We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sabrina Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sabrina below.
Sabrina , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
I think my experience of scaling-up is non-traditional. Usually when people scale up they think of people who go from home to a store front, from 1 employee to 200, or from $2,000/year to $250,000 a year. While these are all amazing successes in their own right, I’m happy to report scaling up certainly has levels. I happen to be one of the entreprenuers who LOVES their full time career (I work for a large non-profit and manage their federal, corporate and foundation grants). When you have a full time career AND a business, scaling up looks very different. I was the person responding to emails and texts (I don’t ever recommend business via text or social media), creating invoices, washing dishes, buying the supplies, making the cakes, and everything in between.
One day I was listening to YouTube video about designer cakes and the presenter said, you have to find your passion and give up the other things. This message hit me square in the chest. I loved baking so much and I loved making things beautiful, but everything else was a chore. Initially, I realized my hubby didn’t mind doing the dishes, he was also vocal when cakes didn’t look right or were not level. For months he watched me and eventually saw what I was doing wrong and stepped in–keep in mind he’s an engineer and a slight perfectionist–when he got involved in leveling and delivery, it was a game changer! That was CC by Julia’s first employee–essentially a very active co-founder, if I’m being honest. Later on in my business, he became a visionary, thinking about where I could really make an impact should we ever move from a home-based business, on top of that he’s excellent with finances and ended up being the primary liaison with our CPA for business tax filing.
In 2019, I added a new team member, my sister who was responsible for making weekly cake supply deliveries. The local cake store was an hour, roundtrip–time that I didn’t have–so I enlisted her help weekly. I paid her a negotiated rate for the delivery and if I needed her to drop off a cake, I paid her an additional fee. She was a single mother at the time and needed the extra income and it felt good to help her. When working with family, its important that you can trust them with your image and hold them accountable when things are going well. One mistake I made was not communicating the importance of her role and it led to her changing delivery days based on her schedule versus my needs. I had to have a serious conversation with her and asked was she was committed to the success of my business because I needed her, and she replied that she was! From that point on it has been great!
My last team member was added in 2021. My business has seen 30%+ growth in revenue year over year. The client list continues to grow and I found myself taking 5-7 days to respond to emails, that was unacceptable for the brand I was building. I hired an administrative assistant who was responsible for the administrative tasks such as email replies, billing, contracts, calendars, etc. When adding a staff person who interacts with your clients regularly you MUST ensure that they are familiar with your brand and what you are trying to achieve. I made the mistake of thinking that she would respond how I would and greet guests the way I would–BOY was I wrong! After instances of rushed emails and responding to clients in a way that was short, and in my opinion, abrupt, and after responding to me in a way that was unprofessional, we had to have a chat. This was hard for me because confrontation is never easy. I decided to talk with her about what I stood for, why people return and how I set myself apart from other cake designers. This was the turning point in our relationship and in operations. While we are not perfect, my team members are just as important to my success as the cakes that come out of my kitchen. So now with 3 team members and a calendar that is easily booked 3-6 months out each year I can say we have scaled up quite a bit and still have much more growth ahead, even as a home-based business.
Sabrina , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Classic Confections by Julia (CC by Julia) has been in business over 12 years. We are a home-based cake design company that specializes in delicious gourmet cakes–for home or a special occasion.
The name was inspired by my maternal grandmother, Julia Thorogood, who loved to bake and taught me many of her favorite recipes and techniques. I fell in love with the process and the outcome. When she passed in 2008, my world felt like it ended. Baking was the way I kept her alive–there were days where I would be in tears as I mixed a cake by hand. For me, she was not just Granny, she was a second mom. She lived a few blocks away from our family home and after school each day we would run to her house to see if she brought cookies home from work. During the day she worked in the school cafeteria and was responsible for all baked good; on the weekends, she would clean the homes of wealthy families in the area. Every Saturday she would prepare massive meals for the poor at her church–her life was far from easy but the love she poured into all her food was evident. She was misunderstood by many–they thought she was mean–but to me and my siblings, she was gold!
CC by Julia was officially born in 2009 after the birth of my son who was a micro-preemie. Cakes were something I could do in the house, which meant I could still be with him during his most vulnerable stage. At the time I only had one customer who bought a carrot cake every few months, After awhile I had two clients and I started to think about how to make the cakes look as good as they taste–enter a Wilton cake class at Michael’s Arts and Crafts. This class was the beginning of my constant thirst to learn as much as I could about making beautiful and delicious cakes.
The thing that sets me apart is my commitment to “people before cake.” I have donated wedding cakes, took late payments (for extenuating circumstances), given huge discounts, and gone out of my way to help clients in areas that do not pertain to cake–I mean it when I say I care about my clients and my couples.
One couple cancelled their wedding two weeks prior to their wedding date–keep in mind my contract states there are no refunds at that point. As a consolation, I offered to make other cakes for them for free in the future–I did not have to do that. They were also happy to take advantage of that offer and appreciated my kindness. Eventually, I asked the bride if she was ok; she eventually shared the financial burden of the wedding was too much and they could not afford it–so they cancelled it. I was genuinely happy they were still together.
I don’t view a cake purchase as a transaction, I view it as an opportunity to reinforce my brand. I wrote out a brand statement in 2021–yes, I had already been in business for a decade by then. I would encourage entreprenuers to not write a brand statement until you have PROVED your commitment to those ideals. In my case, here is what CC by Julia is: Our brand is more than cake. We strive to exceed our clients’ expectations; combining high quality products, with unparalleled service. Our commitment is to authenticity and consistency; ensuring you can rely on us year after year. Let us join you as you celebrate all of life’s beautiful moments in style and excellent taste.
I’m most proud of my growth. Each year, more and more people discover me simply by word of mouth. I have remained consistent during a time where many people are just wanting to jump on the next biggest thing. I have an amazing list of hundreds of clients who continue to send their family and friends–I already feel like I am a success!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
During the pandemic, like most businesses, we had to pivot and adapt to a new environment. There were no celebrations and no one was getting together for dinner–those were the spaces where our business thrived. Cake businesses especially suffered during this time and mine was no different. Having a home-based business was even more challenging because I could not risk people coming into my home while COVID was at its height. The VA Employment commission denied my claim for unemployment for the cake business because I was still earning with my full-time job–that SUCKED! My cake business wasn’t just “fun” money it was very much an important income source and I needed to replace that income.
One day I came up with the idea of mini cakes. It was a small 6″ round two-layer cake with 6-8 servings. My family of three could eat one in 2-3 days. I posted a photo of a mini cake on my IG page one day with a caption that said, “Tired of being in the house, and need cake?” That was the first sale of mini cakes I’ve ever offered–within an hour of posting I was sold out. I held another sale two weeks later–again, sold out within an hour. Eventually I struggled finding supplies (think supply chain problems) and people constantly asked about the next sale. Eventually I did a video explaining the challenges. This was also the time where we changed pickup. Instead of coming to my door, clients would text once they arrived at my home and we would bring their items out (with a mask of course) and place the cake in their trunk or back seat.
When reviewing our 2020 revenue in 2021, we found something astonishing. Not only did we maintain our revenue but it increased 40% the pandemic. Creative problem solving was key for us during the pandemic and we were grateful to still stand out during such a difficult time but were also able to add some joy in the process.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients, for me, is word of mouth. While I do have an IG, FB and TikTok page, I would say over 75% of my inquiries come from people who “heard” about me from others or who have had my cake at an event.
I am not overly active on social media–to be quite honest, its draining. I use social media like a cake portfolio since I don’t have a website. I keep my reach small because “word of mouth” keeps me busy and sold out most weeks. The other 25% that find me on social media find me through hashtags such as #757cakes.
I do not market or promote on social media and I have never paid for an ad or “reach.” This formula is important because I have a successful career in addition to cakes and I need to control the number of orders I take on because I do not want to under-perform in either area.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ccbyjulia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ccbyjulia
- Other: Tiktok (my lighter side): @ccbyjulia
Image Credits
The photo of myself with my cake should be credited to Dexter Cohen