OMG I have had 3 orders for cakes! HOORAY!! but dh thinks i should register for tax, should I ?

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

I made a dancing cake for a dance party at the weekend, and the dance teacher wants my details as a lot of people apparently used to order cakes from one of her students who's moved on, so now she wants to use me!! Have had a couple of other orders too, both from friends.
So Ive made four that ive been paid for so far with others in the pipeline, dp thinks I should register incase someone (in his words) "shops you to the tax office". Should I? I'm sure i wont earn enough to pay tax over a year, I already fill in one tax return a year for the minding, so I suppose I could register and do that return at the same time. What would YOU do?

[hatwoman]

it would all be on one return. if you fill in a tax return you need to include all your earnings. so filling one in and only mentioning you cm earnings and not including cake-related earning would be dodgy indeed. I'm not sure but if you're already registered as self-employed I don;t think you need to notify anyone if you diversify.

[hatwoman]

oh my lord - just looked at your cake pictures - they're amazing. you could have people queueing out of the door

[islandofsodor]

As you are already registered as self employed you should be OK. You might just need a supplemantary form if you want need to keep your two businesses separate. Or if it really small fill it in on your self assesment as other income. Dh did this one year when he earnt £500 from private teaching.

Don't forget its only profit you have to declare so keep records of your ingredianets and other costs.

There might be environmental health implications though as you are preparing food.

[islandofsodor]

What's the dance cake look like, how much would it cost and is it possible to send one through the post for, like, next weekend?

[bythepowerofgreyskull]

cake on your profile looks fab - no wonder you are busy!!

[stealthsquiggle]

[nosey] - how much are you charging? I have done cakes for other people but only as favours/presents so far.... about to start on this 'season' (4 cakes in 2 months) and must get myself sorted.

[notsoteenagemum]

Well Done with the cake success!
Iwould defo register, a friend of ours did a couple of 'foreigners' (he's an electrician) and got caught out his solicitor advised him to be honest so he did and said yes I did three weekends work for X amount.
The tax people charged him as if he'd worked EVERY weekend since declaring as self employed, he had a bill for nearly £15,000.

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

Yes, I think you can just add it separately, i guess i should to be on the safe side, and like you say, I can then claim tax on all the ingredients and equipment.
Thanks so much hatwoman
Am ok for environmental health, thanks to ofsteds new wonderful and bizzarre requirements, have had to register as a food premisis and do level 2 in food hygeine!

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

Islandofsodor, It had a ballerina, a belly dancer, age "in lights" and a couple doing "jaz hands" on the front!! I havent got pics of it yet, they are on my friends camera....lol cant post it though, sorry, arms would definitely fall off!!!!
OMG, notsoteenagemum, horrific, ok, im registering NOW!
Stealth, ive been charging £30 per cake so far, they are 8 inch round or square usually. Usually chocolate with lots of 70% chocolate in, and i end up getting through loads of sugarpaste. It doesnt really cover both ingredients and labor to be honest, but I never really know how much to ask, iykwim. You should definitely start charging, I love your cakes!

[bythepowerofgreyskull]

Hi Geraldinetheluckygoat

I have just been asked to do a cake for a friend and because I am just starting out I have said I would do it for the cost of the cake -
I have just worked out that the ingredients for the sponge cakes alone will be about £4.50 plus sugarpaste £7.60 and that is before I have made the footballer and football and goal posts and stuff to decorate the cake..

Do you find that people are comfortable spending £30 on a cake? I am aware that the lady who has asked me was going to buy a cake from Asda for £10. - I don't think it will come to £30 but I think it will be £15+ I am feeling a bit embarrassed about the mounting cost.

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

bythepowerofgreyskull, I feel very comfortable asking for £30,and people haven't batted an eyelid so far! You need to definitely ask for at least what the ingredients cost. Im sure I read (may have been on here,actually!) that the rule of thumb was cost of ingredients x3. The thing is, if you get a cake from asda, it will be mass produced, everyone elses kid or whoever can have the same so it isn't original. Also, it will likely not taste as nice as it will have more rubbish in it (although obviously decorated cakes have lots of food colours in, I always use high percentage chocolate, real butter icing and so on). Also, they are paying for your time, my cakes can easily take me a week, working on them in the evenings and a couple of hours during the day, especially if they have lots of fiddly bits to make on them, like lots of characters or whatever. Cakes take a lot of work, so don't be shy, tell her upfront what it will cost, don't appologise if it sounds a lot, and I bet she wont flinch. At the end of the day, if she doesn't want to pay, she can get a much less exciting one from the supermarket!
Also, bakers charge a fortune for cakes, my sil got one a coulple of years ago, just a square pink iced cake with her daughters name on and it may have had some sugar flowers, but not hand made ones i dont think, and that cost £30.
Good luck with the football cake!

[poshtottie]

I had a cake made for ds 2nd birthday and it was £45, so I think you could charge at least £30.

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

Oh, thats interesting, poshtottie, can I ask what it was like, size wise and what did it have on it (not to steal the idea, more to figure out how much work they charge £45 for!). I had someone say £30 was too cheap and they paid an extra fiver lol!

[hatwoman]

I agree £30 is easily fine - you're getting something totally bespoke, hand made, original. and, as well as that, people accept that if you want all those things you're going to be using an individual who can't make huge super-market style savings savings on bulk-buying, and lots of people like the idea of supporting a friends' talents or a local small business - much more satisfying knowing your money's going into a small loop / directly to the person who put in the work rather than a ginormous company

[seeker]

I do cakes too - and I charge around £30. Trouble is, that works out as very little indeed per hour once you have allowed for the ingredients! I suppose you have to think of it as a hobby that you get a little money for - if we charged for your time nobody would ever buy them. Mind you I copied one from a website that was charging £75! I charged £25.

[pointydog]

lovin your cakes, goat

[poshtottie]

It was a bob the builder cake, in relief, (I think you may know what that means) It was square and 10 inch.

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

Ok, thats helpful, thank you!
Thanks, Pointydog!!

[poshtottie]

geraldine, I originally looked at this website for ideas here

My lady quoted me £65 for one like the bob cake. By having it in relief it cost me less.

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

Thank you, poshtottie, that is really an eyeopener......£180 for a night garden cake!! Her cakes are brilliant, love the andypandy one and the teletubbies ones...

[stealthsquiggle]

Blimey. Seriously expensive and good but not stunning cakes.

[seeker]

I know - the London prices are a bit of a shock. Also - does anyone actually buy them? Just becasue someone's got a website doesn't mean they have any customers!

Well, than't what I say to myself every time I gratefully accept £30 for something that probably cost me about £10 to make and took about 6 hours!

[seeker]

I copied the steam train from that website - and charged my standard £30.

£140.

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

I love the way shes dont the gazebo in the nightgarden one, how do you rekon shes done that? with pastilage and dowels??!!

But for that price, I would want flowers, birds and plenty of leaves for a really pretty cake.

I am STILL trying to bake a madeira cake for this bloody bob dylan cake im doing for sunday...has anyone managed to get a madeira baked to satisfaction in an eight inch round tin? Am on my last attempt now, if this one is crap, Im doing a victoria sponge! Im on my fourth attempt.......
Thats why I can't charge £140....not actually very good at the BAKING part.....

[poshtottie]

I watched a programme on a lady who made cakes, they were stunning, particularly her wedding cakes. She also worked with the lady who did Charles and Camilla's cake. Did anyone see it? Might have been a regional programme.