It's been 2 years since my 'Hot Post' ..and my presence.

[Jemmalee]

So.. as the title says, its been 2 years since my last visit here.
Hope your all well!

I've just revisited My only hot post that shared my journey from zero to 60k in 6 months...knowing nothing at all, I thought I'd drop in with an update!

We continued in growth - however...
My partner fell desperately ill and hospitalised for a few weeks, the events sector (my original business) was just opening back up, the world fell apart and we had to close.
Life was a complete mess.
BUT.. we recovered.

Despite me completely despising the industry after receiving so much hate and slander from competitors, we reopened an online store again. (We started with cupcake toppers originally).
We actually opened as online gifts but our cake customers soon came back to purchase and requested cake products.
We reopened in April 2022.

I was never really able to utilise the instagram furthermore. We had built it with with zero ads to 18k following. Its now at 14k and I barely use it. We just reshare and post a few bits. It gains zero traction at all and accounts for 1% of custom.

Here's the figures.
Sadly but not - we hit the uk VAT threshold. Luckily we are classed as manufacturers so that allows us pay just 8.5% VAT then 9% after 12 months.
We are only just sat on the threshold. It eats my money away. A bit like my self employed tax bill. I see no positive whatsoever.

SHOPIFY

ETSY STORE 1 (CAKE TOPPERS)

The last 12 months sees this stores sales at 68k. So as sales go, they are doing 'ok'. Still, Etsy is now our main income source which i kNOW is absolutely dangerous but as our events company fades away in the background (mainly because our core product is now dying out and competitors undercut by 50% on most occasions) its all we have in the meantime.

I'm now working 9:30pm - 2:30 pm, Mon - friday. Im basically a factory and customer services operative. Boring, packing, customer service and genuinely just meh.

The income is supporting both my partner and I and our family,
We have the added bonus of a few events jobs per months but its nothing more than an extra 1-2k pcm.

I have been trialling and opening a variety of businesses on the side. To see how insane our journey was and to say really, im a part timer earning approx £3-4k at least pcm, I shouldn't moan but its not enough. Not in a materialistic way, in a freedom of time way.
I feel trapped.

We branched out our laser cutting skills and have another store which has seen us turnover 12k in the last 12 months. A top up income with higher cost products but less of.

Ive launched digital products, gift products, marketing agencies you name it, I've researched and gave it a go in the background.

Current status at the moment is - I still have no savings, now riddled with 20k of debt (due to a variety of family problems) plus keeping on top of the VAT bill and an unexpected tax bill wiping out any excess money, I am stuck!

Focus at the moment is new products and niche on the new store. I've started back on tiktok and instagram and am trying to feel excited but am deflated. Worn out maybe.
No point in going to retrain or get a job - I'll earn less, still.
I need to refocus.

All ive learnt over these past couple of years is that majority of successful similar companies are pumping huge amounts into FB ads and getting a good ROAS.
Similar to that are the dodgy accounts of Etsy. Selling 100's of the same product we offer but PER DAY and etsy bots somehow push their unlegimate stores in front of the eyes of customers and we miss out.
Its like a banging my head against a wall.

Any advice, comments, jokes would be much appreciated.
I need direction and fast!

Thanks for reading!

 

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[StrikingViper69]

You’ve made a lot of sales with the cupcake toppers business, it seems to make sense to push that and expand it. There’s a demand and you’re serving it.

What else do your customers want? What else do they need? Cupcakes cook book? Fancy wrappers? A baking tray?

Can you get someone to work part time to take some of the grunt work of order fulfilment off your hands so you can work on the business rather than in it?

Are you selling internationally or just in the uk?

 

[Jemmalee]

You’ve made a lot of sales with the cupcake toppers business, it seems to make sense to push that and expand it. There’s a demand and you’re serving it.

What else do your customers want? What else do they need? Cupcakes cook book? Fancy wrappers? A baking tray?

Can you get someone to work part time to take some of the grunt work of order fulfilment off your hands so you can work on the business rather than in it?

Are you selling internationally or just in the uk?

Thanks for replying!
I tried having a staff member to just that and they lasted about 6 months. Whether its because Im in the UK or not, finding staff for part time hours is an absolute nightmare. Nobody wants to work, nobody cares and you end up just having to finish it all off.
In those 6 months, I actually accomplished nothing.
I did some products, did some website stuff, worked on some admin, but I think my passion for the business just fell on the floor.
How do you grow a business you cant wait to rid of?

We sell internationally.
I've yet to use any form of ads and I barely use email marketing.

 

[Spenny]

Cheers for coming back, It's awesome to see another person from the UK making products here.

We are only just sat on the threshold. It eats my money away. A bit like my self employed tax bill. I see no positive whatsoever.

I see a positive. I understand it's crap that you're being fleeced, but as far as my knowledge goes, you won't have another bill like this to incur. You can scale, scale, scale & you won't have to deal with more costs like this again.

The other thing is that this is just a fact of business, so see it as you being charitable, even if it's going to the overloaded NHS.

I have been trialling and opening a variety of businesses on the side. To see how insane our journey was and to say really, im a part timer earning approx £3-4k at least pcm, I shouldn't moan but its not enough. Not in a materialistic way, in a freedom of time way.
I feel trapped.

@StrikingViper69 talking about what else your customer wants is exactly on the money. If you have more products to fulfil the niche & you'll get more £££ plus another income stream.

Current status at the moment is - I still have no savings, now riddled with 20k of debt (due to a variety of family problems) plus keeping on top of the VAT bill and an unexpected tax bill wiping out any excess money, I am stuck!

What type of debt is it, if you don't mind me asking?

This sounds scary if you've got 20k debt, interest, a VAT bill, and now cash flow to save you.

All ive learnt over these past couple of years is that majority of successful similar companies are pumping huge amounts into FB ads and getting a good ROAS.

Similar to that are the dodgy accounts of Etsy. Selling 100's of the same product we offer but PER DAY and etsy bots somehow push their unlegimate stores in front of the eyes of customers and we miss out.
Its like a banging my head against a wall.

A common thread throughout this is getting social media sorted out. Advertising, a brand known for something that Etsy bots can't provide, promotes your new products to your business's existing fans. You've got people following you without pushing content—how can you leverage this audience? Can you build it through drop-ins when you post things to people?

Assuming a 5% conversion rate of that 18k audience, maybe a thousand people would be interested in paying for what you advertise to them. If you ask for a pre-order, you may be surprised by how many people throw down their money.

---

Have you considered B2B? CakeBox is a big chain branch based in the UK, and if you can make something with a value skew, you're onto something. Or perhaps you could collaborate? That way, you'd diversify your revenue streams away from Etsy.

 

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[Jemmalee]

Cheers for coming back, It's awesome to see another person from the UK making products here.

I see a positive. I understand it's crap that you're being fleeced, but as far as my knowledge goes, you won't have another bill like this to incur. You can scale, scale, scale & you won't have to deal with more costs like this again.

The other thing is that this is just a fact of business, so see it as you being charitable, even if it's going to the overloaded NHS.

@StrikingViper69 talking about what else your customer wants is exactly on the money. If you have more products to fulfil the niche & you'll get more £££ plus another income stream.


What type of debt is it, if you don't mind me asking?

This sounds scary if you've got 20k debt, interest, a VAT bill, and now cash flow to save you.


A common thread throughout this is getting social media sorted out. Advertising, a brand known for something that Etsy bots can't provide, promotes your new products to your business's existing fans. You've got people following you without pushing content—how can you leverage this audience? Can you build it through drop-ins when you post things to people?

Assuming a 5% conversion rate of that 18k audience, maybe a thousand people would be interested in paying for what you advertise to them. If you ask for a pre-order, you may be surprised by how many people throw down their money.

---

Have you considered B2B? CakeBox is a big chain branch based in the UK, and if you can make something with a value skew, you're onto something. Or perhaps you could collaborate? That way, you'd diversify your revenue streams away from Etsy.

Thanks for these.
I’m on my phone now but I’ll go through and answer each section.

The VAT bill is ongoing
My accountant said it would cost less for us to pay the flat rate per sales so each month I pay the VAT on the turnover…

The main issue is that 90% of the products are personalised.
So it’s technically a new product per order.
Bakers want them fast and yesterday and for free.

I was debt free 2 years ago.
Credit cards from having to bail out my mum (who can’t pay me back) plus a number of house problems - fridge went, tumble dryer went etc
It mounted up.
I didn’t have income to pay it back straight away.
Now I’m here ‍

The following is now at 14k as the account was stagnant.
It’s extremely difficult to get traction on it.
Out of the 14k if I upload a story or post , it gets crickets. Nobody is shown the content.
Also many of the following no longer bake.
Many went back to jobs after lockdown.

They can’t pre order because their orders change day by day. They never know what they’re gonna want, hence wanting to branch out into goods that have a price, and are for a certain audience without personalisation or less of it.

We’ve tried applying to NOTHS too but they’ve declined twice yet have a couple of companies already that don’t produce the quality we do.

As mentioned, B2B - we are technically B2B as these are professional bakers working from home. However as everything is personalised, this is obviously impossible to secure.

I think that although many say you don’t need to like the business your running, I morally find this very difficult to accept.

Maybe I need a change of heart.

 

[rpeck90]

You've got income, and in some cases quite a lot of it, so where is that going? What expenses can you get rid of right now to give you some breathing space?

You've mentioned that you're working 09:30 to 14:30 each day. This is part time, so if you need money, what are you doing with the other 6+ hours you could be using for work related activities? Even being a domestic cleaner for 3 hours a day will bring in enough money per month to chip away at the debt.

You have a family so I presume you have a husband / significant other? What does he do?

I'll be completely honest, the way you've written the post is not conducive to someone with a business mind. I suspect you got lucky with your cake business, particularly during Covid, and are struggling to figure out what to do next. Flippantly claiming you make £3-£4k a month working part time and then lamenting that you don't have any money after several unexpected bills screams of financial mismanagement, and I suspect you likely have a lot of unnecessary expenditure.

For example, you've claimed to have bailed out your mother -- in what capacity did she require so much money that you're now in debt having to pay for it? If it's credit card debt, why did she not take it on herself? Fridges and tumble dryers don't cost £20k.

If you're "just over the VAT threshold", why not kill two birds with one stone and limit the number of people buying from the cake business? Just stop taking orders for a period... maybe only operate in the summer when it's wedding season? Not only will this curtail the amount of income that business brings in, but will free up your time to identify other ways to earn money. You can then set up another business (which will also be under the VAT threshold) that you can use to develop a parallel income stream. No more VAT problem.

It looks to me that you have overexerted yourself financially without a solid base for the business. You have almost zero control over the cake business, no unique IP etc and, therefore, little leverage to improve its profitability. The result is you've now got your own mini credit crunch with limited resources to help you back into the black. I think you need to take a step back and assess your situation properly before considering a more appropriate way forward.

 

[Jemmalee]

You've got income, and in some cases quite a lot of it, so where is that going? What expenses can you get rid of right now to give you some breathing space?

Currently looking for a smaller and less expensive office. The size we have for the money is very good at the moment but not completely neccessary. Originally it was , as we have a lot of event equipment which is for my other business so it still needs storing somewhere as it still active.
We are considering selling one of the halves of that business, its just additional income right now.

You've mentioned that you're working 09:30 to 14:30 each day. This is part time, so if you need money, what are you doing with the other 6+ hours you could be using for work related activities? Even being a domestic cleaner for 3 hours a day will bring in enough money per month to chip away at the debt.

I didn't mention that after the kids go to bed I am sat on my laptop catching up on admin, products, emails and other stuff. I probably work 8-12 hours per day in reality.

You have a family so I presume you have a husband / significant other? What does he do?

He is the main manufacturer of the products on the laser machine. He does it all ( I can do them but not as quickly)
He is also joint director of the events company and works every weekend doing the hires/events etc

I'll be completely honest, the way you've written the post is not conducive to someone with a business mind. I suspect you got lucky with your cake business, particularly during Covid, and are struggling to figure out what to do next. Flippantly claiming you make £3-£4k a month working part time and then lamenting that you don't have any money after several unexpected bills screams of financial mismanagement, and I suspect you likely have a lot of unnecessary expenditure.

For example, you've claimed to have bailed out your mother -- in what capacity did she require so much money that you're now in debt having to pay for it? If it's credit card debt, why did she not take it on herself? Fridges and tumble dryers don't cost £20k.

I am very business minded, Im just in a rut right now.
We were very lucky with the cake business - right time right place.
Our business expenditure is high due to materials, unit space etc. For every 10k, its probably around 5k out.
I am very poor with financial management (no advice growing up) also having ADHD, if you've ever heard of 'ADHD TAX' you could probably google it, we find it very difficult however unfortunately my partner is also extremely unorganised and i am trying to wade through managing 3 businesses, a household and 2 kids the best way i can.

I have had to bail out my mum my whole life. This is standard behaviour. She has autism and I have an 18 year old brother with autism, both whom will not work or are incapable due to their conditions.

There were a number of circumstances that i asked the universe if it was punishing me for something as the failures and situations were consistent for nearly a whole year - £8k car failure/misleading situation, multiple large utility purchases, house move due to landlord selling up.
I did the best i could with whatever i could get at the time.

If you're "just over the VAT threshold", why not kill two birds with one stone and limit the number of people buying from the cake business? Just stop taking orders for a period... maybe only operate in the summer when it's wedding season? Not only will this curtail the amount of income that business brings in, but will free up your time to identify other ways to earn money. You can then set up another business (which will also be under the VAT threshold) that you can use to develop a parallel income stream. No more VAT problem.

Etsy automatically asks for VAT number when nearing the threshold.
Otherwise they close down your shop and you lose everything.
I didn't have a choice at the time.
Cake toppers don't work like that unfortunately, we don't serve much of the wedding season cakes due to the scammy profiles on etsy wiping everything clean with their bulgarian imports, for the cost we dont stand a chance.
Many modern cakes also dont have these accessories, plain and simple is most popular.

It looks to me that you have overexerted yourself financially without a solid base for the business. You have almost zero control over the cake business, no unique IP etc and, therefore, little leverage to improve its profitability. The result is you've now got your own mini credit crunch with limited resources to help you back into the black. I think you need to take a step back and assess your situation properly before considering a more appropriate way forward.

This is why I am opening the side hustle gift shop, very similar products and wider range but targeted to a different audience, not bakers.

 

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