The studio is one person. So is the back office.
You quote it, sketch it, bake it, stack it, deliver it, and then answer the messages about next Saturday. Muley takes the second half of that list.
A bakery with an order coordinator on payroll is running production volume through a commercial kitchen. You decorate every cake yourself, and you are also the coordinator, the bookkeeper, and the person who emails about fondant.
The inquiry that came in mid-afternoon gets answered close to eleven, after the boards are wiped and the buttercream is back in the fridge. Whoever asked has often already booked someone who answered the same day.
Where the week actually goes
A message asks what a three-tier for a big party runs. You are elbow-deep in a crumb coat. The quote goes out that night, if it goes out.
Everyday admin →The date is on the calendar and the deposit never landed, so you are buying flour for a cake that might not happen.
Getting paid →Four orders going out the door and you are one cake drum short, because nobody counts drums until they are gone.
Supplier & inventory →What Muley carries here
The same six piles as every other trade, in the order they hurt in yours.
The deposit is what turns a date on your calendar into a booked date, and it is the thing that quietly never gets chased.
- Chase the deposit before the date is held
- Invoice the balance when the cake leaves
- Nudge the corporate order that pays on its own schedule
Inquiries arrive with no servings, no date, and no budget, and every one needs the same three questions asked back.
- Draft the priced quote from servings, tiers, flavors, and delivery
- Follow up on the tasting that never got booked
- Confirm the delivery window with the venue the day before
Boards, boxes, and dowels are invisible until the Saturday you run out of one of them.
- Reorder boards and boxes ahead of a busy weekend
- Track what butter and chocolate actually cost this month
Cost per cake is the number that decides whether a three-tier was worth the two days it took, and almost nobody has it.
- Compute cost and profit per order
- Categorize the restaurant-supply run and the delivery mileage
- Hand your accountant a P&L instead of a roll of receipts
Last spring's wedding cake is this spring's baby shower, and nobody sends the message that connects the two.
- Text the review request after pickup, while the cake is still on the table
- Re-open holiday ordering before the calendar fills
- Check in with the customer whose last order was a first birthday
- The design back-and-forth
- Flavor, allergen, and substitution calls
- What you will and will not take on that weekend
- The relationship with the bride who found you online
Muley drafts and tees it up; you send it. The one exception is the review-request text after a completed job, which you switch on and set up yourself.
- Instagram messages
- Square
- A website contact form
- Google Calendar
- A spreadsheet of orders
Muley works the pile these leave behind.
Questions
Can Muley quote a custom cake?
Muley drafts the quote from the details you give it — servings, tiers, flavors, delivery — and hands it back priced and written. You adjust it and send it. What a cake should cost is a judgement about your time and your kitchen, and Muley does not make that call for you.
Will Muley talk to my customers about their cake design?
No. The design conversation is the part of a cake studio that cannot be handed off, and Muley is built to stay out of it. Muley drafts the quote, the deposit reminder, and the delivery confirmation for you to send. The back-and-forth about buttercream, tiers, and what the cake should look like stays yours.
Does Muley handle deposits for cake orders?
Muley chases the deposit before the date is held and invoices the balance when the cake leaves. It drafts the reminder and you send it. A held date with no deposit against it is the most common way a cake studio loses a weekend, and it is the reminder owners are least likely to write themselves.
How much does Muley cost?
Muley has three plans. Free is $0 per month. Owner is $29 per month, or $23 per month billed annually. Business is $59 per month, or $49 per month billed annually. Every plan unlocks the whole app with no cap on customers or jobs. Full detail: https://muley.ai/pricing
Does Muley send messages to my customers on its own?
One, and only one: the review-request text that goes out after a completed job, which you switch on and set up before it sends anything. Every other customer message — quotes, follow-ups, replies — is drafted by Muley for you to review and send yourself. The conversation with your customer stays yours, because the personal relationship is what wins local business.
More at the full FAQ.