The Power Up ⎯ SN.02/EP.01
Meet A Cake Decorating Shop Offering Classes To Expand Their Audience
There are some real advantages to running an established business in a smaller market, if you can grow, or even sustain, your profit goals over the years. Sheila Brooks shared that reaching a younger audience was one of the most challenging parts of being a part of an aging industry.
Realizing she needed to inspire the demand herself, Sheila began offering baking and decorating classes. “There is not a lot of opportunity for young kids to join this market and learn,“ Sheila shared in the episode. “ We feel like that we’re offering opportunities to younger students and kids so that they can experience it and determine if that’s really something they want to do.”
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About The Business
Business name: Cake Craft Shoppe
Founded: 2000
Founder: Sheila Brooks
Location: Stafford, TX
Website: https://www.cakecraftshoppe.com
Sales diversification strategy: E-commerce, storefront, rentals, decorating and baking classes, team building events
About Our Guest
As a professional baker, Sheila Brooks was approached because of her pastry experience with an opportunity to import high end cake decorating products from England. Thus, Cake Craft Shoppe was born as an internet business in 2000, before e-commerce was even around. Three years later, Sheila opened a brick-and mortar location now in Stafford, Texas when the business outgrew her house and storage facility.
Over the years, Sheila focused on diversifying the business in areas others in the industry were hesitant to go. With a focus on a younger audience, Sheila opened a classroom next door. There they teach cake decorating and baking to all skill levels, along with their growing Academy Program for teenagers.
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