The Profitable Baker — for bakers who mean business
with Annie Bennett
You bake beautifully. But running a profitable baking business? That’s where things can get messy.
Each week, business mentor and baking industry expert Annie Bennett helps home bakers move beyond “just getting by” and start building a real, sustainable business.
Inside every episode, you’ll hear practical strategies, honest conversations, and inspiring stories from bakers who’ve turned their passion into profit. From pricing and visibility to mindset and marketing, Annie breaks down what really works — without the fluff or overwhelm.
If you’re ready to feel confident, charge your worth, and finally think like a business owner (not just a baker), you’re in the right place.
From Annie Bennett at The Home Baking Business Academy
Helping bakers to start and grow a profitable Home Baking Business.
What really happens behind the scenes at the world's biggest cake show? And what does it mean for your business if you enter?
This week I'm joined by Melanie Underwood, head of Cake and Bake International, for the first episode in our Cake International Guests series. We talk about how the show started, and how it has developed over the years.
Cake International returns to the NEC Birmingham from 6th to 8th November 2026.
All information about Cake and Bake International: https://www.cakeinternational.co.uk/
Coming next week: Natalie Porte of Immaculate Confections.
Connect with Annie:
The Free Profitable Baker Bundle:
21 free resources to support your baking business:
Could a cake competition be the most underused marketing tool in your business? In this episode, Annie makes the business case for entering competitions, and it has very little to do with medals. It's the opening taster for our Cake and Bake International series, leading up to the show at the NEC Birmingham, 6 to 8 November.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why visibility, not your product, is often what's keeping good bakers small
How competitions give you "borrowed credibility" that your own marketing can't
Why the business value starts long before the results are announced
How competing can make it easier to charge (and stand behind) your prices
The four questions to answer before you enter anything
Coming next week: Episode 45 with Melanie Underwood, head of Cake and Bake International.
Join The Profitable Baker Academy for weekly live sessions on visibility, pricing, selling and more, for £30 a month: anniebennett.co.uk
Struggling to turn down rush orders, discount requests, or endless revisions? This episode makes the business case for saying no, and gives you the exact language to do it without the guilt spiral.
You'll learn:
Why "small yeses" are quietly costing you money and burnout
The difference between the decision to say no and the delivery of it
Two ready-to-use scripts for turning down rush jobs and discount requests
A five-minute exercise to write your own non-negotiables before you need them
Ready to build the habits and confidence to run your business on your terms? Join The Profitable Baker Academy membership, link below.
The Free Profitable Baker Bundle:
21 free resources to support your baking business:
Suzanne Booth is a Craft Business Mentor & Strategist for makers.
After 20+ years of selling textile-based craft to teaching in schools, she now helps and mentors makers who already sell their work to build more sustainable craft businesses.
Looking in particular at ways to add income streams beyond the making itself with things like workshops, courses and digital products, using a combination of her own creative experience and teaching knowledge.
Claudia Sheena FCA is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience, providing hands-on, proactive financial leadership to growing businesses.
Claudia believes accountancy should be about far more than filing accounts and telling business owners what happened last year. She works closely with her clients throughout the year, helping them understand their numbers, plan ahead and make confident decisions about growth, profitability, cash flow and the future of their business.
Having built and grown her own accountancy practice, Claudia understands first-hand the challenges that come with running and scaling a business. Known for her approachable, plain-English style and responsive service, she aims to become a trusted financial partner to her clients, supported by her experienced UK-based team.
Her focus is simple: helping business owners feel in control of their finances and giving them the financial insight and support they need to build the business they want.
Claudia Sheena FCA
Claudia Sheena Accountancy Services Ltd
07973 504 511
Please book a call with her here or have a look at her website.
Connect with Annie:
The Free Profitable Baker Bundle:
21 free resources to support your baking business:
If the last few weeks have felt a bit foggy, school runs, no headspace, admin piling up, this episode is your reset.
Annie walks through why looking back briefly (not a deep post-mortem, just a 15-minute audit) sets you up for a much stronger Q4 than jumping straight to goal-setting. She also busts the "Q4 = Christmas" myth and shares three questions to get your own plan started today.
In this episode:
Why the "summer fog" is normal — and September is the right moment to clear it
The two-question business audit: what's worked, what hasn't
Why Q4 is bigger than Christmas (engagement season, gift vouchers, classes)
Reconnecting with why you started your business before you set targets
Three questions to kickstart your own Q4 plan today
Connect with Annie:
The Free Profitable Baker Bundle:
21 free resources to support your baking business:
Two ideas, one thread: this episode brings together experimentation and identity — because you can't build a genuine signature style without testing, and testing without direction just gives you a scattered range.
In the first half, Annie breaks down how to test new ideas properly — small, cheap, low-risk — before you ever put them on the menu or announce them to customers. She shares a simple three-question filter for deciding when an idea's ready to become a permanent product, and when it's just a lesson.
In the second half, she turns to signature style: what actually makes a baker's work recognisable, why it's usually already there waiting to be spotted rather than invented from scratch, and why trend-chasing quietly works against it.
This episode draws on two Academy sessions, Innovation Without Overwhelm and Signature Style Development.
For the full working exercises behind both, find out more about The Profitable Baker Academy Membership, link below.
The Free Profitable Baker Bundle:
21 free resources to support your baking business:
Hello, I’m Dawn Butler — the cake artist behind Dinkydoodle.
I’ve spent my career helping cake makers of all levels grow their skills and confidence. Over the years, I’ve earned multiple gold medals, won Best in Show at Cake International in 2016, been named International Cake Artist of the Year, and recognised as one of the UK’s Top Ten Cake Artists. In 2024, I was honoured to be inducted into the DMA Hall of Fame for my contributions to the sugar industry. But my proudest achievement is the community we’ve built inside the Dinkydoodle Cake Academy.
I’m also dyslexic and have ADHD — something I’m always open about. While it occasionally means a spelling slip, it also gives me the ability to break complex techniques into simple, accessible steps. It’s part of what shapes how I teach, create, and connect with others.
If you’ve ever doubted your abilities or felt unsure about trying something new, you’re not alone. I believe in learning with honesty, encouragement, and a good dose of fun, helping my students build confidence and creativity one cake at a time.
Here are the links for the Dinkydoodle webpages and social media:
Most bakers design products for themselves — not for their customers. Annie breaks down how to close that gap: reading real demand signals, treating declined enquiries as a training curriculum (especially for bespoke-only bakers), planning seasonally instead of reactively, and making simple bakes feel premium through presentation, not complexity.
In this episode:
Why "I liked the idea" isn't the same as market evidence
Simple, free ways to find out what customers actually want
For bespoke bakers: turning declined requests into a strategic skill-learning plan
Why reactive seasonal planning keeps you rushed and underpriced
Making simple bakes feel premium through presentation, naming and story
This episode is based on this month's Academy session, Designing Products That Sell Themselves — inside the session, we went deeper with real examples and built an actual seasonal plan together.
If you have found this episode useful, please follow of subscribe on the platform that you listen on, and leave a review!
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