Meet Elizabeth Bonds

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elizabeth Bonds. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Elizabeth, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Feeling like I was not good enough to stand amongst my fellow bakers in the cake business was something that held me back from starting my business for quite a while. Everyone has to start somewhere, but no matter how much I planned and worked towards what I wanted, I could not answer one question: Why would anyone want to buy my cakes when they can get beautiful and delicioius cakes from anywhere else? There are so many talented bakers and artisans – just Google the word “cake”, and you will find cakes, cookies, and other baked treats that are unbelievably amazing. Many of these bakers – home bakers, even – are right here in my zip code. Are they my competition? If they already have established businesses, why should I even try? Maybe I should just keep making family birthday cakes and leave it at that. Maybe I am not talented enough to even attract enough customers to call my business a business. I would visit the websites of other bakers and diminish my own talent.
A friend of mine was giving me advice about getting set up on Instagram during the beginning stages of my business setup. I allowed her to skim through my photo album, and as she admired pictures of my cakes and cake pops, she expressed excitement about what YumCrum Shoppe would eventually become. My insecurities got the best of me, and I asked her outright, “Why would anyone buy a cake from me when they can get one anywhere?” I even looked up the website of another local home baker that I felt intimidated by. My friend began listing several reasons why she or anyone else would buy their cakes from me, and it got me thinking about large corporations that occupy the same areas. For example, sometimes you find two very popular cafes or pizzerias in the same shopping center. Fast food drive-thrus and ice cream shops are often found right next to each other. Franchise owners do not seem to be worried about who else is around or what the competition may be when they pursue their business goals, so why should I? There is room here for all of us. As a consumer, I stick to what I know I love, and I have become very loyal to certain businesses. My customer base started very small and only by word of mouth, because I struggled to find my footing when it came to advertising. I am still working on customer growth and retention. I put a lot of time and effort into making each order very special, because the last thing I want to do is drive away a customer. Each time I deliver an order, I am assured by happy customers that I am doing a great job. As it stands now, I know that my business has a place in this market, and I am happy to be here.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

YumCrum Shoppe is a home-based bakery where we make pretty much anything that involves cake – cake pops, custom cakes, cupcakes, and even dessert shooters. Before my business was official, I was making and selling desserts by word-of-mouth. Every time I delivered something, people would ask me when I’m going to start a business, or they would ask me how they could refer me to someone else, and I didn’t have any information to give out other than my personal phone number. I decided to go ahead and do the hard work required to start a business that represents what I do and the joy it brings to people. It has been a family effort to come up with a name, design a logo, make all of the appropriate filings (for legal purposes), get set up on social media, and begin marketing. I am very fortunate to have such a helpful, involved family.
What is really exciting is how much we’re learning that people really do love cake pops. I’ve tried to push my branding more towards cake pops than custom cakes and other cake-based dessert items, because cake pops are fast and simple to eat. You can grab one and go, and there is no cleanup afterwards. Children and adults alike really seem to enjoy them, and we’ve even met some people who do not know what they are but quickly fall in love with them after eating one. Cake pops are seen less often than whole cakes, so they’re extra special and unique when they do make an appearance on a party table. They steal the show!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three qualities that have been invaluable to me as a business owner and to YumCrum Shoppe as a successful operation are: organization and time management (can we roll those both into one and just say that I’m a Type A person?), baking and creative skills, and people skills.
I am very meticulous about everything that I do, and that has been important when it comes to juggling multiple orders, running the “business” side of the business, and planning for large events such as craft shows and art festivals in our local area. Running a successful business includes everything from marketing to accounting, and I think my background in writing and my experience as a wife and mother all play into running a business much like I’d run anything else in my life. I definitely try to make sure that I keep things in order.
Baking is a science – probably just about the only kind of science that I ever really excelled at. I have been baking (on my own) since I was a teenager, and I love thinking about how certain ingredients interact with each other to make cakes rise, make them fluffy, or make them dense. With cakes, moisture is key. I love working with different methods of making frostings of all types. Creatively, I enjoy making cakes that do not always look like cake. Working with fondant and isomalt really allows me to feel like I’m in art class just working to make something that I want to look at for fun. For a while, I forget that I’m making something edible!
Most importantly, I would say that people skills and communication skills have been majorly imperative. When a customer contacts me to place an order, we get to engage in discussion about how I can make something that will really be what they’re looking for. There are a lot of details that come into play regarding design, date/time, cost, delivery, flavor, decoration, theme, etc. I have to ask a lot of questions and remain receptive to changing requests. I try to make sure that my customers know that I’m here to help them make their special occasions even more special, and I am very fortunate every time someone has chosen YumCrum Shoppe for that purpose. I care a lot about what my brand and work ethic says to people.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one challenge that I am facing is charging customers appropriately and holding them to orders and timelines after a certain amount of time has passed. Sometimes people order things and then decide weeks later that they needed something else. By then, I have already worked on some of the creative design and possibly ordered or produced new things. I don’t ever want to make anyone feel bad or like they can’t change their mind, so I typically just swallow the cost of whatever won’t be used, and I make changes to meet the customer’s request. We eat a lot of extra cake and cake pops at home when orders get changed at the last minute, and though we love the sweets, I really do need to do better at holding my customers to terms and contracts. A friend of mine mentioned that, “Cheap cakes aren’t custom and custom cakes aren’t cheap.” I try to keep this in mind when preparing invoices and sending people quotes for cakes. The custom cakes cost a lot more than cake pops do, and people often balk at prices. A lot of time and material goes into custom cakes and cake pops, so the pricing is not what you would expect when buying desserts from the grocery store. I am learning that this is okay, and if people do not want to pay what I ask, that is okay too. I do not have to sell myself short to make everyone happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yumcrumshoppe.com
• Instagram: @yumcrumshoppe
• Facebook: @yumcrumshoppe
• Other: [email protected]