Transparency

Transparency, is defined by Merriam-Webster as, "free from pretense or deceit." Transparency was my self-claimed word of 2016, but as 2017 has begun, I'm starting to believe I need to claim it a little longer. In a recent conversation, this word resurfaced, causing me to truly reflect on my dealings and the way I've handled things. Have I been transparent? Was effort made to be transparent?

In an effort to be "characterized by visibility," I wanted to address a few things. When I started My Sweet Amour last year, the hardest thing was to figure out how much my products were worth. There is a price tag, of course, but to truly assess the worth of not only the ingredients, equipment, and materials, but also my time. What was my time worth? As some know, baking is not my full time job, unfortunately. What that means is that time to bake and perfect by craft have to be culled out around my job's regular business hours. That means late night, early mornings, frequent trips to the store at midnight. That means tears because I'm exhausted and it's 1am, that means two hours of sleep and an insane amount of caffeine the next day. What is my time worth?

I quickly assessed the situation, assigning prices to things based off an arbitrary assessment of what I thought equipment, materials, supplies, and my time would ultimately cost me. After the completion of each project, however, I was left thinking, "Did I assess that correctly? Did I accurately charge for everything that went into making this cake?" A lot of times, the answer was a resounding no. What I have learned in my last 28 (almost 29) years of life, is that change is the only constant. I was left with a severely underestimated value and change was my only option.

Why have the prices changed? They've changed and increased, some might consider substantially, because all the unforeseen details had to be factored in; however, I continue to pride myself on having prices lower than industry standard, as I know you have many options when choosing a baker for your special day.

I hope you can all understand the necessity and continue to choose My Sweet Amour to make your sweet dreams a reality.