So you’ve heard from all your friends that you can bake cakes and pies better than any they’ve ever tasted at a restaurant. And you’ve decided to branch out from your amateur status and become a professional baker, selling the very best sweets right out of your home. If only it were as easy as baking a pie, opening a window, and letting the aroma pull customers right to your front door.
It’s going to take more than that. You’re going to have to do marketing, and that can be a costly endeavor. But just as if you were a restaurateur and wanted to cut costs at your restaurant wherever possible, you have to also worry about keeping your budget in your home-based bakery business under control. And that means inventive marketing ideas and solid marketing content.
One of the positive things you can advertise about your new endeavor is that you use only top-of-the-line equipment, such as those items comprised of Middleby Marshall parts. You also need to know how to market your business in creative ways that might not have come to the minds of your competitors.
Building Support Within the Community
If you’re planning on building a local business with your bakery items, it’s important that the community at large has a solid opinion of you. That means getting out and doing some charitable work. Maybe you can supply the pastries for an early-morning town event, or provide desserts for the after-party of a high school graduation. Not only will you be doing charitable work, which is always great for your public relations, but you will also be giving a large segment of the population a sampling of delectable treats.
Social Media Outreach
Social media allows even the smallest businesses to market on affordable levels and on the same playing fields as titans of the market. But choosing which social media sites to inhabit can be just as important as choosing your food processor. You have to choose enough that you hit a wide portion of your intended audience, but choosing too many can mean overextending yourself, especially if you don’t post enough on these sites. Once people have turned their attention away from you because you don’t have enough of a social media presence, it can be very difficult to get it back.
Focus on Quality
It can be very easy to get carried away with gimmicks in an effort to garner attention for your baking products. But that attention can be short-lived and ultimately not very impactful. It’s better to build a brand based on quality. That can mean investing in excellent equipment, which might mean, for example, Middleby Marshall Parts. Or it can come from testimonials from customers talking about how pleased they were with your service, prices, and the quality of your products. That kind of marketing can only be effective if you can back it up with the goods in those departments.
So be prepared to flex your marketing muscles as well as giving your oven a workout. The rewards for your home-based bakery will be, pardon the expression, sweet.
I agree with you focus on quality is an important thing.