04/19 – ⚖ Economies of Scale
- April 19, 2023
- Posted by: The Miracle Twins
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Buzzword incoming: scalability. The ability of your business to increase output to lower costs of production and increase profits. Sounds enviable, right? But how do you go about it as an often one-man (or woman)-band? Here are 5 tips we’ve thought of that may help you scale to higher margins and less work:
1. Freezing Cookies / Icings
1. Freezing Cookies / IcingsBrrrr – coolin’ down your cookies can heat up production. Freezing dough and cookies can allow you to produce when orders are low and when incoming orders pick up, you’re teed up for the big thaw. You can thaw cookies with no risk of loss of freshness for up to 4 months – including already iced cookies.
Cool-down pro-tip: store them in sealed cello bags in an air-tight container. When ready to thaw, allow the entire unopened container to completely thaw before opening – this will let the condensation form on the outside of the container and not the cellophane wrapping. This means that you can increase production for Christmas cookies in September and allow the economics of scale to pad your fleece-lined pockets come the holidays.
2. Get the Gear
2. Get the GearWhen it comes to scalability, increasing production by decreasing production times = more money. A great way to do that? Don’t fight your gear. Find tools that help you increase output and decrease time investment. This will let you make more money while making more cookies = a win-win, and you may even be able to binge a Netflix show without being hunched over the countertop decorating late at night (ayo – posture correctors!). Examples of tools that increase scale are:
- A projector
- An airbrush machine
- An Eddie food printer
- A dehydrator
- A 3D printer
If it can increase production or decrease time spent producing, it’ll support the economies of cookie scalability.
3. Let the Robots Take Over
3. Let the Robots Take Over I don’t know if you’re worried about the robot overlord takeover, but for now – letting the internet handle mundane tasks will allow you to increase production while the “always on” internet handles data input, task management, and client outreach. Zapier is one of our favorite “scalability” tools because it lets two apps that can’t shake hands, now shake hands. Ways we use webhooks to streamline time costs are:
- Auto-response messages sent to new signups
- Turning an email into an Asana task
- Adding a cookie event to GCal from Eventbrite
- Adding new Cookie College signups to Google Sheets
4. All Praise the VA!
4. All Praise the VA!VAs or “virtual assistants” are like contracted employees without the employee costs because they work on a task basis and not an hourly basis (depending on your contract). Finding a VA who can handle data input, client reminders, email marketing or social media is a great way to scale your business because you’re behind the computer less but more is getting done. So start your VA-dating now so you’re ready to hire come the hurried holidays.
5. Ads aren’t all Bad.
5. Ads aren’t all Bad. I love the 24-7-365 salesman that Facebook ads can be – optimized for views, link clicks, or messages, dialing in a solid ad campaign can help you move product without having to make community group posts = you increase production and decrease time (a recipe for a double-dollar win). Using Ads Manager, you can create ad campaign parameters that stretch your ad dollar to the furthest.
In summary: economics of scale means increasing output to decrease costs of production. While it’s a little harder for bakeries who have to really be involved in the decorating and delivery process, there are still ways to assist in creating more and costing less!
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