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Baked 14 dozen cookies in one Saturday and made $312, but I almost quit the whole thing by Sunday
Two Saturdays back I had my biggest order yet, a graduation party in Naperville wanted 14 dozen sugar cookies with royal icing in school colors. I started at 5am and finished piping the last logo at 11:40pm, and my right hand was cramped into a claw for two hours after. The thing is, I made $312 after supply costs, which sounds great until you divide it by 19 hours of work, and that math comes out to about $16 an hour. Sunday morning I sat at my kitchen table staring at a sink full of greasy piping bags and seriously thought about shutting down my little Facebook page for good. What kept me going was one text from the mom saying a guest asked who made the cookies so she could book me for her own shower in July. So now I'm stuck wondering if I should raise my price to $30 a dozen or just stop taking big custom orders. For those of you doing baked goods from home, do you charge per dozen or by the hour, and how do you handle those marathon days?
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sarah22924d ago
When I moved to per dozen pricing it changed everything for me. I stopped losing money on the marathon days because the price finally matched the work. My trick for big orders is to break them into chunks over two days instead of one death march. Bake all the cookies Friday night, then ice them Saturday morning when your hand is fresh. That one change saved my sanity more than anything. Charge what you are worth, because that July shower mom already told you people want your stuff.
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