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Running A Cake Business From Your Home

There is nothing like working from home. It is cheaper because you don’t need to commute or buy a special wardrobe to go out into the public. You can also use a home office as a tax write off. To help you get started in your home based cake decorating business, here are some useful ideas.

- Find a Unique Way to Sell Your Cakes – Think about why people should come to you for their cakes instead of going to a bakery. Do your cakes taste better, are they more beautiful, do you offer a unique style, or do you provide better service (drop off cakes on the special day)? You may want to offer all of these things to get the customers coming to you. Once they see the beautiful work you do, they will tell everyone they know and you will be able to get more business.

- Use Press Releases: You should send a press release to local and nearby news papers every time you participate in nonprofit or community events in your town. If anything exciting happens in your business, you should also consider sending a press release. When you do, make sure you mention why your business is unique and remarkable (it is isn’t it?). This will be a bit of advertisement along with the announcement.

- Advertise in newspapers and shoppers: Make sure to advertise your business. Consider spending more on advertising during the months of May for graduation and June for weddings or whenever a big event will be taking place. Place ads in the high school paper, or if you have a college nearby, you can advertise in any paper they may have and on the bulletin board. Before you do think about what discounts or specials you can offer for these events. Make sure you specify that all orders need to be in by a certain date, this could prompt buyers to take action and order from you.

- A website or blog: Get a basic but well designed website for your cake decorating business. Make the site informative and easy to navigate. Show samples of your cake decorating skills, and mention how unique your business is, if you are flexible, and what type of cake decorating you do. You may or may not want to put prices on your website, sometimes it is better to have them call you and you can quote them a price, according to their needs. When you advertise, make sure you include your web address in your advertising.

- Look for Distributors: One way to expand your business is to find other businesses who are willing to advertise your cake decorating business. Coffee shops and restaurants will probably be your best bet. This will give your business more exposure and save you from having to open a store of your own. They would receive a commission on each order you receive from their establishment in exchange for this service.

- Barter with local party and event planners: You can strike up a bargain with local planners to show your portfolio to their customers. In exchange you can recommend them to your customers. Get included in their list of vendors, and they may have you making and decorating all of their cakes.

- Offer Free Products for fund raisers, church activities, local events and festivals. Get involved in fundraising for local charities, school, church, and business events. By offering a free cake for these events, you will be gaining a great deal of advertising exposure. Make up brochures and hand them out when you are in attendance.

- Real Estate Offering: Contact local Realtors and offer a special on housewarming cakes for their clients. Often when realtors sell a home, they give their clients a gift. When you make cakes for these occasions, make sure to place the cake in a beautiful cake box imprinted with your business name, address, phone, and web address. You can also include a discount coupon if they order a cake within a certain time frame.

- Referrals: Tell everyone you come into contact with about your business. Always make sure you carry your business cards with you with contact information on them. Give them 2 or 3 cards and ask them to pass them along to others who might be interested in using your talents. You should also ask customers for referrals. Offer them a discount on their next cake if they can drum up new business for you.

Home Based Business Tax Deductions & Write Offs 2010, 2011

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