BAKING & CONFECTIONARY
FROM OVEN TO EMPIRE … BUT CAN YOU SCALE WITHOUT LOSING FLAVOUR? HERE’ S YOUR GUIDE TO RISING WITHOUT COMPROMISING.
BY BRENT DOWNARD, HEAD OF CREDIT AT MERCHANT CAPITAL
Maybe you started your cake-making company during Covid, or as a side hustle to supplement your salary, selling healthy baked treats on Instagram. Fast-forward almost six years and your business is thriving, so much so that you can barely keep up with orders. It’ s an exciting milestone, but it raises a question many entrepreneurs eventually face: how do you scale your business while still managing costs and maintaining quality?
What are the main principles you should follow?
The strongest food businesses protect the integrity of their ingredients, the consistency of flavour, and the overall customer experience at every stage. These are non-negotiables, even as volume increases and operations become more complex.
So how can scaling happen safely? Well, through repeatable processes such as prep workflows, portion control, procurement, and ordering systems. We see founders successfully scale by investing early in equipment, storage, and strong supplier relationships. These investments help maintain quality even at higher levels of output.
Success comes down to spending wisely and investing strategically. Funding that is well-timed to support these operational improvements allows businesses to grow without compromising what made the brand desirable in the first place.
Smart money choices
With rising input costs placing increasing pressure on margins, many businesses are tempted to make shortterm cost cuts that can quietly erode long-term brand value and reputation.
In my experience, the most damaging short-term cuts involve substituting ingredients, reducing staff training, or deferring the maintenance of equipment and premises. While these decisions may save money in the short term, they weaken product consistency and customer trust over time.
Smarter funding choices enable businesses to absorb cost shocks without compromising the brand long-term.
80 TRADE & TASTE / 2026