How long have you been coming to Steph's Sweet Treats open days? Did you know that Valentine's Day six years ago (just over two month after I opened) was my first ever open day? And that "open days" were never a part of my original business plan?
Six years ago, fresh into my bakery business, I put up flyers around town advertising my Valentine's Day treats. I also posted online and was pleasantly surprised by how many people were contacting me and ordering. I was a brand new business in town and the response was more than I could have hoped for. So I thought, what if I open like a "regular bakery" for Valentine's Day. My by order bakery business was confusing to most locals as it is, so I worried that by opening for walk-in business for one day would further confuse people.
Six years ago, fresh into my bakery business, I put up flyers around town advertising my Valentine's Day treats. I also posted online and was pleasantly surprised by how many people were contacting me and ordering. I was a brand new business in town and the response was more than I could have hoped for. So I thought, what if I open like a "regular bakery" for Valentine's Day. My by order bakery business was confusing to most locals as it is, so I worried that by opening for walk-in business for one day would further confuse people.
So I baked my heart out and opened my doors to the public for the first time, having no idea what to expect. It was me and my mom, my tiny front counter and two cases I had ordered last minute because my original tray with lid idea seemed too cheap looking. As if me and my mom using a calculator to add up every single order was somehow sophisticated enough to make the cut? But like I said, open days were never in my plan. The response was overwhelming in a good way and that day I made the decision that yes the public could handle the odd business set up I had in my head....you order all the time; one day a month I open to the public for a little local event.
Over the years my counter has grown, I've added more cases (one of which now needs replacing as I've literally worked it to its breaking point), I have a register, my front room is completely different looking, and the popularity of open days has grown.
If you are new to open days you might be surprise to hear my hours use to be 6am-4pm. At one point they were 6:30am-5pm; but over time the morning rush got so busy that I would run out of foot traffic and/or cupcakes by lunch time...so my hours shortened.
While it might be easy to say "why not just make more cupcakes so the hours can stay longer," it is A LOT easier said than done...especially now that I have a toddler and another on the way. I try my absolute best to get as much ready for open days as possible. If you don't already know this, or haven't ready it here before, I work the schedule I work because it means I get to still spend the majority of my day, or days, with my son. For the most part my mom watches him while bake, then she goes to work herself; and sometimes he tags along with me and does his own pretend baking. So while I use to spend 2am-6pm chugging a long at the bakery, these days I try to have the best of both worlds.....baking and my babies- and it works!
This year I managed to go through/sell out with 864 cupcakes and 420 cookies....by 10am! Which is totally crazy to me. All of you pack into my shop, line out the door, while I run around like a crazy person (no time to even keep the cupcakes in the cases so I have to run to the kitchen for every person), all for my treats. Beyond amazing and so so grateful. To top it off, I got to take my handsome little frosting face boy out for a mommy son Valentine's Day date!
Over the years my counter has grown, I've added more cases (one of which now needs replacing as I've literally worked it to its breaking point), I have a register, my front room is completely different looking, and the popularity of open days has grown.
If you are new to open days you might be surprise to hear my hours use to be 6am-4pm. At one point they were 6:30am-5pm; but over time the morning rush got so busy that I would run out of foot traffic and/or cupcakes by lunch time...so my hours shortened.
While it might be easy to say "why not just make more cupcakes so the hours can stay longer," it is A LOT easier said than done...especially now that I have a toddler and another on the way. I try my absolute best to get as much ready for open days as possible. If you don't already know this, or haven't ready it here before, I work the schedule I work because it means I get to still spend the majority of my day, or days, with my son. For the most part my mom watches him while bake, then she goes to work herself; and sometimes he tags along with me and does his own pretend baking. So while I use to spend 2am-6pm chugging a long at the bakery, these days I try to have the best of both worlds.....baking and my babies- and it works!
This year I managed to go through/sell out with 864 cupcakes and 420 cookies....by 10am! Which is totally crazy to me. All of you pack into my shop, line out the door, while I run around like a crazy person (no time to even keep the cupcakes in the cases so I have to run to the kitchen for every person), all for my treats. Beyond amazing and so so grateful. To top it off, I got to take my handsome little frosting face boy out for a mommy son Valentine's Day date!
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