We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amy Bratz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Amy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I discovered decorated sugar cookies while planning my wedding, and immediately became obsessed. Sadly they just weren’t in the budget. I watched decorating video after decorating video, all while wishing these types of cookies were attainable for my big day. Then a local cookier offered a decorating class and I thought this was my chance – I’m creative and crafty, I can totally do this! So I took the class and spent the next year practicing so that my wedding cookies could be beautiful. Even after the wedding came and went, I kept making cookies because I loved the creative outlet it gave me and the relaxing effect it had. Eventually my coworkers convinced me to take the leap and sell my cookies and I’ve never looked back!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Baked by Amy B is a woman owned business in Stoughton, Wisconsin making cookie art that tastes just as good as it looks! Custom cookies are a perfect luxury addition to any celebration. It brings me so much joy to be included in my customers events, whether that’s a wedding, birthday, or pregnancy announcement. Knowing that I was able to make people’s lives that much more enjoyable is the greatest gift.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Definitely word of mouth advertising! Most of my new clients come to me as referrals. In some cases thats because they were at an event where my cookies were at or they hear about me from someone who bought my cookies previously. Delivering a high quality product, that looks AND tastes good, is my biggest priority. I know if I’ve done that then I’ll continue to see referrals coming in.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
My largest order to date was a cookie order for 300 cookies with the United Way logo on it. Half of the cookies were the normal logo, and the other half was their new 100 year celebration logo. I had planned to airbrush both logos but at the last minute learned that the 100 year celebration couldn’t be done via airbrush and needed to be decorated by hand. An all-nighter was pulled to finish, my hand was so cramped and throbbing by the end, and over 15,000 individual dots were put on the cookies but I finished in time. Most importantly, the customer was happy with the end result.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://baked-by-amy-b.square.site/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/baked.by.amyb?igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baked.by.amyb