We recently connected with Kelly Bauman and have shared our conversation below.
Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Success definitely doesn’t happen overnight, and as a business owner I really had to strategize my plan for growth.
KB Sweet Treats was born in December 2011. After a few years of trial and error (finalizing what items I wanted to bake and sell, sharpening my decorating skills, setting up an ordering system) I launched as an official bakery 3 years later, at age 13.
After launching, I created Instagram and Facebook pages to help promote my business. I also used neighborhood apps like Nextdoor while I was operating as a Cottage Food (home-based) business. Nextdoor was a key player in getting my bakery exposure, and word of mouth spread quickly. In addition to social media, I made my presence in the neighborhood known, frequently setting up a treats stand at my local park. I handed out business cards and passed flyers door to door. I did this for about 1-2 years, with the main focus being my in person presence and relying on word of mouth.
I quickly realized with the world being mostly online, I needed a stronger online presence. I designed a website, and starting posting more consistently on my social medias. I joined local Facebook groups that fit my industry (foodie groups, networking groups, etc) and would make frequent posts in these. I saw a significant increase in orders from my online presence, and continued to pour my effort into it. I upgraded my site to a more user-friendly system and took classes to learn digital marketing and analytics. I ran Google and Yelp ads, and started making video content for socials. All of these combined with excellent customer reviews grew my business exponentially, and I was able to work fulltime for myself and quit my 2nd job.
About 6 months later, I felt as if growth had stopped, that my bakery had reached its maximum potential where I was. While this is very unlikely, I found it difficult to make my bakery stand out from the rest. I made the jump to move from Austin, TX to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where I thought my bakery would flourish. And flourish it has!
While maintaining consistency posting on my socials, frequently updating the website, still posting in FB groups, and participating in local events (farmers markets, popup shops, etc) business has been booming here. I moved into a commercial space this year, offer nationwide shipping, and accept wholesale orders. Growth is not an overnight process, my journey has been almost 11 years in the making!
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
I’m Kelly Bauman (most people just call me KB) and I own local bakery KB Sweet Treats! Specializing in artisan cakes, cookies, and cake pops, everything is made to order, customized specifically for your occasion. Located in Colorado Springs, CO 80919, offering nationwide shipping and local delivery. I also offer public and private decorating classes here in the Springs!
I started KBST when I was 10, selling brownies at my neighborhood pool. I soon expanded to cupcakes, cake pops, and eventually cakes and decorated sugar cookies. Entirely self taught from YouTube videos, my first few years in business were really a practice run to sharpen my skills. My bakery started to take off when I was 14, and I took on more challenging design requests. I didn’t gain professional bakery experience until I was 17, and am proud that I stayed committed to practicing my craft and finding my own unique style.
By pursuing my passion and staying consistent, I was able to leave my 2nd job and bake fulltime! Now at 20, I thoroughly enjoy what I do for a living, and my clients can see that through my work. That’s why they keep coming back!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Word of mouth, 100%. People trust people, and in order for people to trust you and your brand, they want to hear that other people have had a positive experience. Asking clients to leave a review has been helpful for me, but it’s usually the conversations I don’t hear that help the most. I believe that I make and sell a great product that people want to tell others about, most of my new clients come from a referral from a regular client!
Ultimately, I think it comes down to having a great product, and giving excellent customer service. I know many of my clients on a personal level, because our interactions are so much more than just a business deal. People want to be cared about, by having that connection with potential and current clients has definitely helped build my reputation.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
To stay in my comfort zone. A lot of people will advise you to take the safest path with the least risks because it’s usually the likeliest to offer security. Over the course of my business journey, I’ve found life much more enjoyable and worthwhile when I take the risk! Calculated risks of course, making foolish decisions does not pay off very often. Getting out of my comfort zone and pushing myself has been my most necessary and most fulfilling part of being a business owner.
Contact Info:
- Website: kbsweettreats.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/kb_sweettreats
- Facebook: Facebook.com/KBSweetTreats10/