Extra! Extra!!!!
“When you ship an order of cookies, do you ship extras?” That was the question I posed a few nights ago to cookie business owners on my Facebook page.
Granted, this was hardly a Quinnipiac poll, but I did get a lot of answers rather quickly. In a nutshell, the preponderance of responders (or is it respondents?) said ‘yes’ to the extra cookie shipping. Isn’t that interesting?
You KNOW I have an opinion on this. And, let me preface this entire post by saying it’s ONLY MY OPINION! I’m not judging, preaching or telling you how to run your business by any stretch of the imagination. This is just a platform for discussion because, well, it’s an interesting discussion. Okay?
May I ask you another question? When ordering something fragile from Tiffany’s, Neiman Marcus, Sears, Walmart, Target, Amazon, Williams-Sonoma, or any other big retailer, do you get an extra bowl, wine glass, vase or dish? Do these merchants ship extras because they know the product is fragile and that breaks are inevitable? No, of course not.
So, why are you shipping free extras?
You told me you’re doing this in case some cookies break, like an insurance policy. But, you’re still giving away product and there’s no guarantee that they all won’t break. Want insurance? Then check off the little box on the shipping form that asks if you’d like your package insured. If there are breaks, your client can document them and you can claim the damages from Fedex, UPS, or even the Post Office, if I’m not mistaken, provided you’ve paid to have the package insured. Returning money or redoing the cookies (time permitting) shows great customer service on your part. Your clients will be grateful and are bound to use you again for another occasion.
Then there’s the ‘engendering good’ will reason. Think about it. Let’s say you charge $48 for 12 cookies. That’s $4 per cookie, right? Add two extra free cookies and you’ve just brought your cost down to $3.43 each. A difference of $.57 per cookie. Now, let’s say you have orders for 12 orders of 1 dozen cookies per month. If my math skills are correct (and notice I’m using easy numbers so I don’t get myself screwed up) you’ve given away 24 cookies and roughly $13.68. Multiply that by 12 months a year and bingo: you’re up to $165.00! And, that’s if you only make 144 cookies per month!!! I understand including a few bonus cookies to a client who orders frequently and hypes you to friends. But, new customers? I think you’re subliminally telling your clients that the price you’ve quoted isn’t the real price at all.
Which brings me to the next subject: the importance of proper packing. Bridget shares her packing expertise over here. I ship alot of cookies, but I agree with Dani Fiori who wrote that she only ships certain styles. I will not ship a champagne glass cookie. Even with a piece of cardboard slipped into the bag to shore up a structurally unstable design, I won’t do it. BUT, I do use a lot of bubble wrap, foam sheets, crumpled newspaper and FRAGILE stickers in and on every box I ship. And, when faced with a cookie disaster, I file the appropriate paperwork with the shipper, and then quickly return money or credit the customer. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened often. But, it’s happened.
It’s becoming more apparent to me that this cookie business has a split personality. It’s a business/it’s cookies. You and your cookies nurture and cuddle your clients/friends. You probably have a never-ending supply of taste-testers and reject-acceptors ready and willing to ‘help’ you out day and night. It’s complimentary, I realize that. But that’s not a business where goods are sold in exchange for money. I can’t imagine saying to a banker “hey, if you have any reject 100 dollar bills, I’ll take ‘em off your hands.” You wouldn’t dream of it, right? But, that never stops anyone from making mindless remarks like that to us.
If you have a retail shop and inventory is mounting up, slashing the price at the end of the day to move product is how spent money is salvaged. Donating to a food bank is a great way to get a tax deduction and build strong community relationships. But, as owners of small, custom order businesses, we don’t have inventory waiting to ship. We create new product for each and every order that comes in. And that can make it even harder to eke out a living, especially when clients don’t realize that labor is the major component of the price structure. Add to that the skyrocketing cost of ingredients! So, to me, I might as well tape dollar bills to my boxes, sooner than including the extra cookies.
Your clients have chosen to place an order with you because you’ve enticed them with the offerings on your website, and/or prior experience with your product. Many of you said you include the extras as a ‘thank you’. Does your butcher give you an extra steak to say thank you? How about the gas station owner; is he offering up a gallon or two to be nice? I thank clients, new and old, by sending a short email after their event asking if everything went well and thanking them for choosing me to create something special for their celebration.
So many of us open our businesses with wide-eyed optimism, only to be broken by the harsh reality of 15-16 hour days and very hard physical labor involved to sustain the work we love. It takes time and patience to keep the love in the cookies. And the money in the till.
What do you think? I’ll be right here waiting for your response.
I think I’ll have a cup of tea and an extra cookie while I wait.
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Another Darned Elephant
In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined the conversation this little rant o’ mine caused recently. If anything, I truly expected an avalanche of negative comments, and I braced myself for that onslaught. But, it didn’t happen. It struck quite a chord with you all, and I thank you for all positivity!
So I thought to myself, I COULD write a post for you now about the nuances of ten different royal icing consistencies. But, it seems that these fine cookie makers (and many more) have that covered. You don’t need me for that right now.
You’re different. You like to dare me to talk about these forbidden subjects. And I fall for it.
That said, the next runaway circus elephant that has showed up in my living room is tattooed with the word discount.
Here’s a sample of that scenario:
A potential client phones and wants to place an order for, say, 100 cookies. That’s a tidy little order, you think to yourself. Before you can say “vanilla or chocolate cookies?”, the question is asked: ”Can I get a discount on this because I’m doing volume?” Which do you do:
- Become paralyzed from head to toe.
- Cave instantly by saying ‘of course’ and fumble over your words because you don’t want to lose this order, no way no how, even though you’re livid with rage.
- Calmly and sweetly tell the client that these cookies are being created expressly for them and the largest portion of the cookie costing formula is labor, and you can’t possibly discount labor, much as you might like to.
If you said ‘C’ unequivocally, then shut this thing down and go do something productive with your time.
If not……
WHY O WHY would you give a discount? Because you’re getting Trump wealthy on all these cookies you’re making? It doesn’t make much sense, does it? If you’re creating cookies especially for this client, then there’s no real reason to give a discount. It’s not like you have a big inventory of baked and decorated cookies that are sitting in your cookie warehouse, and you just have to make room for all the other cookies that need storage. No-siree. You’re making these cookies expressly for this client. And, as we went over in the last post that made my blood boil, you and I both know you’re not getting rich doing it.
What happens if you do give in and provide a discount? It could be a percentage, a few cents, maybe even a few dollars off each cookie because you believe this client is IMPORTANT! You begin the work. And, low and behold another person wants to order cookies. No mention of a discount. Hhmmm….take the order and give up overrated showers and sleep? Now you start to really get steamed because you’re working your decorating digits to the bone for less money than ever, AND turning away business.
Do not fall into this trap. Re-read #3 and repeat after me: my labor is what fuels these cookies. It is my work that you admired and made you come to me for my product. Without my labor, these cookies mean nothing. Chances are, if you explain honestly (like you’re letting them into your world) that the labor really is the biggest expense of the cookie, the client will understand, especially if that client is a small business owner, too.
It’s okay to say no and not feel guilty. You are the master of your cookie domain. But remember, once you give a particular client a discount, they will always ask for a discount. The precedent will have been set.
Ultimately, you have to answer this question: is it better to take a huge order at a discounted price that may or may not cover your costs, time and labor, or is it better to take smaller orders with a larger mark-up for the week? And have time to shower?
No matter what you decide, I have a feeling that you’re going to be answering these queries with a lot more confidence now. Reward yourself with a cookie. And send this elephant back to the circus.
Or this cake.
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The Elephant In The Room
Two separate conversations with two different groups of people about one subject can only lead to one thing: a blog post.
The subject of today’s burning discussion? That elephant in the cookie room: money.
This post is particularly for those of you who might be just starting a home-based business; testing the waters to see if your idea is viable enough to take to the next level. And, if you are anything like I was, you’re more than a little scared.
You see, it’s one thing to have friends and family say “You’re THE BEST cookie maker! You need to go into business and sell these! People would just line up to get them.”
Sigh.
Friends and family love you for the special cookies you create for their birthdays, their graduations, their weddings. They want to see you share your talent and be paid for what you love to do. And, they mean well, they really do. They’re your cheerleaders, your taste testers, your waste management team*. Do not, however, depend on them to be your customer base. No business was ever built on friends and family.
Depending on your personality, hawking your own wares can be the hardest part of starting your own business. You almost think you sound conceited, rather than confident. Opt for believing you are confident. You’re passionate about what you do so let the confidence shine through. And please, remember that confidence when potential clients tell you they can only afford to pay you a smidgeon of what you’re asking. Summon your inner strength and politely say no. Calmly and nicely, explain that you run an artisanal business with an emphasis on individual handcrafted edible art.
So, you’ve established a price for your cookies. You’ve come up with what sounds like a nice low-ball price for cookies because you don’t want customers to say no and you want orders. Maybe you’re pricing by the cookie, maybe the dozen. Whatever it is, you might very well be shooting yourself in your own foot just a little bit. Before you quote your next job, see if you’ve considered the following criteria before coming up with that random number:
1. If you have a standard price for a cookie, be it a single cookie or a set, are all your cookies roughly the same amount of work? The same size? If so, then fine. But, if they differ widely in size and detail, then you’re cheating the clients who get the simplest of designs, and giving the work away to those who ordered an intricate cookie.
2. How much time do you spend researching images? And, do you make your own cutters/templates for these images? That’s time you’ve put in on the project, too. It needs to be considered. The same thing goes for making your own cutters/templates.
3. Are there 3 colors in this cookie design or 6 colors? Again, that shouldn’t be the same price.
4. Are your cookies bagged and bowed? That takes time, too, part of your labor & materials cost. Packing them in a box? Don’t forget to factor that in.
5. Utilities. Electricity, gas, water. That’s your overhead, you know. You’re using more of those services than you would if you weren’t home ‘working’.
6. Multiple cookies making up one particular cookie, like Martha Stewart’s stacked wedding cake cookie? You know that’s 8 cookies making up one cookie favor. Price needs to reflect that AND the labor it takes to make it Martha-perfect.
7. Hand-piped message or name? Cha-ching. Add more labor to that order!
7. Delivery. That’s gas, AND wear and tear on your vehicle, not to mention your time. Again.
I’m not just lecturing from my ivory cake pedestal, I promise you that. I’ve made every single mistake. How do you think I got the material for this post? From my vivid imagination? Mistakes are the best teachable moments in the universe. You don’t even have to go out of your way to make them. They just happen. Experience them and move on.
Fast forward a bit. Your business is catching on. You’re making a name for yourself. Clients are recommending you to their friends. Do you know what this means? It means it’s time to re-evaluate your prices. Not ridiculously, but within reason. You’ve earned it. But, how do you know when it’s time to raise your prices?
1. Have you been written up on blogs, local newspapers? That’s press, you know. You’re being looked at as a professional.
2. Cost of supplies like butter and sugar go up. Are your cookie prices doing the same?
3. You’re getting better and better at what you do. Experience at your craft elevates your worth again.
Please know I’m not telling you to be the most expensive game in town. Far from it. I just want you to be able to run your business successfully, so you can grow and prosper. And, at the end of day, if your cookies can bring in a little more of this
to put in here
then I’ve cleaned up a little after those elephants, haven’t I?
*lucky recipients of reject cookies
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