The Dollhouse Bakery

 

A Bit of Background

In the fall of 2023, I launched my first love...a bakery cart, as an alternative to selling at the farmer’s market, where I had spent six months selling twice per week.

While the farmer's market had ultimately transformed my business from one with few orders to one with consistent weekly sales (my highest sales day was $1600!), my cart offered flexible selling, reducing long market days to just two hours and easing social interactions which had been taxing on me as an introvert.

A year later, the cart's success not only sharpened my marketing skills but also sparked my curiosity about other creative and convenient selling options for home bakers. You can find information here on how I built my bakery cart.

The Evolution of the Dollhouse Bakery

As I began to consider additional options, fellow bakers were also sharing with me their difficulty in building their own cart. Thus, the idea of a Dollhouse Bakery was born.

Dollhouse Building Plans

If you are more of a DIYer, I also found free building plans online from The Creative Mom if you want to launch something similar but build it yourself. This dollhouse is similar in size/dimensions to mine.

 

How I Plan to Operate My Dollhouse Bakery

Similar to my Bakery Cart, my Dollhouse Bakery will continue to operate on a Pay What You Can Model. 

In addition, there will be a heavy focus on children and this bakery "stand" will be a way to give back to my local community.

The plan is to include baked goods, of course, but also reading books as well as sensory products for emotional well-being. All products intended for children will be "donation-only".

I also plan to offer bi-monthly drawings where parents can enter their children for a chance to win a free custom cake for their birthday.

In addition, each room will house a different themed product (i.e. coffee room, candy room, baked goods room, bread room, etc.).

I have also replaced the fabric bins that came with the dollhouse with clear bins so the baked goods can be seen easily.

 

The Candy Room

For the Candy Room, I recently was approved for a wholesale account with Candy Club. Their candy is adorable and delicious and helps me stock up on supplemental products so I don’t have to bake as much.

The Coffee Room

For coffee, I’m currently using Stack Street as my coffee vendor. Their coffee is delicious and provides yet another way for me to add supplemental items to my menu.

Note: Stack Street allows private labeling which is wonderful but also means their minimum order quantity is quite high. A great alternative would be to order bulk coffee from a bulk supplier such as webstaurant.com and fill your own coffee bags.

My Dollhouse Mascot

FINALLY...I will have a dollhouse mascot named June who will sit in a different room each time the dollhouse is open. Sometimes she will be in the coffee room, other times the reading room, etc. and her overall mission is to watch over the dollhouse.

It's All About the Experience

So that’s about it. I have found that the experience you provide people is what brings them out to your market booth, bakery cart, porch pick-up, or even a Dollhouse Bakery.

As much as people love baked goods, finding ways to stand out and motivate them to visit you is always a win-win.

I’m already envisioning how I will decorate this for the holiday season! I'm planning to get some professional photos of the dollhouse taken soon and I will share the final result.

My Dollhouse Bakery will be out in both Apple Valley and Big Bear, CA. Hoping to launch the weekend of August 23, 2024.

Wish me luck!

Your baking friend, Tiffany