People actually read this thing?

So EK Cakes is officially 4 months old now and business has been picking up. A while back I received my business license and tax ID number, which, I won't lie, felt pretty cool. The whole process again was remarkably simple-why don't more people do this? As usual, everyone at the offices downtown was super helpful and sweet. That has to be a southern thing.

The bakeshop has been undergoing some changes lately-out with an oven and in with a new. We now have a gas deck oven that we have to figure out how to hook up. We had some electrical work done this week, which was great because we really didn't want our house burning down due to overloaded frying extension cords.

Currently, I am en route to NY to make a wedding cake. It dawned on me as I sit here in the terminal that I hadn't posted a blog in who knows how long. I still have about an hour to kill, so you can probably tell how bored I am since I am posting to a blog that has 3 readers, all of which seem to be family members. I will say though, that every once in a while someone tells me they "saw my blog". But then I realize, some people probably confuse Facebook with blogging, so I was probably pretty accurate in saying I don't have any "real" readers.

So after this big wedding cake, I must begin planning for the grand Kentucky Derby cake for the celebration in Charlotte. Still no idea of what to do. Send me ideas. That is, if anyone is reading this.

The calm after the storm

So I did a crazy thing and decided to pay a very large amount of money to be in a very large bridal show here in Charlotte. I was frightened by the price tag at first, but Adam convinced me that it wold be worth it if I sell at least 3 cakes afterwards. We called in his mother for reinforcement and I devoted the last 2 weeks of my life to nothing else but that show and my first real cake order here in Charlotte. I made 7 dummy cakes for the show because I had to spice things up after the last show. I had to show what I was capable of. The three of us on the EK team worked damn hard to pull this off. The results were fantastic, and without each of us contributing, and my parents sending supplies from NY, it would not have been as nice as it was. The booth was stunning and comfortable to be in and the samples that we made were awesome. I met some of the coolest people in the industry and I feel like a little fish that was at least allowed to swim with the bigger fish. Doing this show was a good move because it not only spread the word about EK Cakes, it also gave me more confidence that people are totally going to dig my product. I hoped they would.

The next big chore is finding a great accountant and lawyer that are ready to work for us. Easier said than done, I'm afraid.

Slight Progress...

So Adam and I have almost officially finished converting the garage into the bakeshop. We sealed the floor ourselves, organized and put things in place with the help of our parents, and we had our inspection by the Department of Agriculture. We had no idea what to expect on our big inspection day, but luckily, we met yet another nice southern lady (so far they are all so sweet!) who approved our bakeshop and gave us the "O.K." to go forth and sell. She went over our ingredient labels and gave us a list of common allergens that we need to list on our products. Everything went very smoothly, and we were amazed at how simple the process was. What a relief it was to just get that part over with.

I attended my first bridal show today at the Hilton and had a fabulous time. I like talking to the potential clients and getting a chance to answer their questions on the spot. The show seemed to be of good size. There were 2 ballrooms full of vendors with random booths in the hallways. I think that if the show was much larger and involved many more people, the brides would totally forget everything and just be confused. I don't know how many times I have picked up business cards and totally forgot what they were for when I decide to clean out my purse.

Anyway, I hope the show sends lots of business my way. I like business.

The Plan...

My name is Ellen Kotlarz, and cake is my life. For over a decade, I've known that I need to create things with sugar in order to be happy. I really can't picture myself waking up everyday and doing anything else for the rest of my life. Choosing a career path was easy.

College came, and 4 years and a bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management later, I decided that I really wanted more hands-on baking experience. Luckily, while I was earning my first degree, I found someone special who was just as crazy about baking. Adam and I decided to move to Charlotte, NC and get associates' degrees in Baking and Pastry Arts at Johnson & Wales University.

Our year-long program was winding down, so we needed to come up with a game plan for the rest of our lives. Number one on the list was getting engaged. Number two was moving back to Charlotte. Number three was opening our own bakeries.

Why would we take such a risk? I've asked myself that question a lot while I consider the economy and the likelihood of small businesses-especially in the food and beverage industry-to fail. I guess we just figured we really don't have much to lose right now, and it's probably going to be the best time in our lives to try something crazy.

So my goal with this blog is to talk about our challenges with starting home bakery businesses in North Carolina. It seems like every time we get caught up in a project, we ask, "We can't be the only people that are going through this, right?" I strongly encourage anyone who has started a home business to leave me blogs, or blog me, or just write something-I am not hip with the blogging scene or its lingo yet, but I am eager to hear what people have to say. I am also eager to help other people with starting home businesses if I can.