Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Kossman.
Kevin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Piece of Cake was born just over 15 years ago. We started like most cake companies, baking and decorating for friends and family and then we decided to do something crazy. When we quit our jobs to make it a go full time, we had 8 wedding cakes booked for the rest of the year, it did not seem like a smart decision at the time 🙂 Our first year in business full time we made just 80 wedding cakes and last year we were lucky enough to create wedding cakes for over 900 couples( that’s over 100,000 people that ate our cake in 2016!) ! Our 5 decorators are insanely talented and their skills and ability to create any cake a couple wants is a huge factor in setting us apart. Every week, they make me feel like a genius for hiring them! We have over 30 of the best wedding venue partners that any company could ask for and while we do amazing work, we owe our success to the venues, planners, and couples than have had so much confidence in us over the years, even back when we barely deserved it 🙂
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not even close! When we started, we started like most cake companies, baking out of the house! We had extra ovens and refrigerators everywhere and still no idea if we could actually make this business a success. There were countless days waking up at 8AM and working until 1AM, just to do it all over again the next day and we were watching the bank account shrink every week! When we finally started to make some money, then all new struggles presented themselves with things like learning how to make a commercial kitchen out of a blank suite and the massive expenses involved in doing so, plus hiring staff, expanding the business and even wishing we hadn’t expanded, (I’m glad we did now!) 🙂
Piece of Cake – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are really known as a wedding cake specialist! Even though we create cakes for all kinds of events, wedding are what we do most and do best!
I am most proud of the number of venues that have put their trust in us to be their only wedding cake partner for all of the weddings they host. Some of the most exclusive hotels in the valley and almost every one of the best independent wedding venues in the east valley includes a cake from Piece of Cake in their wedding packages. Every time they send us a couple, it is their reputation on the line. If that couple doesn’t have an amazing experience with us from their tasting all the way up to their wedding day, the venue looks bad. It is our job to make each of these amazing venues look like geniuses for working with us and I am proud to say that we do that the overwhelming majority of the time.
I would say 100% that it is our people that set us apart from the competition. Not only are our decorators insanely talented but they are amazing with our couples. They know that the wedding cake business isn’t just about making pretty cakes, it is about the overall experience every couple has with our company and they consistently impress me and make me look brilliant for hiring them.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
To me, success means growth that can equate to financial growth, increased knowledge and/or skills, and physical improvements. Even if you all of those remain unchanged, give me some good old spiritual and emotional growth and I am calling that a successful day/week/month/year/lifetime!
Pricing:
- Our wedding cakes start at $4.75 per serving
- Our cupcakes start at $2.50 each by the dozen
Contact Info:
- Address: 1275 East Baseline Suite 116
Gilbert AZ 85233 - Website: pieceofcakeaz.com
- Phone: 480-985-9166
- Email: kevin@pieceofcakeaz.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pieceofcakeaz/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/PieceOfCakeAZ/
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/piece-of-cake-desserts-gilbert-2
Image Credit:
Ivonne Carlton Photography
Monique Hessler Photography
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