The Shark Tank Experience Fresh from the Pan - FunCakes | EP. #28

On this 28th episode of The E-Comm Show, our host and BlueTuskr CEO Andrew Maff is with Kimberly Aya of FunCakes. Kimberly is a long-time baker who devised a way to create artificial tiered cakes that looks exactly like a real one! These pseudo-custom designed cakes are available for rent, are easy to transport, and way more affordable for wedding couples on a budget.

Tune in to Kimberly as she shares her full experience of swimming with the sharks on one of the most coveted TV shows today, Shark Tank. Get hot and fresh insights and tips on how to land an opportunity to pitch your business to the sharks and how to handle the sales after the show.

Tune in and enjoy today's E-Comm Show!

If you enjoyed the show, please be sure to rate, review, and of course, SUBSCRIBE! 

Have an e-commerce marketing question you'd like Andrew to cover in an upcoming episode? Email: hello@theecommshow.com

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The Shark Tank Experience Fresh from the Pan

SPEAKERS

Andrew Maff and Kimberly Aya

CONNECT WITH OUR HOST: AndrewMaff.com  |  Twitter: @AndrewMaff | LinkedIn: @AndrewMaff

About Kimberly Aya

Kimberly Aya is the owner of FunCakes, which originated in

Europe and then started again in the states. Plans were to open a traditional bakery but at the first Bridal Show, brides were asking to rent the display cakes. As the customer is always right , FunCakes Rental was born and is now a 15-year-old company. From day one FunCakes was e-commerce and has never owned retail space. Traditional bakeries are tied to a retail space and one neighborhood but by making fake cakes and being e-commerce FunCakes is able to be a bakery for the world!!

Transcript:

00:03

retails done. You're been way ahead of the ballgame. It's all about e-commerce, all about just being able to ship your product all over and you've been doing the right thing why would you want to step back?

00:18

Hey everyone is Nicole B. the chief pretty chick in charge at shopprettypieces.com this is Rolando with Global Teck Worldwide. Hey, this is Tanner Leatherstein with Pegai and you are listening today and you're watching and you're listening to The E-Comm Show. Welcome to The E-Comm Show., presented by BlueTuskr, the number one place to hear the inside scoop from other e-commerce experts. They share their secrets about how they scaled their business and are now living the dream. Now, here is your host, Andrew Maff

00:56

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The E-Comm Show. I'm your host Andrew Maff. And today I am joined by Kimberly Aya of FunCakes. Kimberly, how are you doing?

01:06

Good morning. How are you?

01:07

Doing? Good. Super excited to have you on the show. I'm obviously a big fan of Shark Tank, which I know you're on and it's always fun things to chat about to see how things have been going since then, and all that fun stuff. But let's pretend that no one knows who you are. And why don't you give us a little bit of background about yourself and about the fun cake.

01:25

So I've been doing cake since I was like eight years old. And then I had a bakery in Europe. And I called that one fun cake because the cakes in Europe were just like a tart with fruit on top. And I just didn't think like a five-year-old kid would want that his birthday cake. So I thought you know he needed fun things like spiderman and Superman. So my cakes were fun. So therefore I called it fun cakes. And then we move back to the States. And so I decided that I was tired of doing buttercream I really wanted to work with fondant. And that's a whole new medium to learn. Once I learned it, I signed up for a bridal show and went to the bridal show with baked cakes. I mean, that's what a baker does. They take bake cakes, and then they let you see your work and see what you think about your work. And so I was working on getting a shot, but I had to convert it into a kitchen. So certified kitchen, right. So I needed you to know, the triple sink and the stove and you know all the things. So I went and set up at the bridal show and came back home because the show started at five. And the realtor called me cussing at me. Like why was I waiting for and why had night beep beep signed the lease. And he just went on this rant of screaming at me and cussing. So when he got done and paused, I said I'm no longer interested. So now I had to go to the bridal show without a shop without anything. But at the bridal show, all the brides asked if they could use my fake cakes. And it was like, Well, why would you do that? And how does that work? And so they taught me my entire business. And then I just needed office space. So it's like, okay, let's do this. And now I don't have to work in just my town. I can ship them, and I can be an E-commerce company. So that was 15 years ago.

03:23

Wow. That's very interesting. So I know I believe that the cakes themselves still have like nutritional fondant on them even though they're foam inside. And you don't need to have a commercial kitchen for that aspect of it. No,

03:37

because they're not edible. You need a commercial kitchen. You need to be certified if you're eating it and then you know, how do you wash everything up? But I just have tools to wash up. I don't have pans and mixing bowls and they're all the work of a bakery all those dishes? I don't have any of them. No.

03:58

So since you started and obviously since you were on national television, have you started to see any competition come in or anything like that?

04:07

Um, a few people have copied me on Etsy. I will say that um, there were a couple of actual like websites like mine that have since closed down mainly due to COVID. Yeah. COVID has really hurt the wedding business and the event planning business. So um, I still I started really don't have much competition even today, except for Etsy.

04:35

What did you do during COVID That I assume affected you as

04:39

to Florida? Hey, go out. Yeah. Pancake stuff down going on. Why did I move all this? But then it started back up again last summer. So that was super.

04:53

Yeah, so did you just kind of more or less put fun cakes on hold until COVID? Kind of yep cleared a little But

05:00

Yep, absolutely. It was a good time to reorganize, move. Figure out, you know, where did I want to be? redo my website? It was a good break. I mean, when you've been doing it 15 years, it was actually a great break. Because no, do you want to keep doing it? Do you still love it? And of course, I still love it. So yeah, I wanted to keep doing it. So it made you reflect on a lot of things. Um, so I think it was good. Definitely.

05:29

What's your primary marketing strategies? Is it going to different shows and showcasing at conferences and events, things like that? Or is it mostly still on the digital side of social media advertising? All that fun stuff?

05:42

Absolutely. All social media? Yeah. Yep, just to you know, post a cake and then boost it out and pay to spread it. And it's more than I ever got, before social media, you know, before social media went crazy, what I would pay for magazines and things like that, it's still your best dollar. And then you can choose your budget. Like, if it's a fantastic cake, you're gonna want to choose your budget, like a whole lot higher. And if it's just a random cake, nothing, you know, spectacular, then you don't have to do your budget. I love the freedom of that. And there's no you know, print ad and you know, getting it all okay. And that's a lot of work all that where this is just take a snapshot with your iPhone and put it on social media. Yeah, it's really nice. Yeah,

06:29

I know that there's a in the cake itself. There's like a little kind of compartment to actually do a traditional cake so they can still cut it correctly. And then you have the sheet cake in the back of everything. Do you also provide the actual cake that's put in there or is it come with just like a cutout area that you show them how to basically add it in.

06:50

So I send instructions with a cake. So it's a flap that's cut. And so they just lift up this flat, pull out the styrofoam wedge, put in three Twinkies, put the flat back down, there's a bow there to like, hide it and conceal it. And also, they know where to cut. And then they just can cut in and get their first bite. Because even if it's a real cake, and you know the real cake is on display at the wedding or at the party, they're going to take their first bite, and then the cakes gonna go to the back. Yeah. And then somebody cuts it all up in the back and you pay a lot of money for that you paid between one and $2 a slice for somebody to cut it and played it. Whereas if it's a sheet cake, there's no talent and cutting a sheet cake. So then the venues aren't charging for that, which is fabulous. So you saved on that. And as well. Mm-hmm.

07:46

So I'm sure you got this question a lot, and probably still do. But why don't you tell us a little bit about the experience of going through Shark Tank and what happened and where you're at now compared to where you were then.

07:58

Okay. Um, Shark Tank, I did Shark Tank just for fun, because I knew the future of fun cakes, was going into grocery stores. Because grocery stores offer cakes, and some offer wedding cakes, most do not. Even if a grocery store offers a wedding cake, they have to find that person who's competent enough to be able to decorate it. And then how do you deliver it. So like a three-tiered cake, the bride goes to the grocery store and picks it up and hopes that they can balance it, you know, going home? No, I knew our goal was to be in the grocery stores. And there is no grocery store shark, which is really interesting because they started off like our Food Network, they'd started different, like similar shows in just the grocery market. So I just sort of went for fun. I just thought that it would be a good experience for me to give, you know, an evaluation, I have to say I'm really artistic. So I don't really think about the whole bean-counting end of the business. So that was good for me to have to you know, figure all that out. Um, and I just knew it would be fun. And it was really, really fun. And I did not get a deal because there are no sharks that do grocery stores. Yeah. And I expected that. Um, but for me, especially being a woman, I think when you own a woman, and then you own cake business, they're like, Oh, that's nice. So it's like, no, no, really, like I own this real business, you know, like, and they're like, Oh, that's nice. Yeah. And then when you say, Well, I've been on Shark Tank, then they're like, oh, oh, do you mean you have a real business? Like, that's what I was trying to tell you. So I think from that standpoint, it was it's been wonderful. Absolutely wonderful to go into grocery stores. And to say that I have been on Shark Tank

09:56

or you know, available in grocery stores.

09:58

I was before co And then after COVID, everything got canceled. So now I have to reevaluate, do I want to start that up again, or just go through Amazon? And I'm sort of leaning towards Amazon, because it's a whole lot less paperwork. That is true.

10:17

So you're you are obviously, as you said, now available on Amazon. Is that starting to be your top revenue driver? Or is it still your website?

10:26

Still my website? That's good. Yeah. Yeah, I think brides are. You know, I think, in anything in America, what makes America great is we have alternatives. We have lots of alternatives. And we have different choices on any one thing. You know, where do you want to live? What do you want to pay for your home? Do you want a new home? You know, use tone? Do you want to rent? Do you you know, so there just were no options with wedding cakes. You know, your only option was to go to cupcakes. And I'm sorry, but cupcakes belong at a birthday party. They do not belong at a wedding cake at a wedding? Absolutely not. You know that people peeling the paper off and all that like no. Yeah. So I think that you know, brides go on the website and search for different alternatives. And then I come up.

11:18

You mentioned some similar shows on Food Network that I'm not too familiar with, have you reached out and tried to get on those shows as

11:26

well, I think they were very short-lived. I watched some. And when I signed the contract with Shark Tank, I wasn't allowed to go on anything else. Oh, yeah. They have like, the contract was like, I don't know, 50 some pages. And wording from here to the universe and beyond was a lot of the wording. And I sent it to my lawyer. And he was like, yeah, don't sign that. And so I did. Because, you know, I know. I'm always wanting to take a risk, though, to have fun. So yeah, that sort of gone on. I think now I could I think enough years just past that I could now but then I put it. Did they?

12:12

I read somewhere that they take a percentage just for being on the show, is that accurate? Did they take anything, if you at all, just for being on the show? Is there any kind of fee behind it?

12:22

The only thing was, it was interesting, because, you know, they covered your plane ticket, they covered your hotel, they covered your transportation everywhere, you got the day off before you filmed so that you could go to the beach or do whatever you want. But they didn't pay to ship your product there. And so once you are scared, they bring in this shrink, you know, to make sure you're okay, and you're not going to commit suicide or something like that. And then, you know, after she saw we were okay, and no problems. And she's like, so do you have anything you'd like to suggest? And I'm like, Yeah, you should pay to ship our product. I mean, I understand like, some people have a big product, but at least say, you know, $2,000, we give you to ship your product and bring it back, you know, something like that. So that was our only expense was shipping the display cakes that were on the show, and then shipping them back. And like the one, I did have the sharks. So that's how I got on the show I kept watching the show. And then I read up a lot about it. And it said that you know, so many people apply. Your hardest part is just to get noticed. You know, if you can get noticed, then it's either they like your product or not, but it gets noticed is your biggest, you know, hurdle. So I made a cake. So I made a five-tiered cake with shark's fins on it. And all the sharks, I made them out of gum paste on it, and then just mailed it with the application. And so like I saw on my phone, and it arrived, and then two hours later, they called me and they're like, so who are you working with here? And I'm like, no one and they're like, Okay, well, you made it. You're on. So it was that quick? Wow. Yeah. Which was really cool. But you know, who rents a cake. I mean, now I don't rent them anymore due to COVID. But stone, I knew that I would get on because they show well, you know, that's important. It's a TV show. So it needs to show well, and it needs to be something different. Yeah. So and I take that cake back. They made they had to have that cake. I put the ABC logo on it. I had to remove that. And then they had to keep it which I thought was funny. Like

14:40

a lot of people that are on the show, you know whether they get a deal or they don't they all tend to see a pretty significant spike. Oh, yeah. When their show airs and then again, you know if it requires you kind of see some trickle on as well. Is that what was that like when that went through

14:54

for you? Um, it was crazy. Just like they said, you know, like you're I, I had prepared because they had said that so I had brought in extra people to be able to answer emails, extra stations, so everybody had, you know, a desk and a computer and whatever, so that we could answer them quickly. Um, and then every time it airs, I know it's aired because all of a sudden, I'll get emails, so they pretty much air it like every May and June, again, as a rerun. So then all of a sudden get all these emails going, Wow, what's going on? And I'm like, oh, must have aired on Shark Tank again. So that's super. And that's been, what, seven years or something that I'm getting, you know, all this free advertising. Yeah, that was the other interesting thing when we went. So they had all the companies in one of the hangars there the filming area, and they say, now if you get a deal, be sure when your shark calls you to take that phone call. And I'm thinking, why wouldn't you take that phone call? Like, yeah, I don't get it. So they said that a lot, a lot. Like a whole lot of the people like over 50% that get a deal. Never want a deal. They just want to be on the show, and they want to air than when the shark calls and it's like, Okay, let's start our due diligence and make sure I want to go through with this. They never even pick up the phone. And I never even thought of that like, that's like advertising to a whole new level in my head.

16:28

So there's no clause in the contract is something that whatever is verbally agreed upon, at the show is like a set

16:38

Hollywood. So they it took like three months of them working with what like what we said when we walked in. And so we would have to videotape it once a week, send it to them, and then they would tweak it and change it. So we did that for about three months along with sending all our financials, all our everything. So they said that if you got a deal, then the real due diligence starts because now the shark will contact you. And then now you really go through all the numbers in the bean-counting to make sure they want to go. So just because they shake your hand and say, Yeah, we have a deal. More than 50% of those don't even go through. Yeah, because the people have exaggerated their numbers. When they went out. They made things look better than they were. And so then once the shark sees everything they're like, Yeah, we're not interested. So it's a TV show. Yeah, exactly. No, it's I mean, how many companies do we know that have done really, really well from Shark Tank? You know, that many points

17:45

compared to how many have been on the show. That's

17:47

how many deals they make? Like there should be hundreds of companies that are just doing fantastic from the Shark Tank, and there isn't, you know, there's a handful. So that sort of tells you something, too. Yeah. But it's a great show. And I think for any entrepreneur, it's a great show to watch, to learn. You know, I watched it for all the years up to I applied. Now I don't watch it. Because it makes me mad.

18:16

That doesn't mean my question is like, based on what they said about your product line and everything. What did you learn? Did you get any advice from them? You're like, okay, that does make sense, or was it all just like frustrating to hear?

18:29

I don't think I really got any negative feedback at all. Um, I think that they I think that they're so rich, that they couldn't understand why you would need this business. To be honest with you. They were like, Yeah, of course, you spend $3,000 on a cake. Why not? They just thought that was normal. You know, and then the one grocery store I was supposed to be going into the CEO had gotten fired. Just before I went to air. I ended up getting in the grocery store, but I wasn't in it when I went to air. And Laurie had nothing nice to say about that grocery store. And it's owned by New Albertsons. I mean, that's a big chain grocery store. So I just found like, they just didn't understand why anybody would need that. Yeah.

19:26

You mentioned bean-counting, which isn't your favorite thing to do. So what is your day-to-day? Like? How many people are on staff that works with you? Like who handles all the stuff that you don't like doing?

19:43

Oh, yeah, I don't do any of that. No, I decorate the cakes. Yeah. Um, I have a couple of people that helped me with the emails. I tried to do most of the emails myself. Because we've had like, we I think we only had one time where one of the girls promised something that We weren't able to give. So, you know, then the bride got upset because we were able to give that and then we have about 20 Different decorators. And then I just have accountants who come in and go through my QuickBooks in some that put it in, and then other ones that commonly take care of all of that, and then do my taxes. I pay to have all that done. Yeah, that's nothing I'll do. Yeah. No, I'm very good though it, figuring out what my costs are and what my labor is and what I should be charging. To me, that's really basic. Because you know, that is a hard part of the business is to figure out what you should charge. Um, so that I had no problem with but then getting into QuickBooks and then getting all the tasks is like, I don't do any of that. Yeah, there are people.

20:45

Yeah. Do you have anyone on staff? Are they all contractors? Right now? Contractors? Yeah. Who handles your, like marketing side?

20:56

Or the marketing side? I do the marketing myself, I always have. I tried hiring people. And it made no sense to me because they would be like, okay, so send me all the cases you want to post? Well, if I'm sending it to you, why don't I just post that just didn't, it was like double duty, you know, and I'm not a real morning person. Like, I always get up like two hours before, like, okay, my office hours are 11 to six, not a morning person. And I want to wake and I want to work out in the morning. So to me, just while you're having a cup of coffee, you just go through and do all your social media. I just didn't get why to hire that. Now. I hire people to do my website. I hire people to do my SEOs. I hire for all that. But what actually goes on social media? I've always done it. Yeah. Mistake it could be I'm not saying that I'm it's the right way. It's just been my way. Yeah. Well, I

21:56

mean, it all depends, right? Like, it kind of depends on what your goals are with the business. Like if you're happy with where it's at. And you want to keep it kind of just maintaining as it's been going keep it as kind of a lifestyle business, constantly. Outsourcing stuff can get expensive, and it's not entirely necessary. But what about, like, what's your goal with? What's the end goal of the business? Are you planning on growing it and giving it to someone? Do you want to one day sell it

22:25

was her idea? I thought I don't. I think about that often. You know, the goal was to keep getting in all the grocery stores, and then I figured I'd be bought out. I just figured that was the natural course it would go But COVID ruined all that. Yeah, so now I don't know. And the weddings are really small now. Um, you know, the prices that I'm finding that I need to charge less, which my products have gone up. So I think the economy right now, I just don't know if we have to see what is this going to be after COVID after the inflation stabilizes. Unfortunately, I think most brides are doing away with a cake. I really do more, they're doing a one or two-tiered cake and then doing like a sweet table where they have all the different cookies and different pastries, and the whole cake is sort of dying. I don't know the answer to that question. It's really hurt the whole bakery, you know, the bakery has gone to like little things, you know, where you're not getting together with a big party anymore, but you might be getting four people together. So you need something that feeds people. So all bakeries have changed as well as where it's going. Yeah, and I don't know if that's gonna stay that way. I just don't know

23:51

what this the state of everything that's going on right now like is inflation causing issues with you know, some of your supply are you having issues with the supply chain of getting stuff over here like how's the current state I'm

24:04

able to get everything I need but Styrofoam is made with you know, oil. So Styrofoam has gone way up in prices and then shipping those you know, I used to live in Michigan and there was a company right down the road that did all my Styrofoam. For instance, when we did the hangover movie, they had called two months previous to figure out how the business works. But then they forgot to order and then they called the day off and said so it shipping outright? And I'm like no, You never ordered. So because the company was right down the road. I was able to get you to know all the styrofoam get everything. But due to COVID, they're no longer there. Their business of styrofoam went into trailers and went into mobile homes. So all the people that they used to serve in Michigan, they don't Service anybody anymore. They're overwhelmed with the trailers. So then I had to find new Styrofoam people, which I did. It's not a problem, but then they have to ship it. So you're paying more for the styrofoam and then you're paying to ship it. So my prices have gone up and bonded has stayed pretty much the same. Labor has gone up. So my prices have gone up, but yet everybody's wanting to pay less. Yeah,

25:27

it's difficult. You had mentioned right before we started, that something had happened in Michigan, about what happened there.

25:39

So I just, I would get lots of phone calls from the local town that I lived in, you know, wondering if they could get real cakes. And I would be like, No, I don't have, you know, a triple sink. I don't have a certified kitchen. We only do fake cakes. So my original goal when I opened fun cakes was to do real cakes, you know, and it sort of fell into this fake cake. So I thought, well, maybe I could open up a retail shop and do both. So there was a organization in our town called Start garden, some start garden, I think is what it was called. Anyways, Betsy DeVos, his son ran it. And then companies would go in front of him and a whole committee sort of like a shark tank, with a business plan and what they wanted to do. So we had a meeting with them and went in and showed them that, you know, we wanted to open a retail business and why we wanted to do it. And they just laughed us back. It was just such a crazy reaction. And they're like, No, retails done, you're been way ahead of the ballgame. It's all about e-commerce, all about just being able to ship your product all over. And you've been doing the right thing, why would you want to step back, and then now be the little bakery in town. And it's like, Well, I wasn't gonna give up the fake cakes. I was just gonna do both. And they're like, no, no, that's a really silly idea. Which cracks me up. That was like, Okay, I guess this is what I keep doing. Yeah.

27:14

And it's, that's really interesting, because like, I know, obviously a lot of ecommerce sellers, they like the idea that they don't have a store and maybe they just don't want to deal with it. But if you are okay with dealing with it, you can double your store as also your fulfillment center and be able to do everything out of there while also benefiting from some possible foot traffic. So

27:35

zackly more, you know, business, no more people could be employed. And that's exactly what I was trying to do. I had the location picked out. And it actually wasn't all in the same building. But I was only like a block apart. Yeah. So that it was really easy. Everything can be shipped to one building and carried over to the other. And the staff could go back and forth as well. Because I think when you're a cake baker, that's what you've always done. So it's kind of, you know when the brides asked to use my display cakes because that realtor had been cussing at me. I was like, Okay, let's try it for a year. I'll just try it for a year. And we'll see where we're at, hoping to eventually open the bakery. And then it just kept growing and growing. So I never lost that desire to open a bakery. So that's why I went to them. Yeah. And they're like, no, no, you don't want to retail shop retail stuff. You want it is an E-commerce.

28:34

Now you're in Florida. Are you gonna try again? No,

28:38

no, no, no, it's all gonna melt here. Like I'm gonna have to really learn, you know, I've talked to the bakers down here. And, you know, over the years, I've become for myself personally, I'm a vegan now. So I would have a hard time with the milk and the eggs. And then you know, they're having to make their buttercream shortening so that it doesn't melt. They can't use butter. And I mean, shortenings one, you know, DNA away from plastic, like where's and I couldn't promote it anymore. I couldn't. You know, I teach at the Visual Art Center here in Florida. And I teach cake decorating and all that and it's like, I try to be really quiet when it comes to making the frosting because, you know, I'm against it all. So I just give them lots of recipes and lots of options. You know, they can use all egg whites, shortening, and butter, and then I just tried to keep my mouth closed because I don't eat cake anymore. Yeah, it's perfect. Yeah, it's kind of difficult.

29:54

It's amazing. Look, obviously you really, really appreciate having me on the show is a great time. don't want to take up too much more of your time. So I would love for you to take a second and let everyone know where they can find out more about you and more about fun cakes.

30:08

So our website is cake rental.com and following fun cakes and cake rental is most of our social media as well. So yeah, we'd love to hear from the listeners. Tell me what they think. Should I you know, go back into retail, should I? What should I do? How should I end this eventually? So yeah, I would love to hear everybody's feedback. Please give a shout-out to me. That'd be great. Perfect.

30:33

Do you hear that reach out better? No. Thank you so much for joining the show. Of course, everyone who tuned in thanks you as well. Please make sure you rate reviews and subscribe on whichever podcast platform you want or YouTube or at ecommshow.com. But as usual, thanks again and we will see you all next time. Have a good one.

30:51

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