Hey Sweet friends. Today I'm sharing with you how I would start a cookie decorating business in 2022.
If we haven't met yet, I'm Sarah Grace and I teach people how to create beautiful, decorated sugar cookies, what they use, and how to create flexible, creative, profitable businesses from home. We take your skills and enhance them inside the cookie classroom and a cookie career academy. You can visit SarahGraceCookieCo.com for more information.
The world has changed a lot since I started an at-home Cookie Bakery in 2019. So, I'm sharing a few of the things that I would do differently if I were starting over.
Utilizing Social Media Locally
Number one, I would utilize social media locally. Now, there's been an even greater emphasis on local purchasing, and local shopping in 2022, because we know that supply chains are a little crazy right now. So people are looking to support local businesses.
But something that I encountered when I started using social media to market my home cooking bakery was that I was getting followers from Arkansas and Washington, and I'm in Tennessee! So, I wasn't really able to serve those people. There is no way I could get cookies from Tennessee to wherever they were unless they lived locally.
Because, under Tennessee cottage food law, I was not allowed to ship. I was able to serve with my online class. But, I felt really bad because they couldn't benefit from my services and what I offered. And it wasn't really helping my business to be reaching people all over the country when I needed to be reaching people here locally.
When I started using social media to focus on local growth and connecting with people and forming relationships with business owners and individuals locally, that is when my business growth started to skyrocket. We have a unique opportunity right now in 2022 because social media algorithms have advanced greatly. They can show people things that are in their local area more so than they were before.
For example, Facebook events have really grown and taken off in the last couple of years, and that is still a great way to market your business if you do the events. However, one of the big changes we've seen in social media is Tik Tok. These little short videos and the Tik Tok app have taken over the social media world and their algorithm is just amazing at showing people things in their local area.
If I were starting over and starting my home cookie bakery from scratch, I would focus and prioritize putting some things on Tik Tok. But you can also come join us in the Cookie Confidence Facebook group.
Over in Cookie Confidence, we're going to be doing a three-day live event, helping you develop your TikTok strategy, helping you set up systems and simplify the way that you film that way it doesn't become overwhelmed, and you can get started and have a great TikTok account with a $15 lighting and phone holder set up from Walmart.
And as a simple free app on your phone, it's very easy and we're going to be going in-depth, helping you set that up and get that started so that it doesn't become another thing that you have to put on your to-do list. It's something easy and automatic that you can do while you're already decorating cookies that you were going to be decorating anyway.
And you can use that to grow your customer base and meet new potential customers. So come on over to Cookie Confidence!
Price Like A Service
Now, if I was starting over again in 2022 in my cookie decorating business, the next thing I would do would be to price like a service. When I started, I was looking at all the different pricing formulas and trying to figure out how to determine what my cookie should cost.
It was just kind of confusing because when I would work this little algorithm that said, the butter, sugar, flour cost this much and now add this much percentage for your time. It was coming out to where if you counted how many hours I was spending on that set of cookies versus what I was charging, I was making like two or $3 an hour!
And that's just not the goal guys! As a stay-at-home mom, that time was, and is extremely, extremely valuable. So I just couldn't justify working for $2 or $3 an hour. What I learned and what I teach my "Cookiers" in the Cookie Career Academy is that you have to price like you are a service. Your time is the most important commodity. Your time, your talent, and your skills are the most important thing that you should be considering in your pricing structure.
I have another video about pricing and I will link it HERE If you'd like to watch it, it goes into a little bit more detail about how I like to price cookies. But the main thing is that you remember that your time is extremely valuable and when you figure out what you want to be paid for your time and how much that's actually going to cost for a set of cookies, say a dozen, it can seem like a lot.
And you're going to say, "are people really going to pay that for cookies?" That's what I said too! I thought, "There's no way anybody's going to buy cookies for this number. That I think is a reasonable price." But they are very in demand, y'all. And people are excited and willing to support local artists to get customized, beautiful, instagrammable, TikTokable decorations for their parties.
And it is just one of those things that, like anything, if you prioritize it in your budget, you can include it. Some people are going to prioritize it in their budget. Some people buy $10,000 purses. So, just remember that when you're stressing about charging $45 a dozen for cookies,
Offer Something Besides Just The Decorating Cookies Themselves
The third thing I'd do if I was starting over in 2022 is I would offer something besides just the decorating cookies themselves.
Now, the decorating cookies themselves are wonderful, and if that's what you want your whole business to be, more power to you! But, I would recommend offering some DIY options. So, that could be DIY kits, like "Paint your Own Cookies."
It's just cookies and icing! People can make their own cookies and that is an experience. And that is as valuable to say a mom who needs to entertain her kids for an hour, a grandma who wants to connect with her grandkids, or a Sunday school teacher who needs an activity that is as valuable as the completed work to many people. The marketing possibilities are endless!
I think that's something very important to consider. Also, cookie decorating classes are a great option. If you're selling more than just the cookie itself, you're able to create a more well-rounded business. You're able to give your customers more experiences. And when they're there with you at an event, you're able to share with them what other items you offer. And it just creates that deeper connection between you and your customer and allows you to serve them further and serve them more.
If you have questions about starting your home Cookie Bakery, drop them in the comments below. I would love to talk with you and have a conversation. Of course, I just want to throw in always check your local cottage food laws We have to say that any time we're talking about a home business or cookie business of any kind, check with your local cottage food laws.
And if you're not sure about your local cottage food laws, call your local health department. They'll be able to point you in the right direction. And for those of you who have established cookie decorating businesses or established home bakery businesses, I would love it if you would share your experience with us in the comments below. Tell us what you would do differently if you were starting over that way people who are just starting out on this journey can learn and benefit from your knowledge! Thank you so much for watching. If you like this blog post, be sure to like and share it. I appreciate you being here. Have a great day!
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