We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiara Dogan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiara below.
Alright, Tiara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
Creating edible art, I completely have to work with my hands. About a year ago, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder that causes extreme weakness in all of the muscles of my body.
Prior to an official diagnosis, I was extremely weak and got to the point where I couldn’t even hold an icing spatula. I could not hold materials for long so I painfully had to stop baking. This was so hard to do and put a pretty considerable dent in my finances. I am a full-time teacher but my baking is a greatly enjoyable supplemental income.
Customers still wanted orders and I just could not do them. I was depressed from all of the drastic changes with my health and work. I even got to the point where I felt like I no longer wanted to bake at all. Getting on a working medication regimen and embracing changes really helped me with starting up again. My customer base was very supportive (I was very transparent about my issues). They let me know that they would be there when I was ready to return and they were.
I am learning to take things slow and find other ways to enhance my business like creating content and sharing via social media. I have also increased my level of sharing my business experiences and expertise with others as well. When things outside of your control occur, you have to get creative to keep things moving!
Tiara, 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 business is called Sweet Tee’s Cake Design! I create edible art in the form of cakes, cupcakes, and other sweet treats!
It all began when I was in college, in 2011, when my younger cousin asked me to make some breast cancer themed cupcakes for a bake sale at her school. I didn’t do much baking but I grabbed a a box mix, can of icing, icing bags, and some pink sprinkles. I had so much fun making them! After making those, I started making cupcakes for family members and friends and the rest is history!
Since the beginning, I have truly increased my skills and added so much to my repertoire. I have so many repeat customers, some I have been working with since their baby showers and their children are getting close to double digits! I also get a chance to work with new customers each year and turn them into repeat customers as well.
What makes an experience with me unique is that customers can some to me to fill up their entire cake/treat tables instead of having to go to multiple people. I provide the cake, cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, etc. to match any theme! I take the time to find new ideas for even single order that I complete. I provide cake sketches and always making sure that I am doing what the customer wants!
If you ever decide to book with me, please understand that it will be the most genuine experience!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
An honest, and I am sure unpopular, lesson that I have learned from owning a business is that “the customer is always right”. I have now come to unlearn that lesson! When I say that, I NEVER mean to be disrespectful with a customer. What I really mean is that business owners deserve respect for their products and their time!
As the owner, I have the right to choose and demand respect for my business. Sometimes people think that because they plan to give you money for a product that they have the right to treat you however they wish and that is most certainly not the truth for me! I have had to deal with customers who demand unrealistic things and changes for their products. Customers who do not respect my time and show up hours laters to receive products when certain pickup times were previously discussed. Customers who believe that they can pay their deposits and final balances outside of agreed deadlines.
When I first began, I thought that I had to take on every single customer that came my way to build my business and that’s exactly what I did. Some of those customers made me miserable! And as I continued to bake, I was able to begin to pinpoint troublesome customers. And I used my right to say “I am booked”. Not all business is good business and I have learned to prioritize my peace!
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The best source of new clients for me is word of mouth! I have had so many people contact me because they saw and had one of my cakes at someone else’s party. Or they are looking for a certain product and someone that they know gave them my information!
Social media also plays a very important role in my new clientele. People love to see what you can do and I use Facebook and Instagram as my portfolio. I can direct customers here to show them that I can most certainly do whatever they are asking me to do. We have heard and seen too many of the “What I asked for vs What I got” horror stories so I try my best to assure new potential clients that I will not be doing any of that!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sweetteescakedesign.com
- Instagram: @Sweetteescakedesign
- Facebook: Sweet Tee’s Cake Design