Perrysburg's 7 Little Cupcakes finds its sweet spot

Jun. 12—It still sounds a bit strange for Erin Liedigk to hear herself described as a small business success story, and for a pretty simple reason: She didn't initially intend to be a small business owner.

Mrs. Liedigk, the owner of 7 Little Cupcakes in Perrysburg, jokes now that a whole host of things had to fall into place for her to figure out owning a bakery.

She obtained her master's degree with the hope of becoming an art teacher, but found little in the way of opportunity when she hit the job market. That left her with the choice between moving or finding something else, and the latter option already had something of a calling in the works.

She had worked at Eston's Bakery on Monroe Street, but previously had started at the Toledo Zoo at age 15, rising up the ladder to become the Zoo's head baker. In anticipation of making wedding cakes on a regular basis, she once took a baking class only for the teacher to politely tell Mrs. Liedigk that she was already too advanced — she didn't need the class.

So when the previous owner of 7 Little Cupcakes went looking for a buyer in 2015, Mrs. Liedigk had years of experience working for two other well-known baking operations, if not business expertise.

"I had zero experience in business, and neither of my parents came from a business background, so it was like, 'Is this really something we want to do?'" she said.

After thinking about it, they pulled the trigger.

"We literally wrote her a check, she handed us the keys, and that was it," she said.

Six years later, the small outfit has grown bigger, first moving from a tiny kitchen to a 7,500-square foot facility on Fort Meigs Road and adding a satellite location in downtown Perrysburg.

Mrs. Liedigk's artistic side always had a natural fit in decorating elaborate cakes and cookies, but she is the first to admit that the first couple of years were not easy, and that she made plenty of mistakes on the business end.

"I think that [art background] really helped me in the designing aspect of things, and the artsy, creative side of decorating a cake, — but the business side ..." she said, trailing off and then laughing at herself.

She said she joined as many professional groups organizations as she could, picking the brain of other business owners and gradually befriending others in the Perrysburg business community along the way.

Two years after Mrs. Liedigk bought the business, 7 Little Cupcakes won best booth presentation at the Toledo Zoo's ZOOtoDO event, and one of her connections led to a change in location from its original spot on Sandusky Street.

A client who develops commercial real estate told her that Extra Virgin Food Services was looking for a collaboration with a bakery, and they had a storefront for selling baked goods at Lamplight Cafe & Bakery, but also a large kitchen with space on Fort Meigs Road.

Further, the business found its niche in northwestern Ohio. Whereas many bakeries are known for huge display cases of goodies, 7 Little Cupcakes has focused mostly on the special orders side of its operation, which has led to steady word-of-mouth growth.

"Every single time there is a recommendation on Facebook where somebody is looking for a cake or cupcakes or cookies, if there's 20 suggestions, Erin is always half of 'em," said Chris Ritter, a friend of Mrs. Liedigk who owns Holey Toledough donuts. "I can't strongly recommend her enough."

The decision to focus on the big orders — for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and the like — was a conscientious one, and it has since become the heart of the business.

Mrs. Liedigk estimated about 75 percent of their business now comes from special orders like customized cookies or cakes celebrating an occasion.

"We have retail space, but we're focused on your special orders back there because we want to take more time to do that," Mrs. Liedigk said.

"I think a wedding is more important than selling a $3 cupcake, in my opinion.

"What's worked best for us is to focus the most on the special orders as opposed to the retail side. ... That's what we do and that's what we're really good at."

Mr. Ritter said word-of-mouth recommendations are invaluable because they cannot be bought, especially for a food-centered business.

That 7 Little Cupcakes draws repeat business is no accident, Mr. Ritter said.

"I feel like a lot of repeat customers, they start off as a client or customer, then by the second or third time around, you're almost like buddies," Mr. Ritter said. "I think Erin's just a really likeable person, and building the rapport with the customers has been a huge driving force for her."

As intricate as some its designs are, the sweet spot for 7 Little Cupcakes has been simple: They want you to be so satisfied with your special order that you feel compelled to tell others.

"I think word-of-mouth goes a long way because I always say that, if you have a bad experience, you're going to tell a million people, but if you have a good experience, you're going to tell two people," Mrs. Liedigk said. "I'm trying to work on reversing that: If you have a good experience, I want you to tell everyone."

First Published June 12, 2021, 1:00pm