From Alla's Kitchen
the story behind OurCakewalk
Baking became my escape from the stress of a corporate job. After an endless amount of Food Network in university, with my dad teasing me about when I'd finally cook something (watching was the stress relief back then, not cooking!), I eventually gave it a try. That's when I understood the joy of it. Cooking too, but baking is what brought me comfort. I got pretty good and started baking for my family and friends.
At some point I wanted to take it more seriously. A side hustle baking cinnamon buns, or maybe cookies? Would anyone buy them? Would it be a gigantic waste of money? And how would I even sell them? I didn't want to open a bakery. I'm really not an early riser. So, like a lot of people, I put the idea on the back burner. Life was busy enough: work, getting married, my first baby, then my second.
And then Covid hit. That's when I started noticing home bakeries selling in a way I hadn't seen before: drops. A set amount, pre-ordered, baked on the weekend for some extra money. Home bakeries became much more common, but I kept seeing people run them through Instagram DMs, spreadsheets and e-transfers.
What stuck with me was how much work sat around the baking. Keeping track of orders. Checking payments. Telling people when to pick up. Working out how many of everything to make. I knew those were exactly the parts I would have hated doing myself. OurCakewalk came from wanting to make those parts easier.
Alla
What I kept seeing
- Orders arriving as DMs that were hard to keep track of
- Tallying up ingredients in spreadsheets and realizing too many orders were taken
- Bakers not getting paid because they didn't take payment ahead of time
- Finding out on pickup day that the e-transfer was short
Orders arriving as DMs that were hard to keep track of
Tallying up ingredients in spreadsheets and realizing too many orders were takenNone of that is why anyone starts baking for other people. And once orders grow, the admin can quickly become as much work as the baking.
OurCakewalk takes all of that off your plate. Your customers pre-order and pay in one go. The count is tracked and you don't end up accidentally overselling and stressed. Everyone gets told where and when to collect without you typing it out repeatedly.
What I believe
The count has to be right
Overselling isn't an inconvenience, it's a phone call to someone whose birthday cake you promised. So the software refuses to sell the item twice.
It has to be effortless
Your customers arrive from an Instagram or TikTok bio, on a phone, often standing in line somewhere scrolling. Checkout has to be a quick and easy process.
We only earn when you do
We don't charge a monthly fee, and building your storefront costs nothing. A quiet month won't cost you, which is how it should work for a small business.
The details that take up your time
The unglamorous details are handled: the texting consent rules, the ingredient tallying, the pickup reminders. And we have guides for the food rules for every province, because the answer changes depending on where you bake.
Rules by province
This is what's being made in home kitchens
And most of it is still being sold through a DM.
What you can expect from me
I'll help you set up your shop if you'd like, on a call with me. If something isn't working, I'll tell you. If OurCakewalk doesn't fit the way you run your business, I want to hear that too. You'll be able to reach me directly.
We're early, and I want to build this with the bakers who use it.