Welcome to the Cake Girl Hotline! Today’s caller is Melanie Young of Mel’s Munchies, and here is her question: How do I strategically grow my bakery from a small home-based business into a profitable wholesale and catering business without losing the personal connection and quality that made people fall in love with my brand?
How to Grow a Home Bakery
Growing your brand from a home-based business into a catering business is an incredibly exciting time for sure, but one of the biggest mistakes that you can make at this phase is growing faster than your business is ready for. This is something I know firsthand, since I also started at home.
Early on, when I was baking from my home kitchen, every step in my process was very personal. All of the interactions with my customers happened directly with me on my cell phone or through social media. I knew who every cake was for and the stories behind each one of them, and I had my hands in every part of the order from start to finish—even the deliveries.
As my business was growing, I quickly realized that if I wanted to serve more customers and grow, I could not do it alone. This was a scary moment at first because I did not want to lose the quality and personal connection that built my reputation in the first place, but I knew that it was something that I had to tackle.
Build a Solid Foundation
Over the years, one of the biggest lessons that I have learned is: Don’t try to scale chaos.
Before you go out and start pursuing wholesale accounts or large catering opportunities, make sure that you have a good, solid foundation. This includes all aspects of your business, like your recipes, production methods, packaging, and the quality standards. All of these need to be consistent and repeatable in order to grow. Something that I tell aspiring entrepreneurs all the time is that if the product that you make only comes out right when you make it, it is not ready to scale. It is also important to understand that when you scale recipes, they will not come out the same way as you currently make them in smaller batches.
One of the most important parts of any business, no matter what industry you are in, is that you have to know your numbers. Wholesale and large catering orders might look very attractive at face value because the orders are large and the numbers are bigger than you are used to seeing, but that does not automatically mean you are making more profit. Before you say yes or consider shifting your business model, you have to really understand your true cost of goods; this includes your ingredients, labor, packaging, waste, delivery, and overhead.
One of the best pieces of advice I could give someone in your position is learning that sometimes the best business decision is knowing what opportunities not to take. Early on in my business, I took on some wholesale orders since I thought it would be good for business. What it actually did was take me away from my custom cake orders, and I actually made a lot less money with a lot more work.
When you start to grow, it is natural to think that you want to have a lot of product offerings for your potential customers, but this is not always the case. Instead of trying to offer everything that you make, focus on products that you can produce efficiently in volume, ones that travel well, and maintain their quality. Sometimes it is not your most elaborate product that makes the most sense when looking at what is repeatable and profitable. Once you figure out which products align with this, that will help you grow efficiently.
Maintain a Human Connection
I know you mentioned personal connection, and that is something extremely important at every stage of growth. You never want to automate the heart of what people love about you and your business. As you implement technology that helps you grow, it should work to amplify your personal connection, not remove it. This is more relevant now more than ever with the implementation of AI and automation in business. Business owners have to remember that AI should not replace human connection; it should amplify and make it better.
At each stage of your growth, your customers should still feel the human touch of your brand that they fell in love with. Sometimes that looks a little different and takes some getting used to on both sides. Something that I really focused on as I grew my brand and still continue to grow is sharing our story, where we are going, and the why behind what we do. That is something that is hard for customers to understand at first since you can no longer take a text message order or answer your phone at 9 or 10 pm at night, but these are the systems and boundaries that have to be put in place to be able to scale.
All of the hurdles in business and changes to your operations can be addressed through open and honest communication with your new and existing customers. What I found over the years is that my solid customers have always respected my growth and have adapted to changes in my business as they happen. Most of them see the value in the processes that I have created, and I always work hard to make sure that any changes that we implement benefit both of us.
Something that is equally important in this process is making sure that anyone you are bringing on your team understands not just how you do things, but the why you do them the way you do. This is what makes your brand unique. As I continue to scale my brand into new markets and opportunities, I constantly have to adjust my mindset and know that, no matter how big my brand continues to grow, I do not have to personally make every cake to make every customer feel personally cared for. This is what scaling a brand correctly is really all about. It is never about taking more orders and making more products; it is about continuing to build more experiences.
Build your systems around your products, protect your margins at all cost, and keep the personal connection at the center of everything you do. When you can do all three of those together at the same time, it can give you the opportunity to share your brand with a much bigger audience and grow a home bakery successfully. Continue to crush it, keep growing, and always remember to never lose sight of what makes your bakery special.
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Kristina Lavallee
Kristina Lavallee is the Founder and CEO of The Cake Girl® and Crave’n Cups, award-winning dessert brands recognized for luxury custom cakes, premium ready-to-eat desserts, and innovative edible artistry. A nationally recognized cake artist and entrepreneur, her work has been commissioned by celebrities, professional athletes, and Fortune 500 companies, including Tom Brady, Cardi B, Marcus Lemonis, Daymond John, Jason Momoa, Tom Cruise, and Glenn Beck.
A graduate of the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Kristina has been featured on The Today Show, Fox & Friends, Food Network, People, Entrepreneur, Southern Living, PARADE, and numerous national media outlets, and was named to Inc.’s 500 Female Founders list for her leadership and innovation. Beyond business, she is committed to giving back through her Random Acts of Sweetness initiative, serves as an Honorary Commander at MacDill Air Force Base, and is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Defense Patriot Award for her support of military members, first responders, and her community.
