What You Can Learn From Janie’s Cakes: Focus On Quality

To start up a business successfully, you definitely need to be a risk taker.  It also helps if you have the nerves of a cat burglar and the daring of a trapeze artist.  But, in the end, you only need to do a few things well.  And you will need the concentration of an Indian fire walker to keep those things, and those things only, foremost in your mind and vision.

FOCUS on your core skill, service or product. Focus on quality. If you are making cakes, make the best ones.  I was looking a few days ago at Janie’s Cakes and I had to look no further than her list of ingredients to know she would make some of the best cakes available:

Farm Fresh Eggs = Farm Fresh Flavor Others may use the term but at Janie’s Cakes we actually use farm fresh eggs in our cakes. In fact, Janie raises her own chickens (she has over 300 happy laying hens!) and collects the fresh eggs each morning to bake her cakes. You can tell the difference. It’s a fact, pampered farm-raised chickens lay tastier eggs than their cooped-up commercial counterparts! Try one of our cakes and taste real farm freshness.
Vanilla Flavoring vs. Pure Vanilla Extract Because of the high price of real vanilla extract most bakers use cheaper artificial vanilla flavoring in their products.  Not at Janie’s Cakes. Janie uses only pure organic Madagascar vanilla extract from 100-year-old Nielsen-Massey® Vanillas. Vanilla is just one more important example of how Janie will not compromise the quality of her pound cakes because of the high cost of an essential ingredient. www.nielsenmassey.com
Quality Flour = Quality Pound Cakes The primary ingredient of any cake is flour. That’s why at Janie’s Cakes we use only the best unbleached flour available—King Arthur Special Flour®. Established in 1790, King Arthur® Flour is America’s oldest flour company.  For over two centuries its products have remained free from chemical additives. It’s the only flour Janie will use in her pound cakes. www.kingarthurflour.com

The list goes on, but you get the idea.  Any one who puts that much focus and effort into the ingredients…300 chickens laying eggs!…..you know that cake is going to be incredibly good!

If you write a blog, remember, “Content is King.”  You can attract a sizable audience by being known for the quality and thoughtfulness of your content.

And there’s another tip you can pick up from Janie.  She only sells 7 kinds of pound cakes and the sauces which are part of their ingredients.  She has, in fact, streamlined and simplified her product line and created a system.

You can do the same thing if you write a blog:

• Set up your Google or other reader to bring information to you instead of having to go out and track it down
• Write your first draft
• Gather any, graphics or links that will bolster, deepen, add insight or punch to content
• Give it a quick round of final revisions and edits. Sometimes the story changes as you write it. Go with the flow.
• Push the content live and you’re done! On to the next post.

A couple of other areas to maintain your Indian-walker-like focus:

FOCUS on marketing your service or product. Think “blowing your own horn”.  Think “social media” and connecting with others and letting them in on a good thing….what you do and can do for them.

FOCUS on the numbers: they are like a treasure map which will show you the path to success.

And if you have a moment to spare, think about automating or outsourcing anything you don’t absolutely have to do yourself so you can focus on being the best in whatever field you’ve chosen.

Tagged as: Business and Economy, Core competency, core expertise, focus