cookie decorators. I'd like to help them with the business side of cookies. I realize that this blog could be a great platform - one that I've sorely neglected. This blog started out as a diary for me to record my cookie experiments - to document what worked and what didn't. After going full time, it became a place to quickly post photos of my recent work with a link to my website.
I'd like for this blog to become something more. A place for me to teach some of the things I've learned at the bakery. Business things mostly. Decorating Things. Baking Things. I'd like to share more about what's happening. Not post and run so frequently.
This means that I'll be speaking to a different audience. For the past year I've focused on potential buyers. Most of what I do online targets them. Getting them to my website to order cookies - through facebook and this blog mostly. I've done pretty well accomplishing that. I receive many order inquiries daily. My cookie calendar is filling up earlier than ever.
I've been working under the impression that I can't do two things at once - make/sell cookies full time and teach fellow cookie decorators. I would be dividing my efforts. I needed to focus on my business to succeed. Can my business now also include teaching to the cookie decorating community?
Well it will in September 2015! I'll be teaching a class at Cookie Con in Salt Lake City.
I'd like to start focusing on them also - my fellow cookie decorators. I've got some things to share with them. I receive lots of questions privately. I'd like to answer those questions publicly. Reach more of them.
You'll see segments like:
Poking Around the Kitchen - I'll take photos of my work space, in drawers and on shelves. No cleaning up first. You'll see what it's really like.
Interviews - with people running cookie businesses.
Business Lessons - Things I've learned that might help you with starting or running a cookie business.
Tutorials - on how to do things efficiently and keep yourself organized.
I'm hoping that my customers - past, present, future - will enjoy these behind the scenes posts. They may not ever consider decorating or selling cookies, but hey, who doesn't like to poke around in someone's kitchen and see what's going on? I'm hoping that they'll like seeing how their cookies are made and what goes into the business side of things.
I'll still post my recent cookies also. That won't stop.
Can I do it? Can I take the photos, edit them, write up the posts, get more involved in social media? All while keeping my business going/growing AND the laundry done? I don't know. We shall see!
To those that have been my customers, that follow me on facebook (and leave lovely comments)....Thank you!!
If you're just discovering Sugar Dot Cookies, please follow my blog. Follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. I hope you'll find some interesting things in the year to come!
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Cookie Decorating as a Business - 101
So you want to turn cookie decorating into a business? How to start? Where to begin?
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There's a lot to be done before starting your cookie decorating business. (All of this applies to any food based business actually - cakes, cupcakes, cake pops....)
Let me ask you some questions. I'll provide my own answers in more detail in future post
Take the time to practice. Are you actually READY to take orders? Bake and decorate for friends and family for a while. Experiment with dough and icing recipes. Experiment with icing consistencies and different techniques. Scour the web for decorating tutorials. Please don't be one of those people that say, "Help. I've just taken a cookie order. Can you share your recipe with me?"
Do your homework. What are the health department laws in your area? Do you need to work out of a commercial kitchen? Are there Cottage Food laws? Can you sell online? Can you ship? Do you need liability insurance? Do you need ingredient labels? What do you need to open a bank account? Do you need to collect sales tax? Do you need a business license? Find out the answers to these questions first....Before taking any orders.
Develop your policies. How will you take payment? Will you take deposits? Can they pay when they pick up? (No!) Can someone order just 6 cookies? Can someone order 24 cookies - with 18 different designs and 16 colors? Will you ship? Will you be selling by the dozen or will you be selling by individual design? Your policies will change, as your business grows and different situations arise. For now, you need a starting point.
Figure out pricing. Come up with general prices for minis, smalls, medium simply decorated, medium highly decorated, etc. Don't forget to figure in ALL of your costs....ingredients, rent, insurance, licensing, utilities, supplies, etc. AND an hourly wage for you! All of it needs to be figured in if the goal is to make a profit. Later, you can fine tune this. You can raise prices later, but don't start too low!
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Build an online presence. How will you showcase your work? Where can potential customers read your policies? How can they contact you? First things, first. Once you have your main site, later you can add facebook, twitter, instagram, a blog, etc. Those sites will help drive traffic to you.
Bookkeeping. How will you keep track of your income and expenses? The more organized you are from the beginning, the easier it will be at tax time!
Get the word out. How will you do that? Social media? Farmer's markets? Local coffee shops? Continue to make cookies for family and friends? Advertise?
These are just SOME of the questions you need to ask yourself. It's a start!
More Cookies as Business posts coming soon!
Are you thinking of starting a food based business? Do you already have one? Please let me know about it in the comments.
Oh, and be sure to answer the poll on the left sidebar. What's your cookie status?
![Pin It]()
There's a lot to be done before starting your cookie decorating business. (All of this applies to any food based business actually - cakes, cupcakes, cake pops....)
Let me ask you some questions. I'll provide my own answers in more detail in future post
Take the time to practice. Are you actually READY to take orders? Bake and decorate for friends and family for a while. Experiment with dough and icing recipes. Experiment with icing consistencies and different techniques. Scour the web for decorating tutorials. Please don't be one of those people that say, "Help. I've just taken a cookie order. Can you share your recipe with me?"
Do your homework. What are the health department laws in your area? Do you need to work out of a commercial kitchen? Are there Cottage Food laws? Can you sell online? Can you ship? Do you need liability insurance? Do you need ingredient labels? What do you need to open a bank account? Do you need to collect sales tax? Do you need a business license? Find out the answers to these questions first....Before taking any orders.
Develop your policies. How will you take payment? Will you take deposits? Can they pay when they pick up? (No!) Can someone order just 6 cookies? Can someone order 24 cookies - with 18 different designs and 16 colors? Will you ship? Will you be selling by the dozen or will you be selling by individual design? Your policies will change, as your business grows and different situations arise. For now, you need a starting point.
Figure out pricing. Come up with general prices for minis, smalls, medium simply decorated, medium highly decorated, etc. Don't forget to figure in ALL of your costs....ingredients, rent, insurance, licensing, utilities, supplies, etc. AND an hourly wage for you! All of it needs to be figured in if the goal is to make a profit. Later, you can fine tune this. You can raise prices later, but don't start too low!
Build an online presence. How will you showcase your work? Where can potential customers read your policies? How can they contact you? First things, first. Once you have your main site, later you can add facebook, twitter, instagram, a blog, etc. Those sites will help drive traffic to you.
Bookkeeping. How will you keep track of your income and expenses? The more organized you are from the beginning, the easier it will be at tax time!
Get the word out. How will you do that? Social media? Farmer's markets? Local coffee shops? Continue to make cookies for family and friends? Advertise?
These are just SOME of the questions you need to ask yourself. It's a start!
More Cookies as Business posts coming soon!
Are you thinking of starting a food based business? Do you already have one? Please let me know about it in the comments.
Oh, and be sure to answer the poll on the left sidebar. What's your cookie status?
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Sunglasses and Hearts Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Sunglasses and Hearts
These little cuties were made for a teachers' retreat. Mini hearts and small sunglasses. I decided to bling out the sunglasses with sanding sugar. Pretty fun, eh?
Cookies are available for order through my website.
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Commercial Kitchen that I use for my Business
My Commercial Kitchen Space
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I decorated my first "real" sugar cookie Christmas 2011. I was so proud of these and had so much fun!
I was instantly hooked and had to make more. My second set of cookies......
And my third set.....
I couldn't stop! I read every tutorial online that I could find. I ran experiments to try to improve my decorating skills. (Obviously I needed it! Sugarbelle can only do so much.) I made cookies for every holiday and occasion. I asked my neighbor if I could make cookies for her daughter's bridal shower. I brought cookies to the accountant's office that prepared our taxes quickly. I brought cookies to the the optometrist's office that took such great care of my younger son for so long. I looked for any excuse to decorate cookies and share them!
Close to a year after my first cookies, I decided to start Sugar Dot Cookies.
In Maryland, we need to work out of a commercial kitchen to have a legal food business. That can be a huge problem! Many commercial kitchens will rent space - at $20 to $30 per hour. I wouldn't be making that much so how could I pay it? I couldn't.
I started calling around - every place I could think of. I hit gold when I found Gayla. She was getting ready to open up a bakery, Maggie's Bake Shop, just five minutes from my house. She was going to let me use the kitchen when the bakery was closed! I would pay her in cookies, not money! She would sell those cookies in the bakery. I could start my business. I couldn't have asked for a better set up!
Sugar Dot Cookies began in January of 2013. It was just part time then.
In June of 2014, Gayla decided to close the retail store. She planned to keep the space to continue with her custom orders (delicious cakes, donuts, kinklings, pies, streudals, everything!) and to prep food for her concessions business. She asked if I would like to share the space with her. Heck yeah! I started paying monthly rent and moved right in. I was going full-time.
Just after my sign went up.....
I was to use the store front part of the bakery to decorate my cookies (on the right side in the photo above). The kitchen area is on the left side in the photo. You can see photos of what the inside looked like in the beginning here.
Gayla got another renter at the same time. Meghan, from Sweet & Savory, moved in too. Meghan makes amazing buttercream wedding cakes!
The three of us were to share the space - each with our own separate business. We wouldn't have walk-in hours. It would be used for making our custom baked goods and for pick ups by appointment.
One year later and the three of us are going strong! I am so fortunate with the set up that I have! I love having Gayla and Meghan there to keep me company. We work really well together, helping one another when we can. Trying to keep out of each other's way. Lending each other supplies. Covering pick ups when we have a conflict.
I. Am. Blessed.
Here's my space today......
I'll be speaking at Cookie Con about creative ways to find a commercial kitchen. I've got lots of ideas after speaking to other cookiers about their kitchen situations. Will I see you there?
Please answer my poll on the left sidebar. I'm curious!
Question for you:
Do you use a commercial kitchen for your business? Are you looking for a commercial kitchen? Let me know in the comments.
Read more.......
Posts on "Cookies as Business".
Posts on "Poking Around the Kitchen".
Posts on "Commercial Kitchen"
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Interview with Clough'D 9 on Cookies as Business
Cookiepreneur Interview with Amy from Clough'D 9 Cookies
I'm so excited for the first cookiepreneur interview! I'll be asking them about running a cookie business. It will be great to hear about a variety businesses. They may all be in the cookie biz but just like decorating a single design, there are many ways to do it.
My friend Amy is with us today talking about the business side of decorated cookies! She and I met in 2012 when we traveled together to the first Cookie Con. I loved hanging out with her! I've learned so much from her since then and even more through this interview. You're going to love her insight on the business of cookies......
My friend Amy is with us today talking about the business side of decorated cookies! She and I met in 2012 when we traveled together to the first Cookie Con. I loved hanging out with her! I've learned so much from her since then and even more through this interview. You're going to love her insight on the business of cookies......
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How long have you been in business? Is it part-time or full-time?
Officially, I’ve been in business for over two years. I left my teaching career to do cookies full-time.
Tell us about the Health Department laws in your area? Do you have to use a commercial kitchen or is there a Cottage Food law?
When I started with cookies, Maryland didn’t have a Cottage Law on the books. My husband and I were already doing a lot of research about how I could legally do cookies. Maryland passed the Cottage Law while we were still trying to figure things out. Unfortunately, Maryland’s Cottage Law, as it was originally written, was quite restrictive (could bake in-home, but only selling at public events and farmer’s markets, no online selling, no shipping). We knew that I needed to be working in a commercial kitchen to be able to sell person to person. Commercial kitchen space was not available to me locally, and my husband was not keen on my spending nighttime hours in a kitchen away from home. So we built a kitchen!
If you use a commercial kitchen, please tell us about it.
My husband and I built a free-standing commercial kitchen in our backyard. We were only the second individuals in our county to have done this, so there was a definite learning curve for us and our local health and zoning departments. The kitchen is a 16’x16’ building that meets the commercial kitchen codes set forth by the state of Maryland. Fortunately, I was permitted to forgo the hood and grease traps since I only do cookies and had no need for that equipment. But I had to invest in the NSF refrigerator, NSF convection oven, Kitchen-Aid, stainless steel tables, three sinks (three-basin dishwashing sink, hand sink, and mop sink)- all the things you would see in a regular commercial kitchen. My commute to work is a mere 35 feet.
If you use your home kitchen, please tell us about that. What did you need to do to get it approved? How do you manage your kitchen when it involves both business and family?
I love having my cookie space separate from my family space. Before the cookie kitchen was finished, I was juggling baking in my home kitchen. It was hard! The hardest part might have been the kids running past me as I was trying to pipe straight lines.
Do you ship cookies? If so, please tell us about that.
I ship cookies via USPS Priority Mail. It makes me nervous every time I ship because I am so afraid of the cookies ending up in crumbs when they reach the client. As I tell my customers, I just hope that the postal carriers handle my packages with as much care and love as I put into making them. I have had the best shipping success with standing individually packaged cookies upright in rows inside a bakery box cushioned with bubble wrap and tissue paper. This bakery box is placed inside a shipping box with additional cushioning materials. I print my postage from home via the USPS website and it is less expensive.
Does your business include anything else other than taking custom decorated cookie orders?
I only do custom cookies. Frankly, I don’t have time for anything else!
What is your most enjoyable business task?
My most enjoyable business task is when the customer gives me free reign over the design and I get to be as creative as I want. I also really like coming up with tutorials for my blog. I am always trying something new!
Does anyone help you with your cookie business or are you a one-woman-show?
I am a one-woman show. Sometimes, I am able to bribe my children to wash dishes (with a cookie of course!). Due to the current laws in my county, my home-based business can only be one employee- me. Truthfully, I don’t make enough money to be able to pay a helper.
If you could delegate one task, what would it be?
Managing invoices and receipts. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.
Best tip for those starting their cookie business?
* Time management is huge. Don’t take on a big order until you know you can handle it.
* Don’t think that you have to buy all the latest cookie gadgets. Become a master at the techniques at your disposal before investing in others. Re-use cutters, and make do with what you have. Remember that your goal is to make money.
How did you get the word out about your business in the beginning? How do you do it now?
I have been extremely lucky in that my first customers were other teachers in my school. Word of mouth is very powerful! I use Facebook and Instagram to highlight recent work, and my blog to showcase tutorials and my husband’s thoughts as the Cookie Widower.
Have you raised your prices since beginning?
Yes, to offset the cost of ingredients, building loan, and insurance.
Any tips for efficiency – in making dough, decorating, shipping, invoicing….anything!
* If you use a KopyKake or Pico Projector, save your sketches! It’s a pain to have to re-sketch or re-print the same design. File them!
* Learn how many cookies you can get out of one batch of dough. It’s so frustrating to be cutting out shapes and run out of dough.
* Come up with an organizing scheme for keeping track of orders and stick with it. I use iCal on all my electronic devices to keep track of dates and details of orders.
Do you have minimums on number of cookies per order, number of designs, number of icing colors?
My minimum is typically one dozen, but sometimes I will do a 6-piece set if I know I will already have dough and icing ready. For one dozen, I typically do 3-4 designs. I am not concerned with the number of icing colors because my personal tastes are usually the cause of having multiple colors. I would much rather have more icing bags to wash than not be completely satisfied with the order.
What are your cookie dreams? If you could, would you hire employees, buy a larger mixer, move into a larger space, etc?
I have zero intentions of going bigger. I love my little set-up, and it works for my family.
Anything else you’d like to add?
* Pricing is the one part of my cookie business that I struggle with every day. I know my prices are cheap compared to many other cookiers online. The area in which is I live is very rural and my prices reflect what my community can tolerate. I know I can get more money on shipped orders, but that involves packaging, going to the post office, paypal payments and fees, etc. It’s a lot of hassle. There’s something to be said for meeting someone locally and getting paid, cash in hand. If I raise my prices too much, I risk alienating my local client base and will be forced to rely on shipped orders more. I don’t want to do that.
* Don’t be discouraged by all the fancy-schmancy cookie designs that you see online. As a business, your goal is to be able to fulfill the customer’s requests. Chances are, they are not asking for a 7” abstract cookie design that takes 12 hours to create for their child’s birthday. Be true to your design and your style. With that said, use down-time to stretch your creative legs. Got a bit of extra dough? Make an extra cookie to put aside for later. When those creative bugs bite, you’ll have some cookies to play with.
* Learn the proper etiquette of the cookie world. Ask the cookier before replicating their original designs. In my opinion, you don’t need to ask if the cookier did a tutorial on the design. In all cases, do the whole “inspired by…” and tag the original cookier. It’s just nice, and it’s the right thing to do!
* I realize that holidays are prime cookie time. However, if you take on too many cookie orders, you will be absolutely miserable when the holiday actually comes. It’s not worth making someone else’s holiday special at the cost of your own family’s holiday.
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Thank you so much Amy!
You can find Amy on her website,instagram, and on facebook.
Please answer my poll on the left sidebar. I'm curious!
Read more.......
Posts on "Cookiepreneur Interviews"
Posts on "Cookies as Business".
Posts on "Poking Around the Kitchen".
Posts on "Commercial Kitchen"
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