We were lucky to catch up with LeAnn Rogers recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi LeAnn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
Everyone wants their child to have a great birthday cake, and I was no exception when my first born turned 1. As a proud mama, I was going to make his first celebration cake. I don’t remember the theme, but I remember people’s reactions of amazement (even though I know it couldn’t have been as well put together or creative as it would be today). I had fun making it and it brought out my creative juices. At that point, I wasn’t thinking about running my own cake decorating business. Fast forward to two more children and the cakes that come along with birthdays, school fundraisers, and pretty soon neighbors were asking for cakes. I started to think I should start selling these! As my requests began to expand outside my friend circle, I decided it was time to get serious about a business. I took several business classes at our local community college and did my research of what legal things needed to be in place. I took some cake decorating classes to hone the skills and continue to dive into instructional videos on line. I created a website and other social media presence which is how my business grew. Now its been almost 24 years since those first home birthday cakes! I continue to work out of my home, network with party planners, and have a large clientele base of new and repeat customers. Most people are referred from friends or find me on line. I like the bond I’ve developed with a lot of customers; helping them celebrate their weddings, baby showers, and bringing it full circle to their child’s birthdays.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I think its safe to say that I’ve always been creative, organized, and a “people” person. At the beginning of my adult life I used some of these traits in my chosen profession of a hospital social worker. Creativity and arts were sprinkled in as past time activities. When my first child was born, I stayed home to care for him and that creativity started to take a front and center place with activities for him and more time to bake. After celebrating his first birthday with a creation the neighbors thought was amazing, I started to decorate cakes for others, school fundraisers, and eventually the reach was beyond people I knew. I began Next Level Cakery LLC in 2012 mostly focusing on children’s birthday cakes. I still make lots of birthday cakes (much more intricate), but have expanded to all other types of celebrations, including weddings. I definitely still use my organizational and people skills as I work to make each creation custom for the customer. I love that I can add that special meaningful aspect to the design that will make the recipent know it was made custom, just for them. I love to see the reaction of people when they first see their cake. My favorite cakes to make are large tiered themed or wedding cakes. My largest so far has been a 6 tiered wedding cake with hand made gum paste roses all around the bottom tier.
I’m proud to be able to provide one on one customer service, personalized designs, and great tasting cakes! I offer a variety of flavors, including gluten free and vegan.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
For me, growing my business has been somewhat fast, steady, and easy. The majority of my customers are referred from people who have previously ordered from me, or they have tasted my cakes at an event they attended. My cakes do the advertizing for me. People like the way they look and taste, so they seek me out for their own events. In addition, I think my personal interactions and good communication contribute to people having a great experience ordering a custom cake. I have a lot of repeat customers who find that I exceed their expectations in the creative department and the attention to details of ordering. I just hate it when I book up and have to turn down an order from a loyal customer, but it happens. My calendar fills up 5-6 weeks ahead. I have a presence on facebook, google, a website, and instagram and post regularly. One strategy that I implement to grow on these social platflorms is to ask for a review a couple days after an order is picked up. Many times the customers write to me and thank me before I ask, and its an opportunity to have them share their experience with others in the form of a review.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The majority of new clients come from people who have ordered a custom cake from me in the past. Word of mouth really does go a long way. Other sources of new clients come from my presence on social media, mainly my google page and my website. I also network with people who are not in my exact industry, but compliment it. For me that is florist, wedding coordinators, and party planners/decorators. We can then refer clients to each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nextlevelcakery.com
- Instagram: nextlevelcakery
- Facebook: nextlevelcakery.com/facebook
Image Credits
LeAnn Rogers