Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Nguyen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

The biggest challenge to profitability in the bakery industry is pricing and saturation. Being a baker in an oversaturated market is very difficult to build and grow your business. There are many Cottage Food Law bakers that charge differently and commercial stores that are able to charge at a lower price due to having a higher production advantage. On top of that, pricing plays a huge part in gaining clientele. Many clients do not see the value and the skill that it takes to create recipes, bake, and decorate baked goods. They often compare small business prices to commercial stores such as Walmart, Meijer, Marianos etc. Due to this, many small business bakers, undercharge for what their skill is worth, to be competitive with commercial stores.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello!

I’m Amanda, a self-taught baker who started baking 10 years ago. I enjoy training in Crossfit and Muay Thai and love spending time with my dogs when I can.

I started my baking journey with baking box cakes and couldn’t stop there. The more baking I did the greater the desire to bake from scratch. I worked my way up to baking other goods such as macarons, beautifully decorated sugar cookies and many more. I enjoy every step of the baking process and the late nights that it entails. The best part about baking that warms my heart is feeding others my delicious creations and seeing their eyes light up after their first bite.

I started my business towards the end of 2020. I was a pre-med student for many years and have always wanted to open my bakery “after I retired as a doctor”. During the pandemic, I realized that medicine was not my passion or the path I wanted to further pursue. I researched and learned that I could start my bakery right from home under Cottage Food Laws and that’s where my journey started. I never really considered myself an artist or that my baked goods where good enough to sell until I started receiving an immense amount of positive feedback from friends and family. People within the art community considered my baked goods as art and asked me to be a vendor at their shows and my baking career skyrocketed from there.

I am very proud of how much work I have put into my business. I really want people to know that the products of Little Whisk Bakes is made with love and years of practice. The love for desserts, love for art, love for detail is what makes Little Whisk Bakes, Little Whisk Bakes. Talent isn’t want took my business this far. It’s the hard work, the practicing of new recipes, practicing of new techniques, and the courage to get out of my creative comfort zone is what makes me different.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is a very difficult place to build your business and also requires a lot of work, consistency and knowledge of the platform you choose to grow your business with. During the early stages of my bakery, I had help from friends and family sharing and giving me ideas on how to grow my social media presence but it wasn’t enough. I put in the time to research and learn the best way to grow on certain platforms. My main platform is Instagram. I learned the purpose of using proper hashtags, keeping up with trends within the baking community, using trending music, trending angles, lighting etc. Learning about the algorithm changes is challenging. One day, beautiful pictures is what grows your presence, the next day it’s reels and videos.

My advice for those starting out is to be on social media to learn and to do research, not to scroll mindlessly. See what is trending now and take advantage of it quickly. Always use proper location hashtags so clients can find you and to be consistent. I have been both consistent and not consistent and trust me, consistency is what helps your social media platforms grow.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me is by doing shows, events, pop-ups, and word of mouth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.littlewhiskbakes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/little_whisk_bakes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Little-Whisk-Bakes-108518044401094/