03/01 – 😳 Whisk-y Business
- March 1, 2023
- Posted by: The Miracle Twins
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Whisk-y Business
Whisk-y Business 
Who knew baking could be so… whisky. Okay – it’s a pun on “risky,” and Corrie wanted it to be the topic of today’s podcast. Things you may be takin’ a risk with – that you also may not realize.
And if you do realize it and accept the risk – that’s okay! It’s your business and your risk awareness. An assessed risk is one you’re willing to take on – and willingly face the potential consequences if the worst happens.
Copyright can be oh so wrong.
Copyright can be oh so wrong.We’ve all been there – a client willing to throw cash money our way if only we could do this one Pooh set. It’s tempting – and it’s even cuter than it is tempting. And why shouldn’t you take it on? Everyone else is violatin’ the Big D’s copyright (Big D = Disney).
Will you get caught? Maybe not. Could you get caught? Maybe. But as long as you’re willing to account for the risk involved with copyright infringement (a favorite topic of speculative arguments in the cookie groups btw). Take for instance this seller who didn’t heed the Disney law teams’ cease and desist on selling the Mickey and Minnie ear-themed headbands. “But everyone else was doin’ it!” Yeah – I tried tellin’ that line to the last officer who pulled me over – he didn’t agree.
Allergy-Free ain’t Risk-Free
Allergy-Free ain’t Risk-FreeWhen it comes to allergy-friendly or allergy-free requests, it can be risky business to promise somethin’ you’re not. And, if you’re like me and don’t suffer from severe food allergies, I doubt we truly understand how dangerous a food allergen can be to folks who are severely allergic.
Which is why you won’t find Corrie and I makin’ promise we can’t deliver when it comes to allergy requests. And who likes telling a customer no? No one – but I’d rather tell a customer no than tell a customer where they can send their lawsuit paperwork.
Ensuring You’re Insured
Ensuring You’re InsuredIn the world of “whisk management,” insurance is the plan. Insurance is the biggest racket, that is until you need it. FLIP insurance is a fan favorite in the bakery groups, and for around $25 bucks a month, you can rest easy with mitigated liability. It can also cover farmer’s markets and events with its add-on dashboard.
Why take the whisk when you can ensure the whe-ward (okay – the pun falls apart there)
Put it In Your Policies
Put it In Your PoliciesPolicies were written in blood – or well, for us – burned cookies. Most policies come after the fact which is synonymous with “too late.” But you don’t have to create a policy forged in blood sweat, and many tears because we crowd-sourced one in the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group! Click here to snag it.
So learn from others’ blood, sweat, and many, many tears. Put it in your policies – and put your policies in place before you need to put a fire out!
Breaks Breaking Up Your Bottom Line
Breaks Breaking Up Your Bottom LineHey, I love a good vacay – heck, I love a good, long vacay. But in the world of business, most customers don’t accept “long” being any longer than about 2 weeks. Long breaks put the brakes on your bottom line. I’m not talkin’ the weekend off here, or the week off there – I’m talkin’ about “burnout breaks” where the baker plays Houdini for months at a time.
Imagine being a local gas station and taking off like bakers do. “Hey – no gas today. Actually no gas this month. But next month maybe. I’ll let you know. Check on my Facebook page for details on my fuel-filled comeback. I’m not closing – but I’m not sure when I’ll turn the pumps back on.”
Emergency No Fun-D
Emergency No Fun-DNothing causes more stress like operating with a bare-bones bank account. This often happens when we have more bills left at the end of the month than we have dollar bills. And it’s a whisky situation when a client wants a refund, the stove goes out, and our kid forgot to tell us they needed $50 for the field trip today – oh yeah, and butter costs a kidney and eggs cost a left arm!
Build up an emergency fund. It’s a great way to manage risk since you can fix a lot of potentially business-shuttering problems with a little cold hard cash. Start with a small emergency fund goal – let’s say, $300. Then when you reach that, build it up. Your business will be different than mine, but a healthy end goal could be between $1k – $3k to handle refunds, outages, or car repairs that’ll affect your delivery or cookie class schedule.
Mums the Pass-Word
Mums the Pass-Word Based on the sheer number of posts we see in the SCM group on scams – let’s just say, them scammers got their target dialed in on the cookie world.️ Beat them at their own game with strong passwords that are only used once, updated often, include layered protections like 2FA (two-factor-authentication), Your passwords gotta be hard to guess (aka brute force attack – this means they need to be complex by being long (16 characters is nifty) and include random characters ($*(&#$ – this is an example, I’m not cursin’ at ya).
Working that hard on your marketing only to fall prey to a scammer who wipes it all out is devastating to small business owners. So stay outta the drama, mamma!
The College
Have you checked out The Cookie College?
Learn how to earn – join and get 80+ marketing courses geared to online sales of baked goods!
The Fans!
There aren’t many places on the web to get actual positive interaction, let alone positive support for small business bakers. This is that place; actual helpful information. The constructive criticism is heavy on the constructive part and the pages are actually monitored by people who care. 10/10
Jennifer B.
Baker
I’d absolutely recommend SCM to anyone interested in upping their marketing game. The skills, tips, and information they have given me have caused me to reach exciting new levels in my business. No other bakery page that I have found has been able to help me accomplish this much at this level.
Courtney C.
Little Crown Bakery
Listen to this Podcast Episode!