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

TaKyah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

My name is TaKyah Harris. I am a 17 year old baker/cake decorator. Being in school and running a small business can be stressful sometimes. I’m still young. I’m in my senior year of high school and preparing myself for college. Even with all that going on; starting my business was the best decision ever. My life has been so much better since I’ve started my business. I launched my business October 6th, 2020. In the mist of a pandemic it still was the best decision. With everything going on baking was my outlet. But, sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to have a regular job like my peers. I sometimes feel left out because they would talk about their work experiences and how much fun they would have at work. I couldn’t relate to that. I work from home so they didn’t understand what I dealt with. Having a normal job they were able to do things that people our age usually do. For example, on weekends they usually go out and do fun things but most of my orders are on weekends. So, instead of going out & being a normal teenager I stayed home & worked and I often wonder; what if I had a normal job and was able to do the normal teenager things. But, I understand that you have to make sacrifices in order to get to where you want to be.

TaKyah, 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?

My name is TaKyah Harris. I am a 17 year old senior in high school. I’ve always had a passion for baking. I would always help my grandma in the kitchen when I was younger. So I can say, my grandma introduced me into baking. Once I entered high school I realized that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. One day I realized I watched a lot of cooking videos on Instagram or YouTube. So I took it upon myself & tried to bake. I loved it. & that’s when I knew I loved baking & I wanted to make a career out of it. Starting my business I sold all kinds of desserts but now I decided cake decorating is what I love most. So, when I graduate I’m going to culinary school to become a professional cake decorator & open up my bakery. I will have other Picture Perfect Desserts in my bakery but cake decorating will be my main products.

When my customers visit my bakery I don’t want them to just think of my bakery as “just a bakery”. I want my bakery to have positive vibes. Brighten up someone’s day. I want it to be a safe space. I want each and every customer to not only enjoy their Picture Perfect Dessert but, also enjoy their time at my bakery.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I chose this question because, when it comes to owning a small business; growing your clientele can be hard. I say that because I still haven’t reached my clientele goal. But, I just started these strategies that have been giving my business a lot of attention. And the first strategy is “Patience”. Don’t go looking for clientele. That could lead you to disloyal customers or worst. I let my customers come to me. I say this because when you are constantly spending your time trying to find customers, that will eventually get exhausting. Instead of doing that, spend that time learning new things, practicing, & prepare yourself for when you do start to get customers. The next strategy is “Consistency”. If you have social media pages constantly post. Don’t let them forget about you. Posting leads you to new customers. When I wasn’t getting clientele; I spent that time posting new content & trying different desserts. When people see that they will become interested. You can’t post once a month & except people to shop with up. These strategies might not work for everyone but this is what worked for me. I pray it helps.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There was a time on this journey where I wasn’t charging enough for my cakes. I was afraid to charge more because I didn’t want to lose customers. Eventually that started to catch up with me. When someone places an order a deposit is required. The deposit is half of the total. The deposit is supposed to pay for the supplies I will need for the order. When the customer picks up the cake the remain fee will be mines. So, when I wasn’t charging enough the deposit wouldn’t pay for everything I needed. So, I would have to go into my money & pay for the rest or ask someone for it. Because, as you all know I don’t have a real job. This is my job. So, my paychecks aren’t constant. & once I receive the remaining fee I would have to pay everyone back which would leave me broke. That was hard because I had a small business but wasn’t making any money. I started to get discouraged. I talked to my supportive family about it. & they explained to me that I have to raise my prices. Even if I lose customers. They told me, “don’t worry about losing customers. More will come.” And I have been doing that every since. It has made my life a lot easier.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: pictureperfectdesserts_
• Facebook: Picture Perfect Desserts