The evolution of LB Bakery and top tips for stall selling.
So my main reason for baking is to make people as happy as possible, so 4 years ago when my sister’s Roller Derby team approached me to have a stall at their games, I was so excited! This was the start of my stall and the start of my dream of a small cupcakery starting to look like something. Now I’m still not there but I seriously do attribute a lot of my success to that team and those small cake stalls.
So firstly a little shout out to said Roller Derby team, the Brighton Rockers. If you’ve never heard of Derby then it’s definitely worth a Google or if you want to see it in action then maybe flick on Drew Barrymore’s directing debut ‘Whip It’. The premise is, a full female, full contact sport on roller skates where the objective is to bump, bash and beat your way through to score points! In short, it’s mad but it is incredible. With more and more teams popping up everywhere it is something to look out for!
So to bring it back to baking. Fans and skaters alike love their cake (I mean who doesn’t). So having my own little space was always going to go down well but the success of that first bout (derby term for match) was just astonishing for me! And now that I look back I am just amazed to see how far I have come with my baking, techniques and just the brand as a whole since then. These were the first bakes I ever produced at a bout, and although I still stand by all those cupcakes as being delicious, they definitely don’ look like something I would put out now! For a start, my sugar flowers are much more intricate and impressive. Since then I have learnt to properly pipe too – back then my icing consistency left a lot to be desired. The table was covered in an old net curtain which you can’t quite see. Perhaps above all though, in terms of how they look, I have finally started to get to grips with how my camera works!
For the Rockers’ 4th birthday we thought we would make a birthday cake…obviously! But as you can see, those too have gotten much better as time has progressed ending with the latest recreation of the Rockers style Duke of York legs and perfectly smooth fondant.
I started to experiment with my techniques and brought in things like fondant topped cupcakes, which I’ve got a whole thing on here. And moving on from the stalls at the bouts I managed to bag myself a stall at a small local food fair. As you can see there is a really tablecloth, product labels and everything just starts to look more like the real deal.
Moving finally onto the most recent stall. By this time the name of Lotus Blossom Bakery had was on everything and had officially become a brand. Not only have I learnt to take some half decent shots and get the lighting to sort of work with me, but everything has come about a million miles from that first stall. Not only have I learnt to present my cakes so they look as good as they taste but I have learnt to value of branding, theming and making sure all the other bits look just as good. Here are a few of my tips for stall selling (even if it’s just at the school fair):
Make sure you have the right hardware starting from the bottom! A tablecloth goes a long way to making your stall look professional. You can get these for abut £2 from Hobbycraft or if you want something more robust and long term I would go for a colourful length of oilcloth that you can get from all fabric shops for about £10 a metre.
Make sure people know prices. You will still get the question of how much is it a dozen times, but having neat and clear product labels will at least save you a few times.
You can get cake stands anywhere and everywhere nowadays and for such great deals. My favourite remains TK Maxx for good prices. So don’t settle for your dinner plates and serving trays, or maybe just have one statement piece!
Pick a theme, the easiest being cutesy and kitsch. You can get doilies from the pound shop and cheap spotty bunting that will transform your stall from standard to Cath Kidston-esque.
Have a deal…people love a deal. The minute I started selling of boxes of 4 in a deal I sold more stock instantly!
Perfect your bakes! I mean it’s the simplest but definitely the most important. No matter what it looks like, you still want to be selling top quality bakes and so try and test your recipes and pick the best!
So, it was a small diversion from my usual posts, but I wanted to share my small journey with you guys, and would love to hear any stories you might have about similar journeys! Be it learning how to pipe a swirl on a cupcake, or turning homebaking into a business!
LB Love x
