We caught up with the brilliant and insightful April Sibley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

April, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

The very first time that I was able to make my first dollar of revenue was through a referral for a birthday cake. I had been in business for a solid year and had been receiving support from friends of my friends. It wasn’t until I was contacted by someone inquiring about a celebration cake for their birthday, that I was able to realize my first revenue. I spent my first year in operation honing in on my craft and figuring out how to appropriately price my products. In that second year of operations, after making the necessary product price adjustments, I was able to realize the profit. While filing taxes I learned that consecutive years of profit losses would deem the business a hobby and not an actual business, when first starting out, so I knew that I needed to make adjustments. This is more than just a hobby to me. It is my creative outlet and quite frankly, my therapy!

April, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Over the years, I had always been asked to make desserts and cakes for my family, for various occasions. To take my love for baking further, I started to take cake decorating classes. The beginnings of Magic City Baking Company can be traced back to a simple project- designing a cake for my daughter’s 3rd birthday. That “project” was a Hello Kitty themed cake and it earned positive reviews. After that, I started to make cakes and desserts for different people, several who were in attendance at my daughter’s party. Both of my grandmothers were great cooks and bakers (there is a difference!) and also were a source of inspiration for me. It is that influence that transfers over into my products! I know that it sounds cliche but I really do believe that taste is what sets me apart from others. I have often been told that most bakers can either execute a beautiful cake design, but lack on the taste, or not execute a good design and have a delicious taste. I have been told on many occasions, that I was able to master both!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think that there are several things that have helped to build my reputation in the market. The first is professionalism. By setting appropriate boundaries while having clear and quality materials (website, pictures, social media verbiage) it helps to start to build trust with the client. Making a first good impression with the aesthetics of your business can make or break landing a lead. Also, by maintaining boundaries, it allows for potential clients to respect the services that you offer. I was always told that “You run your business, not the customer.” and that has helped me to maintain my boundaries, especially as a home baker. Additionally, quality products have helped. It is no good to spend a ton on marketing and not have a product that is worth getting! Another thing that has helped with building reputation is the word of mouth referrals. Because of my ability to execute the first two criteria, having clients’ referrals quickly come!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had to pivot my plans of transitioning to a brick and mortar from my home. As my business grew, I began to plan after I saw that a brick and mortar was the next logical step. I had been meeting with several potential building owners and had even gotten plans drawn up and approved for a small business loan. As soon as I was ready to execute, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. As the world started to open back up, the after effects caused me to readjust my strategy. Between the inflated prices of ingredients, the lack of consistent supply chain, and the surge in leasing rates, moving forward with opening the brick and mortar location became increasingly difficult. As a result, I had to reevaluate my online presence and home baking model to introduce other ways to bring in a somewhat predictable stream of income. I came up with a monthly sampler box that customers could order. It would be a different theme each month and included a variety of desserts that I offered. This concept did really well, so much so I would have customers reach out ahead of time to learn what the upcoming month’s menu would consist of! Having flexibility and being able to make adjustments at any given moment allow for a business to remain resilient and withstand external conditions that are beyond our control.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.magiccitybakingcompany.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magiccitybakingcompany/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magiccitybakingcompany/

Image Credits

Kristie LaRochelle (kp Studios)