The Business of Cake Making Podcast

This week we are at the 2024 Cake International. It's the shows 30th anniversary and it did not disappoint.   Below are the time codes for each interview if you want to skip to anyone in particular. However, we recommend sitting back and taking in everyone we chatted to.   2.23 - Natalie Porter, Immaculate Confections 6.50 - Karen Davies 12.21 - Dummies Direct 15.17 - Cakes by Carol 22.09 - Emma Jayne Cake Design on Elizabeth 1st 28.25 - Renshaw 34.47 Suzanne Thorpe, The Frostery 41.15 - Sandra Farmhouse 44.04 - Jenny Chambers, Sugar Screams 53.56 - Miriam Pearson, Sweet Creations 56.46 - Christina Georgiou, Tasteful Cakes 1.01.10 - Molly Robbins 1.06.28 - Emily Hankins

We are having a few weeks off, whilst Sammie is travelling around Europe. We thought it would be the perfect time to dip back into our back catalogue, which after 4 and a half years is quite extensive. This week is one of Sammie's Choices - Running a Cake Business from Home. In this episode we talk about the practicalities of running a cake business from home. Running your own business is hard enough - running a cake business can be next level with the amount of space that is needed. Sammie and Bronya talk about their experiences and how they make their working lives easier by  being organised, setting a routine and most importantly helping their families understand the pressures on them and their work.

We are having a few weeks off, whilst Sammie is travelling around Europe. We thought it would be the perfect time to dip back into our back catalogue, which after 4 and a half years is quite extensive. This week is one of Sammie's Choices - Eric Lanlard This week Bronya and Sammie are very excited to speak to world renowned patissier Eric Lanlard. After baking in the French Navy he came to London to learn English and never left.  He has many TV appearances to his name, as well as 8 books, and regularly teaches at his South London Boutique Bakery and School, Cake Boy. He is still very passionate about his craft and is always looking for new and exciting flavours. We chat to him ahead of his appearance at the Cake and Bake Show at The Ideal Home Show Christmas. Buy your tickets to the 2024 show by following the link below https://cakeandbake.seetickets.com/tour/cake-bake-show?OfferCode=CABCAKEMAKERS

We are having a few weeks off, whilst Sammie is travelling around Europe. We thought it would be the perfect time to dip back into our back catalogue, which after 4 and a half years is quite extensive. This week is one of Sammie's Choices - Google Analytics 4 (GA4) This episode is NOT our strong point, but we have tried to tackle it anyway. We are talking Google Analytics Today! As a cake maker what are the analytics you need to look at and how do you get there?  Google Analytics changed from Universal Analytics to GA4 on July 1st, 2023. So what do you need to be doing to get the best out of your website.

We are having a few weeks off, whilst Sammie is travelling around Europe. We thought it would be the perfect time to dip back into our back catalogue, which after 4 and a half years is quite extensive. This week is one of Bronya's Choices - The Ultimate Guide to Putting Flowers on Cakes.  It's a topic that we are all a bit fuzzy around the edges on, so we went straight to the experts and got our information from the Food Standards Agency! The email we got back was from @food.gov.uk - you can't get much more official than that! Who's responsibility is it if you get given a toxic flower from a florist? Who responsibility is it to put the flowers on the cake correctly? What happens if you do it wrong? How do you do it right?  Also, rumour has it that there is a food safe florist tape on the market - we investigate. This is a crucial episode for anyone adding fresh flowers to their cakes!

We are having a few weeks off, whilst Sammie is travelling around Europe. We thought it would be the perfect time to dip back into our back catalogue, which after 4 and a half years is quite extensive. This week is one of Sammie's choices, and she brings you Maddy Shine, the Visibility Queen. Getting discovered by your customers always feels so hard. Maddy chats about how and what we should be putting out on our marketing, and encourages us to be authentically us. So many tips, so much information, and so much enthusiasm, you're gonna love her!  

We are having a few weeks off. Sammie is travelling around Europe, and Bronya is having a couple of weeks in Scotland. We thought it would be the perfect time to dip back into our back catalogue, which after 4 and a half years is quite extensive. This week is one of Bronya's choices, and she brings you the most recent episode that we'll be re-listening to from this time last year. Cake International is an important event in the cake calendar and we were delighted to have Organiser, Melanie Underwood, and Head Judge, David Close on just a couple of weeks before last years Show. This is a fascinating episode with so many hints, tips and behind the scenes insights.

This is the last in our 6 part mini series bout Cake Business Fundamentals. This week we chat about the journey you take your customer on from when they first find you to when you deliver their cake. How so you communicate with them, what language do you use, how do you manage their expectations and do you follow up after they've had their cake. We will now be taking a 2 week break.

This is the penultimate episode of this 6 part series on Cake Business Fundamentals. This week Bronya and Sammie chat about Branding and Marketing in your cake business. They talk about the breadth of both topics and how they both very closely relate to your ideal client.   There are also 2 great top tips this week!

We continue our Cake Business Fundamentals Series with Part 4 all about pricing and financials. We talk about paying yourself a decent wage, deciding on your profit margin, Making sure you put money away for tax and national insurance, as well as taking deposits and family and friends discounts. This is a very important subject that so many people shy away from. Don't it's why you're in business!

This week we continue our series on cake business fundamentals with Ideal Client. Who are you selling to? And why being specific with your ideal client is incredibly important if you want to be making the cakes you love for the price you need to be charging. For more information on Niche Market and  Ideal Client take a look at our Audio Workshop with workbook: https://daisycakeandco.com/product/aw1-niche-market-and-ideal-client/

This week we continue with our 6 part series about Cake Business Fundamentals with finding your Niche.  Having a Niche and really leaning into it will bring you confidence and custom as you will be seen as the expert. We chat about what your niche can be, what niche's we've had mistakes we've made by not having one. Next week in Part 3 of our series we chat about Ideal Client.

This week we start a 6 week series on Cake Business Fundamentals. These are the things that will set you up for success in your business. They provide focus and direction and help you to keep your business on track. This week we are chatting about having a Business Plan. We're not talking the scary type you take to a bank manager with graphs and pie charts. We're talking about a clear plan with defined goals for you to follow for business success. Next week we'll be honing in on Niche Market.  https://daisycakeandco.com

This week we do our irregular feature where we answer your questions. We have all kinds of questions from baking brownies, to wedding fairs, to getting your home kitchen registered. This is the last episode for a couple of weeks. We will be back on July 29th 2024.

In this episode Bronya and Sammie chat about feat of success. Obviously, this isn't something people plan on having, as when you go into business, you plan to succeed. But the human brain is a dark and foreboding place and can  sometimes develop irrational fears.  The fear of success can be debilitating and cause self sabotage or procrastination to set in.  We chat about our experience with fear of success, and talk about how we and others have overcome it.

Following Bronya's recent success on Instagram, this episode is all about marketing on Social Media. We chat about when and what to post, and the things that's Bronya has found successful when posting about her cake business on Instagram. She talks about the algorithms, the times to post, why you may not be getting engagement and what happens to your reach when you don't get engagement. Follow Bronya on instagram at @DaisyCakeCo, and follow the podcast at @TheBusinessofCakeMaking

We are very excited to be chatting to Marketing Expert, and soon to be published author, Alice Benham. Alice talks about marketing in a way that is straight to the point, but not intimidating. She understand small businesses need to move forward and in our chat she talks about what a marketing strategy is but how it's not a scary business thing. She talks about, in her words, taking messy action. Alice also talks about her book, The Digital marketing Handbook, which is published June 20th - this coming Thursday. 

This week we revisit a topic we did back in Episode 28 - Time Management. things have moved on a lot in the world since we last talked about this and we have got better at planning our time. We talk about planning, preparation, boundaries, routines, distractions and being tidy.  

This week we are talking about how to SAY NO!! Cake Makers, as a group, are notoriously bad at saying no. We chat about why you should say no, when to say no, and how to say no. Saying no is empowering and will definitely reduce the stress levels in your cake business.  

Today we chat to Suzanne Esper - or we should say Doctor Suzanne Esper! Scientist and highly acclaimed cake maker and teacher - hear how she changed her life, pivoted her business to make it right for her, and what she is doing now. It was such a wonderful chat it could have lasted for hours. Also, listen out for the competition she has set for our listeners.