What It's About
Powerlifter takes the heavy lifting out of special event planning with custom cakes.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Karen says that you may not get customers right away, so you should "build a portfolio"—make cakes for your coworkers, friends, family, bring them to your neighbor, etc. They can give you feedback and be great referrals.
For example, Karen had a cake tasting party! It was a hit and a great way to get some exposure and feedback in the beginning.
Fun Fact
During this whole process, Karen actually had never tried or taste-tested any of her cakes because aside from baking, she is a powerlifter and had to be on a specific diet. People find this odd but Karen says, "I'm just confident enough to know they are good that I don't need to do any quality assurance."
Notes from Chris
Episode 944
Karen Nguyen is a wearer of many hats. She’s a client success manager for her day job, she’s a competitive powerlifter in her spare time, and somewhere in that process, she fits in a side hustle baking custom cakes. Maybe the inspiration came from her childhood when she’d help out her dad in his coffee and donut shop. Or maybe it was when she grew up and entered the world of work and found herself bored sitting at a desk. Whatever it was, baking cakes became her creative outlet … a way to layer it with her other activities. She’d return home after a long day of computer work and stand at the kitchen counter mixing and baking. Thanks to lots of practice and YouTube, she cultivated a real talent. When Karen made a job change and transitioned into her current role working for a cloud-based HR software company, she had the opportunity to put her off-resume skills to work. Being a small team, her company didn’t have a birthday committee to plan anything extra special, so they resorted to buying greeting cards and generic store-bought desserts for colleague’s birthdays. Karen raised the game when she started baking her custom cakes. And they weren’t just custom; each cake was always a surprise designed to fit each employee’s likes, hobbies, and interests. Karen loved seeing the joy it brought each person who tasted them. After receiving rave reviews for her innovative and tasty cakes, Karen decided to try sweetening others’ lives and her bank account. She wanted to taste test other markets. She began by offering her service to people she knew: friends, family, and other coworkers. Then she took it half a cup further and held cake tasting parties to improve her product prior to selling. From there, she was able to develop a base recipe that she could customize with various flavors. The parties were also a great way to get referrals! Before she knew it, Sweet Afternoon Bakeshop was in business. Perhaps the most interesting fact about Karen’s side hustle is that she doesn’t taste her cakes. When she started Sweet Afternoon Bakeshop, she was heavy into powerlifting and on a specific diet which did not include icing. She knew from great feedback from customers and friends that her cakes were yummy. So far, it hasn’t been a problem. She currently sells two or three custom cakes per week and bakes in an extra $600 per month in profit. Sweet Afternoon Bakeshop is on the rise and adding even more tiers to its cakes. In the future, Karen plans to include cocktails and cake decorating parties for adults, and mini-cake decorating parties for kids.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Sweet Afternoon Bakeshop: If you're interested in learning more about this sweet, icing topped side hustle, head on over to Karen's Instagram page
- CreativeLive: The platform that Karen used to find courses to help her improve her marketing skills
- Cake Artist’s Confections Whisk Up Delicious Profits: This pastry chef starts by baking on the side, then grows her hustle into a full-time business selling more than $100,000 worth of wedding and custom cakes a year
- Tinder Matched Couple Swipes Right to Sell Cupcakes: After meeting on Tinder, a couple takes a long walk through Central Park and decides to sell cupcakes for $20 each. Surprise: it works
- Social Worker Bakes Cupcakes for The Walking Dead: After a stressful divorce, this social worker and mom needs to make money. She begins by selling cupcakes at the local market, then goes on to establish a sustainable business
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