When you’re looking to build a website for your cake business the amount of options can be overwhelming, and looking in Facebook groups can only add to the confusion because everyone has their own experiences and opinions.  The only real way to know which will work for you is to test drive them, but that can take time and a bit of know-how, so today I’m going to run through why I think Squarespace is the best solution for bakers looking to show off their cakes online.

Portions of this post are taken from my DIY Your Baking Business Website course.  For more information about that, click here.

Before you dive into building your cake decorating or baking business website, you need to take some time to plan out what you are going to create.  A website without a purpose, or clear function, will not be worth the time you’ll take to create it.

Likewise, a website than has good content, but doesn’t align with your business and brand style, will not help you attract the right kind of customers and will leave those who do visit confused about your message.

The two keys to a good website are CONTENT & STYLING.

Costs are always at the centre of every decision you make as a business owner.  Every penny spent is considered carefully, sometimes agonised over, because everything that goes out takes away from your profit and how much you can afford to pay yourself.

Rebekah Allan from Angel Foods has the best job in the world, talking about cakes! She believes anyone can make great cakes + anyone can make great money from cakes! Helping food lovers with positive support and a little bit of business know-how to help unlock the passion. Through high quality, easy to understand, actionable, fun tutorials, teaching others how to build the sweet business of their dreams. With a free Cake Business Toolkit on how to go from a HOBBY caker to making a KILLING in 3 days flat!

 Chances are, one of the first bits of marketing  you will get yourself once you start up your baking business, is a business card.  They are easy to carry around with you wherever you go, you can hand them out to friends and family, pin them on notice boards, leave them in local shops or even use them in your packaging by attaching them to your cake boxes.  They also have the benefit of being affordable and there are many sites out there that make it easy to design your own or use a template.

Last week I talked about the importance of branding your baking business, and all the different areas where branding extended to.  As I mentioned, if it’s not the most important part of your brand, your logo is certainly what most people will come into contact with first, be it on your Facebook page, website or business card.  That’s why it’s important to have a professional looking logo right from the start.  Unfortunately though, when you’re new to business you might not have the spare money to spend on hiring a graphic designer, so what do you do?  Well, you can do it yourself!

The key to success for any cake or baking business is making the most delicious and beautiful products around.  That is definitely true.  However, it can make things a lot easier if your business ‘brand’ makes the task of selling your cakes, a whole lot easier.

Keeping on top of all aspects of your business can be tricky, especially when the orders are rolling in.  That’s why having systems in place to maintain order and to allow you to work as quickly as possible are key.  Today I’m going to look at three tips in three different areas of your business - customers, money and your kitchen.  Hopefully these will help reduce your stress and making running your awesome baking business a total breeze!

Before Christmas I wrapped up a design project for a local cake business, Cakes at No. 9, based in Cromarty in the north of Scotland.  The client was looking for a full revamp of her business image, which meant new logo and branding, along with a website, business cards and social media designs.  

Today I’m asking you to consider how you are presenting your business to your customers.  This covers many different aspects of your business, but is basically anywhere that your customers get an impression of you and your bakery.  

I’ve talked before on the blog about the importance of having a website for your business, so today I’m going to go into a little more detail about what that website should look like and how it should function.  It doesn’t have to be complicated but there should be enough of a structure to allow your potential customers be guided through the site on a coherent path.

You've heard that having a blog is a good way to market your cake business. You've seen that lots of websites and businesses now include one, but you don't know what to post or where to start. You don't even know if it would make a difference for your cake business.

Deciding on your baking businesses brand and logo can be one of the most painstaking tasks of setting up your business.  There are so many options and ideas it can be hard to even know where to start.  Not to mention how indecisive you become when making decisions for yourself...or maybe that's just me!