Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi all,

I’m just after a little advice really on wedding consults. I have done several fairs at local venues over the spring period plus earlier in the year I did a regional one. I’m happy to travel to deliver and set up a wedding cake that might be an hour there/hour back plus set up time and I charge accordingly for being outside my local area.

However, something that has arisen (I offer all couples a tasting and design consult free of charge currently) is that on a couple of occasions, I’ve driven an hour to a bride’s home (I work from home and have young children so don’t hold them at my house for obvious reasons!), spent an hour with them, given them cake (usually several flavours depending on what samples I have in the freezer which are refreshed monthly) then driven an hour home. Then I’ve spent time sketching out 3 options, emailing them over with a quote etc etc. only to never hear back from them!

More often than not I get the order as they have usually seen me/my designs/tasted my cake/had a chat at a wedding fair so they’re aware of my guide prices etc. However, the odd one (2 in the last 2 months) that disappears is turning into quite a substantial cost and one I’m not sure if my business should be fully absorbing when I’m only a couple of years old and still fairly young. I don’t mind too much taking the hit on a local one as it 2 hours of driving/mileage etc. that’s not included so the cost/time element isn’t as high.

Would it be unreasonable of me to charge a small amount – say around £15 – for couples that aren’t local to me for a tasting/design consult on the understanding it is deductable from their final balance if they decide to accept my quote? Obviously that doesn’t fully cover my time/costs but I’m thinking it would maybe discourage anyone not serious and save me 4 hours of my precious time. Then again, at the same time, I don’t want to put potential customers off by charging if they’re a distance from me!

Or…..do I just take the hit and accept that every now and again it’s going to happen?

Sorry for the essay….all advice gratefully received!

Hi Yvonne
I feel your frustration!
I am in a similar position, I work from home, also have 2 children (10 & 5).
I do, do my consultations from home, even though my husband cannot help most of the time!
I try to organise them when either the children are at school (this doesn’t happen very often though) or I make sure that they are entertained for the hour, by allowing them to watch TV etc. They do quite a lot of the time come into the kitchen where I hold my consultations, but most customers are ok with this.
I DO charge, and would definitely recommend you charging too.
I make everyone aware that the consultation costs £20, but should they confirm their booking then the £20 is deducted from the cost of the cake at the end.
I find this then separates the time wasters from the serious customers.
Plus if they decide not to go ahead you haven’t lost anything.
Hope this helps and good luck

Thanks MIWL. And thank you Dawn, it’s good to know it doesn’t put serious customers off so that’s really good to know. Now to update my facebook page and website….. the joys of admin!

Hi Yvonne

Most consultations appointments take place at the designers premises and not visa versa. You are giving away an awful lot without actually getting anything back This is not my field of expertise at all but please do have a look at the following link and links within for member opinions:
http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/wedding-consultation-free-or-not
I feel you really do need to re-evaluate your modus operandi and start charging for tastings, designs, your travel expenses and time before the consultation, refundable if they actually place their order with you.
I’m no expert at this, I’m not in business but that’s what I would do to put off time wasters.

As you are in business, have you considered registering with the Pro courses run by David ? The Pro courses are designed to answer all your questions. You’ll save money on your purchases straight away, including claiming back money on the course as a business expense. Have a browse at what the lessons have to offer here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/learn-to-run-your-own-cake-decorating-business

Hope some of this information helps. You can also email David Brice for his expert advice by using the following contact form: https://designer-cakes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Thanks MIWL, I agree that things definitely need to change. I have no problems with travelling but I need to cut out a lot of the associated costs. I don’t do them at home as my children are only 7 & 6 and whilst my daughter would understand the concept of not disturbing mummy when she’s with a customer, my eldest has asperger’s and is in the habit of voicing his opinion on things very loudly and literally wouldn’t give us a moment’s peace! My husband would take him out if he was home but he also works in the hospitality industry so his hours are odd and varied!

I’ve been thinking of upgrading my subscription to pro for a while so I think I’ll probably do this. I think in the mean time, I will start to charge for boxes of samples as they’re requested for those who haven’t seen me at a wedding fair and change my deposit t’s & c’s. At the moment I take 25% non-refundable deposit and then the balance payable a month before but obviously the deposit is paid after all my hard work in meeting, designing etc. I think the way to go is probably to charge a fixed deposit and then hold the design/consultation etc. and at least that way if it falls through, all my hard work in the design process and the meetings is covered!

Yvonne x

I think you’ve got it! …. and it would really benefit you if you could upgrade to Pro membership. You’ll be able to get access to the closed Pro members facebook group. They will be able to advise you far better than I can on matter related to business. Hope you manage to make the necessary changes quickly to enhance your hard work. xx

Thanks Dawn for your input, it’s great to have a business voice on this.

@ Yvonne, good luck with your re evaluation!