Baking

[teresab]

I have a client I am doing some brainstorming for, and she loves to bake. I have several ideas for her on how to make money baking. I am hoping some of you might have some additional ideas of a great place she can market her products. I am looking for some good target markets for her to start small. I am not a cook or a baker, so this is a challenging client for me. Does anyone know if personal chef's do their own baking as well as cooking or would they be open to someone doing the baking for them and they concentrate of cooking, or perhaps coffee shops, or local cafeterias in office buildings... those types of places... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (she is not competition for anyone that is baking for others).

Thanks,
Teresa

[Kevin]

Well she can start with me... I`ll take a dozen cupcakes. Been along time since I had a good cupcake.

Seriously, there has to be some bake offs or something for her to get her name out, win a bake-off and instant recognition. You might want to talk to Chef Brian or Jeannie, they could probably help out.

[sarahandrews]

I think targeting coffee shop type places would be a great place to start. But, it would have to be independent ones not a chain.

Also, perhaps the office cafeteria type places would work. Another idea would be to target companies that might like desserts/treats for meetings or something like that. Or, to have on hand at special occasions in their office kitchen.

Another target might be drug/equipment reps. They are ALWAYS bringing food to the offices they sell to. And, after the IBR a couple weeks ago--Kevin will be looking for food to take on his cold calls in Dearborn! ;D

[lindapastor]

To start small, you may want to find someone who works at the hospitals--the nursing staff always wants something yummy. One of the assistants I used to work with made a pot of chili or soup each week and sold servings to everyone on duty that night. Try it with baked goods. (My brother-in-law is doing this kind of thing at a factory offering homemade sausages for the grill.)

And to market/promote her biz, my suggestion would be to send a variety of cupcakes/muffins to her favorite radio station.
~Hold a contest to see which personality chooses the choc chip, the one with sprinkles, etc.
or
~Bake a fortune cookie cupcake with a surprise message inside--maybe the musical pick of the day. The winner gets a free 6 pack of muffins, etc.
~Have fun with it.

Blessings,
Linda

[teresab]

Wow thanks everyone. Great feedback. I'm glad I posted.