We recently connected with Rachael Holmes and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Rachael 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?
I think the service industry in general is one that is hard to get in that rhythm of being profitable. Between finding the right team members, the economy, staying relevant on social media and finding the right customers for you… its a battle everyday. For me, two of the largest factors are finding and keeping the right team members and pricing our worth. One of my favorite quotes is by Richard Branson, “Train people well enough that they can leave and treat them well enough that they won’t want to”. It took me over 8 years to realize the worth of a valued team member. Because of this team member engagement, productivity and satisfaction is something I try to enhance on a daily basis. Pricing our worth is another huge aspect of profitability for Petite Sweets. A large part of our business is custom orders. Finding the right set of customers that are willing to pay what your time is worth to produce those custom orders is a large task and an even larger task is realizing that you are worth charging what you need to charge. I continuously catch myself pricing an item out and then taking the price back down simply because I was worried what the customer would think of such a price. And if you have found the right cliental, they will pay because they know your product is worth it!
Rachael , 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?
My name is Rachael Holmes and I started Petite Sweets almost 10 years ago. Prior to opening our store front, at age 16 I started selling mini cupcakes out of my moms coffee shop and making cakes for friends and family members. This sparked my interest and my passion grew! I finally branched out and opened my very own space at age 23 and we have been blessed to grow space (almost double) about every 2 years to where we are today. We offer custom cakes and desserts for any occasion. We also have a lobby with desserts available for customers to simply come in and grab. One thing that sets us apart from other bakeries is that our product tastes as good as it looks. We love working with our clients to produce a cake, cupcake or dessert that is the perfect fit for their occasion. One thing that brings us the most joy is watching our clients grow, we have many that may have simply started out with their wedding and now we are doing birthday cakes for all their kiddos!
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
As I mentioned before, I started selling mini cupcakes and cake slices in my moms coffee shop just as a daily treat when I was around 16. At age 18, I had a local cabinet business ask for me to cater desserts for their corporate Christmas party. I asked if they would be interested in trading a bakery display cabinet for their order and they did! Inside my moms coffee shop I had installed this beautiful glass display and this is where it all started. This display allowed me to showcase certain desserts not just for customers coming in for coffee but then customers coming in to inquire about a wedding cake or birthday cake. I continued to grow inside my moms shop from doing just small orders for friends and family to having a full self sustaining client base. The year I got engaged to my now husband, he encouraged me to branch out and get my very own space. So in 2014, I rented my first space of 700 sq feet. 2 years later we purchased a suite next door that was 1500 sq ft and we were able to build it out exactly what I needed, which included my very first commercial oven! 2 years after that we had to alter our lobby to allow more room in the kitchen for production. And finally in 2020 we purchased the suite next door again to double our space, add another kitchen and offices. Along this journey we have had some amazing team members (plus a few not so amazing :)) help us to get where we are today!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Two years ago was probably one of the hardest both personally and professionally. Within three months of each other, I lost my sister and my dad. During this time I also had a long, rough road with employees full of drama and unprofessionalism which included my baker quitting without notice five days prior to Christmas and another team member texting me her notice the morning my dad passed. I was fortunate enough to have an amazing family and mentors to support and encourage me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.petitesweetsjc.com
- Instagram: petitesweetsjc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petitesweetsjc
- Linkedin: Rachael Holmes