Plans

Finished my cakes on time, cleaned the kitchen on time, then realized all I had left to do was daydream. The boyfriend was on a man date with one of his buddies so rather than find somewhere to go I opted to plan.

I decided to clear out all the old pictures from my computer and as I did this, I saw every cake I've made since 2005. It's around 300 or so. That's just insane. I had no idea I'd made so many cakes! Where did all the money go?!

It's really fun to see how far I've come and to know I'm finally a professional. It also kind of makes me sad, too, because I am a chef with no home. There are no part time shifts open for me and full time would put me further into debt than I am now. Pastry chefs don't make more than $12 an hour. I am praying for an open position for the summer so I can build my resume and portfolio, as well as pay off my remaining debt. I'm more determined than ever to open a business this year or next.

Speaking of business, the potentially exciting news I mentioned in my last post is that my local cake supply shop might be for sale. For most of 2009 I've been at odds with the owner because she closes randomly, doesn't replenish her stock ever and has a bad habit of telling customers her personal business. She has my number because I am listed in her directory for cake decorators so she will randomly call to ask me how-to decorating advice rather than give me the order and I've told her many times that I am polite but not stupid.

She told me that some days she only makes $10 in sales. There are many obvious reasons for this besides a bad economy. First there are the aforementioned violations. There is extreme lack of customer service, she never has a sale, she never rotates stock during the year and she even closed for two weeks starting on Christmas but didn't manage to even dust the joint!

Her rent, she tells me, is $1600 a month. She is not allowed to make cakes there because she didn't renew her license so she does them on the sly to make rent. Some of her airbrush colors have gone sour. She has the awful frilly wedding cake toppers up on a shelf but never bothers to dust them or even put them on clearance. She says she hasn't sold ONE in the four years she's owned the place. I just go in there for boxes because she's two signals from my front door.

Man, I have so many ideas for her store. I would love to go in as a partner and make the place amazing but she is not the right partner. She's got too much baggage. Plus it's in a awful location - behind a dumpster wall and next to the delivery bay of a Sizzler. Gross! You can't even see her store from the street! She has no Website, no mailing list, no classes, nothing. She hasn't changed her product to keep up with cake trends and she has never made a fondant cake in her life. The one major advantage that she has is that she speaks Spanish. I do, too, but not well. Some of these customers make my head spin just listening to them ask for cupcake picks!

I wish I had the money to buy her out. Maybe she'll hold on for summer and by then I'll have some cash saved and my credit rating will be such that I might be able to borrow a little money from the bank. We'll see.

This is a story that will continue to unfold here on the blog. I'm truly interested in her store but not sure if I can save the business without completely re-doing it. She says there is an approved floorplan for a functioning cake shop - it came with the business when she bought it. She doesn't have any money to buy the ovens nor is there enough storage to put everything away in the back. If I could only get her to move locations to the new shopping center at the end of my street then she would have more room and visibility. The problem then is that the rent is $2600 a month (I called). If the location was also a bakery, though, the revenue might come in to cover the costs while the supply part is overhauled.

Hmmm...