“OMG! That order is today?!”
My heart skipped a beat and I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. My mouth went dry. And a million scenarios and excuses were making my brain go on overdrive.
Does this sound familiar to you? Have you forgotten to do an order a few times? It’s the worst, isn’t it?
As our home business grows, so do our tasks and responsibilities. So, here are a few tips to help you avoid days of forgotten orders.
Plan Ahead
Planning ahead can give you a good advantage to allocate your time for a certain project. This will enable you to focus on the preparation and tasks that need to be done in a less stressful way. Having foresight will get the work done minus the panic and anxiety.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars!
Be Organized
A messy and disorganized workplace is never conducive to productivity. How can you work when you can’t even find where the spatulas are! So, make sure that your space is neat, clean, tidy and organized.
To save time, prepare items that can be made ahead a day before the actual baking or decorating takes place. Pre-mix your dry ingredients and have your mise en place ready. These are some ways which you can cut down your preparation time in half!
Work Smart And Focus
Do small tasks that can help you move forward while waiting for some to finish. Waiting for the dough to rise? Wash some of the used baking tools. A cake takes an hour to an hour and a half to bake, this is a lot of time to fold your cake boxes, make gumpaste letters or start on your cake toppers.
These can help you move forward with your project compared to aimlessly checking your social media.
Clean As You Go
Hey! Don’t wait for those dishes to pile up! CLAYGO!
The process of making a cake from scratch is already tiring. After arranging the last piece of topper on that cake, you just want to plop down on your bed and sleep for 24 hours, right? Oh, you deserve the long rest, no doubt…but what about the mountain of “hugasin” in your sink?
See, dirty dishes with bits and pieces of edible stuff on it will attract visitors. Now I am sure you’re not going to like them one bit. These creepy crawlers aren’t only disgusting to look at but they bring disease by contaminating our plates, utensils and food with germs they pick up from garbage dumps, sewers and all the yucky stuff you can think of!
Kitchen Reinforcement
Okay, so you did all these but still the workload isn’t letting up! Practicing all these will get you off your feet. But, there will come a time that you might already need a bigger and more efficient mixer and oven. By the way, we have a guide on ovens and mixers, just for you!
If your orders are growing, it means that your present kitchen equipment may already be too small for the demand. Why would you tire yourself from making a dozen batches when you can make a single batch in one go? Buying a bigger and more efficient oven and mixer might be expensive at first but you will realize their value later. You need to spend more to earn more!
Being Productive
Why do we need to do all these? The answers are simple. These will help you become more productive. Thus, your customers will be happier which in turn will give you positive reviews. There will be less stress because you already have a system. And you can take more orders. Or better yet, more free time to spend with your family!
Deadlines will be met when you plan ahead, be organized, clean as you go and work smart!
Now, are you ready to take on BULK orders?
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