As an artist, whether that’s art, music, acting, or fashion, especially for those on the high-end spectrum, it is often difficult for a large chunk of the population to understand why clients pay such hefty amounts for the products or services. We’d often hear the cynical in unison, “It’s just fabric; why does it cost so much?” The common theme at play here is that they always point to the cheapest cost involved in producing mastery, compare that price to the actual value placed on it, and then proceed to ridicule the ludicrousness.
For others who have had exposure and can appreciate value, they understand that from unique patterns to seams, probably hand- or machine-sewn together, the skill honed over the years, and most importantly, the creativity to style is worth so much more than an hourly rate. In the same vein, it’s never just about the tune of the song, the memory chips from China, the canvas, or the script. It’s so much more. The lyrics, voice training, the cost involved in R&D, the hours of color scheme studies and various brush techniques, not to mention failures, take massive, priceless effort.
To compile various components of little nothings to produce a product or service is not a walk in the park. The fact that it looks easy as a final product does not mean the process of production or planning was as simple. Like Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” You’d eventually see the tree coming down, but you will never be able to fully comprehend the hours that made the feat possible.
People can be very cynical sometimes, and even accomplished artists like Vivaldi and Van Gogh have received criticism, but one thing we must appreciate and learn to accept is the fact that things happen behind the scenes that we’ll never know about. We see the finished work, but we don’t always see what went into making it.
While we might simply admire the speed of our favorite players on the pitch, there’s a lot of hard training and self-control that goes into the excellence we see. I have never understood how it is so easy for some of us to hate and be like, “Oh, why did they miss such an opportunity to score?” But I bet you couldn’t be running around for 90 minutes plus extra time and still gauge the goalpost accurately. What we see for those 90 minutes is the result of much more than those 90 minutes.
Similarly, in a cake business, you cannot just say, “Oh, it’s flour and sugar.”
You’ve probably seen the funny videos online of the bakers literally putting the flour, eggs, and sugar on the table, and saying, “There’s a birthday cake, have at it.”
But obviously, that’s not the cake. My goal is that by the end of this piece, you are challenged to get out of the habit of dumbing down the complexity that goes into many creations and give honor to whom honor is due, especially when it’s out of your budget.
In my business, I had to curate a pipeline from scratch, because there was no standard app for custom cakes. Every cake is different, every client is different, and every occasion can require something different from me.
As the creator, I knew the order experience I wanted my customer to have, and as someone who studied mass communications, that seamless flow was very important to me.
It had to be a good one because, outside procuring items to fulfill orders, I am a customer myself in my daily life. Every time I have a terrible experience shopping or interacting with a service, it drastically reduces my likelihood of visiting that site ever again. Since I believe my pickiness is a gift, I apply the same standards to myself and am very cognizant of the fact that the experience around the cake matters just as much as the cake itself.
While in the above instance, I won’t be bogged down by a subpar business because there are a slew of options; for me, the only reason I want someone to go with another choice unwillingly is simply because their circumstances won’t allow them to afford my premium experience. There’s no other reason, because I know I offer one of the best customer journeys, and the product is better than any other cake the client would have ever tasted, and I am so confident because my clients keep telling me.
Sometimes clients give me creative license to choose a design; it’s important that this provision is appreciated. I am not just following instructions; I am using my skill and experience to bring an idea to life.
That’s the thing about value. As Myron Golden says, the customer cannot determine the value of something they don’t understand. The person providing the value has to understand what they are actually providing and communicate that value.
If you’ve had to suffer ordeals in dealing with vendors, it is easy to make it your default to think low quality is the staple, and question value.
I remember the day someone saw my iPhone 17 cross-body strap and said, “Ugh, you fell for consumerism.” My response was “No, I didn’t.” What they did not understand was my context. I had a 16 Pro my husband had gotten for me 6 months ago for my birthday that got smashed by 3 cars because it fell when I was getting out of the car on New Year’s Eve with the baby. Life had changed, and I couldn’t keep up with purses and holding things other than a changing pad and baby bag. You might say it’s £60 more expensive, but it’s actually cheap compared to the peace of mind of not leaving my phone around and having it constantly fall. It’s been so beneficial to me, and losing all my content from the last year was tough. Having to buy an entirely new phone on New Year’s Day just 6 months after having a new phone might have been expensive, but this strap was going to prevent a repetition of that, so it was a no-brainer.
So while people may call this marketing or a scam, I cannot relate because things like accessibility are inestimable. What one person may see as an unnecessary expense, another might see as something that genuinely makes their life easier.
At Baked by Franny, we call ourselves a memory baking company because we aim to make the entire process of ordering enjoyable and to leave a pleasant memory of your festivity when it comes to the final product.
You wouldn’t be graduating every day.
You wouldn’t be having a wedding every day.
You wouldn’t turn 50 every day.
These milestone moments are worth celebrating with an elegant cake because you know you are deserving of exquisite things.
Important days such as these go beyond you; you want to think about your guests:
will there be enough portions
what will they say about the taste
how will the design fit the occasion
These considerations, as well as my end-to-end process, are things the wrong customer will never appreciate:
marketing and social campaign efforts
diary management for consultations
design and options sheet preparation
planning the baking and decoration schedules
sourcing decorations and specific tools
preparing the packaging
organizing delivery or collection
tracking payments and invoices
communicating with the client throughout the process
My business partner is constantly thinking about the best customer experience to provide for clients, and I am bursting with ideas on how to perfectly align my services with the next person’s celebration, vision, and theme.
We always want to appeal to your preferences, and that’s why we provide both card and bank transfers on our site and give you the option to speak to the Frannybot instead of filling a form if that’d make the process a bit more enjoyable and not more tiring if you are already overstimulated.
That’s the thing about value. It’s the little things compounded that make the difference.
Maybe you are at a point in life where you are satisfied with a lot of back-and-forth and a full order experience taking place via text over several hours/days. I believe my time is better spent digesting all the information you provided in your own time at a sitting, and presenting you with a ready-to-launch plan.
Baked by Franny’s ideal clients are people who have come to understand that time is their most important asset, and are willing to decide that the value I provide is worth exchanging their money for.
So next time you find yourself criticizing a business’s “outrageous prices,” stop and identify if it’s the poverty and survival mindset talking, and instead, think, “How can I afford a business with a proper procedure that takes the stress off my hands and delivers excellently?”
Cake of the Week
From the Kitchen
A little look at what came out of the kitchen this week.
This cake was a simple birthday cake ordered for a small group of people born in August.
Planning something worth celebrating?
Whether it’s a wedding, a new baby, an anniversary, a birthday, or a congratulations-worthy moment, Baked by Franny creates cakes designed to stand out at your occasion, taste as good as they look, and leave you with a memorable experience.
We don’t just bake cakes; we bake memories.
Visit my website to explore Baked by Franny and place your order: