How to Price Baked Goods
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If you're starting a food based business, then you may be wondering how to price baked goods. And you are probably wondering, more specifically, how to price baked goods to actually make money! Am I right?
Pricing baked goods, or any food, can be challenging for so many reasons. If you are opening a bake shop, restaurant, cafe, or even if you run a home based bakery or catering business, then this could be a question that you face often! How do you price baked goods to actually make money?
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Are you worried that your prices are too high? Are you worried your prices are too low? Are you worried that you are not making enough money to cover your costs? Do you even know what your costs are? Are you confused why the creation and baking is so fun, yet something as simple as setting a price can stress you out? All of these questions can pop into your head, when all you really want to do is bake up some delicious desserts and sell them to people who want them. Am I right?
We get into the food business because we are creative, we love feeding people, we love seeing the joy on someone's face when they bite into something that was just simple ingredients mere hours ago. I know a lot of the reason I started a bake shop was I just wanted to bake things that made people happy. I wasn't thinking of all the other challenges that came along with a bake shop. I wasn’t thinking of how to price baked goods to actually make money. I was just thinking of baking them.
Luckily for me, I excelled at costing menu items and making sure they were profitable. And it actually became something I really enjoyed doing! But many creative people don't want to do that kind of work. But I am a total nerd, and thankfully I am both creative and highly organized with impeccable attention to detail. I actually really loved costing out and pricing my bake shop menu.
But I know from talking to so many entrepreneurs that is not always the case! The most common question I get about owning a bake shop, is how to price baked goods. I get this question from so many people, whether they are just starting out or ones that are just asking because they want to make cakes as a side hustle. So, that is why I created this step by step guide: How to Price Baked Goods to Actually Make Money!
How to Price Baked Goods: A Step by Step Guide to Actually Make Money
Start making money selling food!
This downloadable step by step guide is easy to read and each chapter comes with a simple action item to give you knowledge, get you organized, and to walk you through pricing out your entire menu so that you can make money selling the food you love to make!
What are you waiting for? If you want to sell baked goods (or any food) to make money, then this step by step guide is for you!
This easy guide will break down profit margin and what that means for your baked goods. This guide will give you insight into my bakery (when I owned it, as I am now retired from the bakery business), and it will give you easy action items to take in order to price your menu to make you money.
I break down each step in its own chapter so there is plenty of information and knowledge. Then I give you an exact action item to take to complete that chapter. And, by the end of the guide, your entire menu will be costed with prices that will make you money. So, what are you waiting for? You can have your cake and eat it too! But, I won't let you leave here empty handed, because if you're in the food space you know that's not a thing! So, I'm sharing 3 tips for pricing baked goods to make money.
3 Tips for Pricing Baked Goods
Know Your Food Costs
So many people don't know their food costs. Sure, they may know that they spent $500 on food last week, but they may not know exactly how much flour costs per ounce. Or they may not know that all purpose flour costs less than cake flour, for example. So, this tip is super crucial. Know your food costs by ounce that you pay for each individual ingredient.
Don't Base Prices Solely Off Competitors
This is a double edged sword, because I'm not saying you don't need to know what your competition is doing because you definitely do! I'm saying, don't base your prices solely off of what they're doing. Solely being the keyword here. You do need to know competitors prices and be competitive in your market. But, if you are pricing just to undercut someone else, and you don't know if you're actually making money, you could be loosing money and time.
Don't Be Afraid to Say No
This is probably one of the hardest things in the food space — saying no to a customer. It can feel like you're leaving money on the table. But, if you priced out the customers request and they won't pay the price you set then you have to say no, I can't do it for less. You need to know what your ingredients and time are worth.