People have sometimes asked me (and the girls) about what kind of business my daughters have, and how old they are.
One is 12.5, and the other will be 11 in August. They have been cooking and baking for five years, so despite being relatively young, they know their way around the kitchen!
Their business is pretty small at this point, but I think it’s good to encourage my kids in their business ideas. It builds a confidence that they can follow through on their ideas and be successful. They offer a rotating menu of cakes and side dishes available for pick up every Friday. Regular customers are on their email list (they set up a business email account just for that) and get a message about that week’s selection at the beginning of the week, and have until Weds. night to finalize their orders. They did some paid advertising in a local supplement that comes out twice a month a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and were quite disappointed that there was no response, since it seemed like a lot of money to spend for no results. I told them that advertising doesn’t usually pay off until people see it a number of times; I don’t know if I will encourage them to continue advertising because they could easily spend the bulk of their profits on it, without any definite payoff. That’s a hard thing for kids this age! They also once made colorful flyers which were distributed by a friend who works in an office close by (she offered since she thought it was a service her co-workers would appreciate). There was also no response to that (though I met someone from that office in line at Baskin Robbins a couple of weeks ago who said she had heard all about us)!
So their business has come from word of mouth, and that’s a gradual process. I think they have mixed feelings about the amount of business they have – it’s exciting but a lot of work for them on the weeks they have lots of orders, and kind of a relief on the weeks that there are very few orders. I do regularly meet people in the community who tell me they heard that my girls are very good cooks, so I guess the word is slowly getting around!
This week my house was smelling delicious – cheesecakes (marble, vanilla, and non dairy), quiche, lasagna, and spinach cheese casserole were some of the things on their list of offerings. This week their schedule was a bit different than usual, so they have pickups today instead of Friday. Fortunately, there is only order left that needs to be picked up – it takes up my fridge and freezer space so I’m happy when it’s in their customers hands!
Avivah
