5 Lessons I Learned About Owning A Baking Business

Two years in business and it’s been an incredible journey thus far. I’ve met so many people, I have been able to inspire, be introduced to local agriculture, produce many smiles, and contribute to happy bellies! Along the way I’ve learned so many lessons. Thought I would share a few today…

1.Every recipe is not going to be an instant success. For instance, My caramel cake took more than two years to be perfected. It took a lot of tweaking and learning from mistakes, to achieve true progress. Every great recipe I created required a lot of time and effort before becoming a recipe I was proud to stand by.

Here’s a picture of my red velvet cake two years ago, and my current dessert cake. Huge difference, right? Yikes! We all have to start somewhere… Don’t be discouraged.

2.The proper tools do make a difference. I am a fan of doing what you have to do, until you can do what you want to do. However, a writer doesn’t use an ice cream scooper to write does he? I was improvising almost everything at the beginning until I could figure out if baking was really something I wanted to invest in. I wrote a blog post explaining my top 10 baking tools. Check it out here.

3.Remembering why I started and staying focused on that. I started Sweets by Chy as a business because I wanted my time to belong to me, and no longer be controlled by a corporate schedule. I enjoy serving my community and helping others. My 9-5 didn’t allow me the time or energy to serve people. Ministry is a huge part of Sweets by Chy and will always be. Baking is a passion of mine, I never want my passion to become mundane.

4.Rest is a necessity not an option. This is so important! I was baking like a mad woman last year sometimes 24-36 hours straight. I had this crazy concept that I had to deprive myself of sleep or a life outside of baking if I wanted to be successful. Rest, spending time with my family, and vacation are all very important to me and well deserved. So, now I take the time to enjoy the breeze.

5.Quality ingredients are non-negotiable. Quick story; A family member cooked for Thanksgiving. Fast forward a couple days, I realized there was some leftover store brand butter in the refrigerator. Thought I would use it before opening a fresh pack of my usual butter. Well, I put the butter in the microwave and to my surprise it was having a hard time melting. I thought I was losing my mind, so I cut a piece of my name brand butter and microwaved it. The name brand butter melted in no time, I actually had to take it out the microwave early. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing store brand butter for my Sweeties. I believe in quality over quantity…and I wouldn’t serve anything I wouldn’t eat myself.

I have so many things I could share, however that post would be never ending. So I’ll stop here…for now. I plan to learn and share so much more throughout this journey. Join me! Subscribe to our mail list here.

Chy💕