Hi there! Lisa here, owner of Borderlands Bakery. In my ten years of cookie decorating, I spent 5 of them taking on custom orders for decorated sugar cookies and french macarons. Having lived that custom-order life and after talking with thousands of other bakers, we know first hand what a PAIN it is just to get the information from a client let alone get them to order! Then, having to manage multiple orders in the chaos of busy seasons turns a fun, creative outlet into a chore…  and we knew there had to be a better way.

Of course, there are existing tools on the market that get us part of the way there: Google forms, custom websites, Square Space, Wix, Etsy, Honeybook, etc.: these are all amazing tools, and have a time and place. Many of you have adapted and made it work but it’s more of a ducktape solution than a working model.

And when it comes to highly customized goods such as decorated cookies, we have found that these tools just don’t cut it.

It’s clear that one of the greatest hurdles for taking on custom orders is maintaining clear and open communication with the client, in a way that doesn’t suck up all your time and energy. Trying to extract all the details of a custom design can often take hours on end through email, texts, phone calls, and DMs across multiple social media platforms; and often, at the end of all of that, you get ghosted. It’s not a good feeling, and for those of you whose livelihoods depend on this, it can be a serious issue.

I can’t tell you how many times I hear “I want to take on more custom orders, but the process of understanding what the clients want takes too long.”

Current tools tend to provide a one-size-fits-all solution to managing product specifications, availability and quotes. But that doesn’t work when you also have highly custom options that you’re providing. Not to mention everyone has different skill levels, different ways to manage availability, and, in general, no two people run their business the same way.

To help alleviate some of the pain points around client communications, availability, and managing your workload, my husband and I sought out to create a tool tailored to the needs of the custom dessert maker: My Custom Bakes.

My Custom Bakes is a web application designed to help you sell your custom baked goods and manage your custom orders. After 2 years of self funded work, we are pleased to announce that My Custom Bakes is getting ready for its soft launch on Nov. 22, 2021. Some of you will be able to use SOLELY MCB for your business, and some of you will want to use a combo of MCB with another tool. What started off as a “easier to use google forms designed for cookiers” kind of got out of control as we worked on it more and more 😉

Also important: MCB allows you AND your client to function without having to download any apps to your device. We can operate from any web browser, and we do not sell your data, in any manner, shape or form for profit.

As of this moment,  signups for My Custom Bakes are open! At this time, we are only serving bakers in the United States. If things go well and we are able to secure some funding, we hope to extend the service to additional geographies. IF you’re able to Make a Donation, we’d appreciate that. Or, please purchase a digital course or Shop with us to help fund this effort.

Here’s how to sign up:

Overview: My Custom Bakes

 ——————————————————–

If you’re a visual learner, we put together a casual walk through some more details about each part of the app. As we mature, we’ll continue to build out help tools.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below OR email us: support@mycustombakes.com – Please include applicable screenshots/screen recordings, and please give us about 2 business days to respond back.

Thanks for being here. If you can, please Donate or purchase a Class or merch/supplies from our shop to keep us moving forward.