I officially started Sweet Petite in 2012. After the birth of my daughter, I knew going back to my previous career in fashion would not work for my family and wanted to build something of my own. My goal in starting Sweet Petite while my daughter was so young was to start slowly and build up my client list, portfolio and experience. Then once my kids started school I could dedicate my extra time to my business that already had a strong foundation.
In my true type A fashion, I didn’t start slowly. I networked and face booked and promoted my little business to everyone I met. The result were more than I (or my husband) expected, people responded and I was always busy. A little too busy considering my original goal of starting out slowly and building my hobby into a business.
My first year in business was tough on everyone. I was afraid to say no to any orders in fear the phone might not ring again and also you just never know who might be at the event my baked goods were going to and what business that might lead to. I took many orders that I way under charged for and spent way too much time on. A $75 cake that took me 10+ hours to complete was no good for business, but I put it all down to learning and advertising.
My second year was better. I had more confidence in my abilities and I knew that the phone always continued to ring. I was finally able to say no to orders when I was just too overbooked to put the time into the order I felt they deserved. I was working less and making more money, a very good thing; especially considering my daughter was in her terrible twos and was still with me full time. Lucky for me she was an incredible napper. So like many mothers these days that try to do it all, I would put my daughter down for a nap and literally run to the kitchen to start working.
The baking was the easy part. The emails and constantly feeling behind in life were much harder for me. I was always way too slow on getting back to my lovely clients and communication has never been a strong suit of mine. I have always envied people with a way with words. I’m more the type that can turn a chance encounter on the street into an awkward and strange meeting, leaving you and I wondering what the heck I just said. (Unless I’ve had a couple glasses of wine, then I think I’m hilarious). I am still working on my communication skills, this is partly where this blog comes into the picture. I’ll tell you all whats happening here, you’ll forgive my grammar errors and everyone will be happy.
So what’s the point of this very lengthy first blog entry… I am currently 34 weeks pregnant. Our sweet baby boy is due December 26th (fingers and toes crossed that doesn’t happen!!- poor Christmas babies) Everyone keeps asking me what will become of Sweet Petite and the answer is I don’t know. I know my little baking company isn’t going away, but this momma needs to take a break. I want to enjoy the next few weeks with Maddie as an only child, take her to every Christmas activity Vancouver has to offer and devote myself fully to nesting.
Once baby boy is born, I know I will take a few months off to figure out being a family of four. I have a very romantic picture of it all. My baby will sleep thru the night, his big sister will adjust perfectly and I will spend any extra time at the gym trying to shed all this baby weight before summer. Are you laughing yet? Like I said, I don’t know what the next several months will look like but we can all dream right?
Sweet Petite provides me with a much needed outlet to aways be learning and growing and to stay connected to the world outside mommy hood. I love baking and creating goodies that wow people. Sweet Petite will be back, we’re just on a little life break. I’ll keep you posted once I start to figure it all out.