It’s 2 a.m. Is that you — wide-eyed and focused on fondant frosting being shaped to a cake or betting on the outcome of a Cupcake Wars competition? Admit it. Your sweet tooth extends far beyond the consumption of butter cream icing and whipping up the perfect fondant cake sculptures that commemorate celebrations and joyful occasions. If you’re the cake maven in your circle – the creative kitchen soul looking for a career that’s rewarding and fun — don’t keep your talent to yourself. With a little planning and a lot of passion, you can take your talent to new heights by training cake decorators who prefer an intimate kitchen to an impersonal, store-based class experience.
1. Add to your personal cake decorating acumen by seeking advanced training in cake decorating from a culinary school, community college or a local crafting Mecca such as Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. Many of these retailers offer the Wilton method of cake decorating or comparable programs, so if you’re a little deficient in one specific area of the art of cake decorating, contact these stores. They may not have a class, but they may be able to hook you up with a professional willing to tutor you for a modest fee.
2. Write a business plan for your cake decorating classes. Include an outline of what you plan to teach. Articulate your financial goals by figuring out what you must charge for cake decorating classes to break even or make a profit. Open a checking account for your cake decorating enterprise. Design a promotional flyer or brochure on your own or have one professionally designed detailing the type of class(es) you’re offering, dates, length of the course, supplies needed by students and class fees.
3. Sleuth out a great book on the subject of cake decorating that’s comprehensive enough to be used as a class-reading guide. Follow in the footsteps of other cake decorating teachers and purchase the book you’ve selected in quantity, then either re-sell the text to your students or include the book as part of the fee you charge for students enrolling in your class(es).
4. Prepare your kitchen to accommodate multiple attendees or rent a professional kitchen if your home won’t hold a small crowd. Provide students with comfortable chairs, good sight lines–so everyone can witness your demonstrations and decorating techniques without having to strain to see over the heads of others–and offer plentiful opportunities for students to get hands-on experience while you’re on hand to guide them through your cake decorating techniques.
5. Consider diversification as you develop your cake decorating school. For example, you may wish to become a distributor of baking supplies like hard-to-find cake pans, spatulas, flutes and other must-haves for serious caking baking hobbyists. Build an incentive into your classes that competitors don’t employ: Use Publish on Demand technology to produce a cake decorating book featuring the work of your students.
6. Make marketing a priority. It takes more than a flyer to get the job done and while you can probably count on referrals from students completing your class, your repeat business will come from offering advanced classes that teach trendy techniques. Your school will benefit greatly from referrals by delighted “graduates,” and if you can keep coming up with different types of cake decorating projects, you will probably see plenty of repeat business arriving on your kitchen doorstep. Here’s a final tip if you live in a multi-cultural community: You’ll double your marketing reach if you print a bi-lingual flyer – one side in English and a second language on the other – but if you’re not prepared for non-English speaking students as a result of your clever outreach – you may find that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew!
