From Scratch to Success: Tiffany Hill of The Pink Crumbb on Baking, Business, and Belief
Tiffany Hill, founder of The Pink Crumbb, turned her passion for baking into a thriving business that inspires confidence in and out of the kitchen. In this interview, she shares the journey behind her signature treats, lessons learned, and what it means to bake with heart.
Tiffany, tell us about your journey in starting The Pink Crumbb. What inspired you to venture into the home-baking business? How did this all get started?
My career began in my early 20s as a daycare provider, a career that allowed me to stay home with my small children while still earning an income. In many ways, I guess I was an entrepreneur then…though that word wasn’t really a popular term the way it is nowadays.
As the years unfolded, I transitioned through roles as an elementary teacher, a principal, and, ultimately, a director at the county office of education. Despite my successful career in education, I maintained a passion for baking, a hobby that brought joy and creativity into my life. Like many bakers, friends, and family kept telling me I should sell my baked goods, but I was overwhelmed with the process of opening a business and definitely lacked the confidence to take on such a venture.
In 2020, I was at a crossroads…my career had been taking me further and further away from my family, and I was determined to return to my roots of working at home. After struggling to find a niche as a small business owner, I realized it made the most sense to finally sell my baked goods. The journey was initially challenging, with long hours spent in the kitchen, recipe testing, and fulfilling sporadic orders. My work/life balance was suffering, and my low sales and profit margins led me to contemplate whether or not I should just close down.
Fortunately, the encouragement of my children became a turning point. Instead of waiting for customers to find me, I decided to take my baked goods directly to them by participating in a local farmer’s market. This decision changed the trajectory of my business. I found myself delving into the world of marketing, analyzing sales data, mastering pricing strategies, leveraging social media and understanding customer needs and wants. This shift not only transformed my baking hobby into a prosperous business but also imparted profound insights into entrepreneurship.
Could you share about the Pink Baking Cart and how it plays a role in your overall business strategy?
My pink bakery cart initially emerged as a solution to a challenge. As the demand for my home bakery increased and my customer base grew, I sought a more convenient way to sell my baked goods. I was also teaching bakery classes online, and I wanted to share ideas for selling that extended beyond only the farmer’s market.
The original idea was that I would still bake at home, and customers would pick up directly from me via a porch pick-up model. However, living in a remote area, I realized I needed to make the customer journey worthwhile. Hence, the idea of creating a charming bakery cart to house my baked goods. Little did I know it would become a hit, bringing joy and excitement.
Nowadays, my bakery cart is placed in unincorporated areas throughout my town, and I’m so grateful for the tremendous support it’s received. It also warms my heart to see all the other bakery carts popping up across the US and beyond from fellow home bakers.
What products or baked goods do you feature in the Pink Baking Cart, and how do you decide what to include? What is most popular?
I primarily stock sourdough bread loaves plus cake and brownies. My cart is also always stocked with Creamed Honey which has been a big hit!
With it being self-serve, have you ever had anything stolen from the Pink Cart?
So far, theft has been very minimal (I had a cookie 2 pack not accounted for once, but that’s been about it). I don’t ever leave my cart unattended, though. I usually park my vehicle at a distance and keep a close eye on everything. So far, so good! Everyone has been very kind and respectful when visiting the cart.
What challenges did you face in establishing and growing The Pink Crumbb, and how did you overcome them?
I would say exposure was the biggest challenge initially, as well as understanding that overnight success stories are rare. People just don’t know about you when you first start a business, even if you think you are sharing about it a lot.
It took me six solid months of attending a market twice per week and sharing my journey on Instagram to really start to see growth both on social media as well as financially. Six months is not a long time, but it can feel long when we are in the middle of it and when there’s no guarantee you’ll get to the other side. I overcame those hurdles by just being consistent even when I wasn’t sure it would pay off.
Please tell us about the online membership you created for home bakers wanting to create a business and how you help them feel more confident in their skills through The Pink Crumbb’s membership community.
My online membership was created after I began to see significant success as a home bakery owner. It allowed me to merge my prior career in education with my current career as an entrepreneur. In a quest to help other home bakers, I developed over 30 courses, along with a treasure trove of recipes, eBooks, and food label templates to provide bakers with a blueprint to help them get started quickly and become profitable quickly.
What are the biggest challenges home bakers face when starting out, and how does your community address those challenges?
I would say the biggest challenges are how to sell baked goods without encountering one of two problems. The first problem is no orders, therefore no income. The second problem is, consistent order/sales but no work/life balance.
These two issues are what cause most home bakers to give up. They either aren’t making any money, or they are, but they are sacrificing their own health and sanity to keep up.
My own original goal as a home bakery owner was a healthy work/life balance combined with a consistent income, so this is the greatest emphasis in what I teach to other home bakers.
What motivated you to create the online membership?
The catalyst behind this initiative was a realization that, when I started, I desperately needed guidance. I also desperately needed to begin earning an income. However, existing courses on efficient and profitable business operations were often prohibitively expensive and out of my budget.
As I began to piece together all of the strategies, good and bad, that had led my business to evolve from one I was contemplating closing to one that was providing me a consistent income, my mission became clear – to share valuable insights with other home bakers at an affordable price point.
Offering two membership plans, priced at $4.99 and $9.99 per month. To date, there have been over 10,000 participating bakers and over 100,000 course enrollments, with the membership becoming a thriving hub for the baking community. What’s even better is the community over competition culture that’s been created, with bakers worldwide coming together to support one another.
What essential tips or advice do you often share with home bakers, whether they are part of your community or not?
I’d say my most essential tip or advice would be to become an expert analyzer. That’s how you will find success. Don’t worry about the failures…analyze the why behind the failure. If you find success, do the same…analyze the why. Once you can truly look at results not as good or bad but as opportunities to analyze, grow, and learn…then you will begin to make solid, high-quality decisions and become more confident in predicting outcomes.
Do you have a favorite recipe or technique that you find particularly useful for home bakers?
Not necessarily a favorite recipe but I do focus heavily on non-perishable or long shelf life items that I add to my menu. It has saved me when it comes to burnout and efficiency. Look for items you can add to help boost your income and your profits that don’t require you to bake, and use those to bulk up your menu. My favorites are creamed honey, maple cream, dry pancake mixes, and dehydrated soup mixes.
Starting a business is hard; if you could go back to the beginning, what is one thing you would do differently?
I don’t think I would necessarily DO anything differently because it all helped me to learn and grow, but I would have changed my mindset a bit. I wish I had realized that you have to go through the struggles to actually have wisdom and hindsight. It’s those experiences that help us to become better business owners and decision makers.
What would be your best advice for someone looking to start their own home-baking business?
First, always check with your state’s laws pertaining to opening a home bakery (my membership includes the information for every state in the US with direct links to their applications).
Second, think of how you might make what you offer unique and stand out to others.
Finally, don’t be afraid of changing. Your original idea will evolve, and that’s totally okay. In fact, it’s the beauty of the entire journey. Learn more about The Pink Crumbb and Tiffany here!
This interview was featured in a past issue of Front Porch Life magazine.
