We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Sengelmann. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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?

I always made cakes and cupcakes for my friends’ birthdays in college. At one of the birthday parties I was approached and asked to bake some graduation cupcakes. I can vividly remember saying, “You mean you want to pay me to bake them?” I was so excited and shocked that people had liked my treats so much that they actually wanted to pay me to make more for their special event.

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.

was attending Miami University of Ohio studying for a bachelors degree in Psychology. My junior year I lived in my first house and started baking at home. Ever since I was a little girl, baking was always a passion/hobby of mine. I would ask for new pans for Christmas’ and birthdays!
By the time I was a senior, I started baking custom cakes and cupcakes for my friends birthdays. When I would go to their birthday party, girls started approaching me and asking me if I could bake cakes for their friends birthdays as well, and, offering to pay me for it. I also was approached to bake cakes and cupcakes for graduation parties and started making decent money from it. I thought to myself, “I think this is what I really want to do!”
Growing up, every woman in my family were great bakers and cooks. Because of this, I never really saw it as a talent until other people around me did!
After college, I got a job at a small bakery in the North Market while continuing to grow my business. At first, I would really only charge people for the cost to make what they ordered. I was using my business as an opportunity to practice and hone my talents and get paid to do it. As I’ve gotten more experience, I’ve been able to keep my prices down but still make a profit. Now, I have been a baker professionally working in kitchens for 3 years and baking at home all the time. I am very proud of the cakes I have made. I’ve always been a creative and artistic person so I really love when my vision comes to life in cake form.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I was first starting out, I would only charge people the cost that it took to make their order. I was getting to do something I loved, free of cost. This really allowed me to hone my skills and learn from mistakes. As I started getting better, I was able to charge more and pay myself for my time and efforts in the process as well

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I’ve been very lucky to have some extremely loyal customers who have helped promote my business in a big way. I always do whatever I can to go above and beyond and exceed customer expectations. If for some reason something doesn’t go as planned, I have found it’s best to be completely transparent and talk about how to fix the problem with my clients rather than trying to hire or cover up any mistakes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bakesy.shop/b/sengis-sweet-treats
• Instagram: Sengisweetreats
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15uSvNPby3/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Image Credits

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