nappy cake business

[mum2cohen]

hi everyone,
im from the sunshine coast and recently became a new mum to my 9week old son cohen ash. i'm looking at starting up a small business from home, for my baby shower i recieved a nappy cake and thought it was such an amazing gift and so helpful! and thought why couldnt i make these and sell them....
what are your thoughts on this? would i be wasting my time?
i've done heaps of research and made a few as gifts for friends and family.
would love some advice for marketing strategies etc...

[Luna Lovegood]

A good e-Commerce website is a great place to start, and a facebook group to network with people you already know (and their friends, ect). Make sure you have great pictures of your products and a link to your website.

There is also some good WAHM networks to connect you with other WAHM and build a client base.

Are you planning on catering exclusively for the Sunshine Coast or will it be a web based national business?

PM if you want know which ones are good...

And Welcome to Bubhub :)

[mum2cohen]

Still learning the ropes of the site, how do you private message?
i think just working exclusively to the sunshine coast, as cost for delivery or courier would be high, and im not sure how the cakes would hold up!
whats the best way to go about creating a website?

[Luna Lovegood]

To PM people just click on their user name and in the drop down list it should say "Send private message" or something to that effect...

As for the website, you can do it yourself, or pay someone to do it for you.

If you're doing it yourself then the cost is lower, but it can take time and be difficult to make it user friendly, and sales friendly. The set up costs (domain, hosting/dns hosting, email) is around $150, depending on you provider

If you're paying someone to do it, then it's easy. It can be very expensive, but if you look around you can find someone to do it cheaper, or negotiate with someone who is looking to build their portfolio and I have seen people offer as low as $200-$300, which is really reasonable...

For e-Commerce using PayPal to allow people to pay online safely, or agree for cash on delivery. This issues with this is cancelling order (ie: They order, you make, the day before they cancel = your loss of time), so upfront payment works better.

There are a few national web-based Nappy Cake companies so it might be worth scanning the marketing and contacting them, asking who they use for deliveries, and how the cakes hold up in case you decide to go national...

It's a pretty niche market and consider the population on the Sunshine Coast (I live here too!) the best way to target your market is via baby shops as well, leaving flyers/business cards with them and asking they be available on the counter... It also may be worth trying daycare centres, Gymboree classes, Nambour and Selagnor hospitals, The Noosa Leisure Centre, Antenatal Yoga Studios...ect...Oh, the Bubhub directory is good as well...

[cazzie07]

Thats a great idea! Ebay may be a good place to start too :-) could also do research to see what other cakes are available there and how much they are going for.

[Azurial]

Ummmm whats a nappy cake??

Ah dont worry I googled....

[cazzie07]

I had to google it too lol.

[RaryGirl]

Still learning the ropes of the site, how do you private message?


You won't be able to PM members as yet as your post count is too low.