Report: Duff Goldman Creating Inauguration Cake

Charm City Cakes, based in Remington, will create the cake of the Commander-in-Chief's Ball, one of two events President Barack Obama is expected to attend, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Charm City Cakes, and its owner Duff Goldman, became famous after their "reality" television show Ace of Cakes premiered on the Food Network.

Earlier this month Goldman sat down for a Q&A with Patch Partners to discuss his strategies as a small business owner:

How did you plan to set yourself apart from other bakeries?

When i first started, I definitely planned to set myself apart from other bakeries, not necessarily by doing things that were super super different, but by making cakes that were really nice. Back in 2002, in Baltimore, it was really difficult to find the kinds of cakes that you see in wedding magazines. Brides were looking through wedding magazines and seeing all these beautiful cakes, but when you read the list of all those bakeries, they’re either in New York or San Francisco or Chicago. You don’t see a bakery from Baltimore in Martha Stewart Weddings. So they would see all these cakes and go to a local baker in Baltimore and get something that kind of looked like [what they wanted]. So what I was trying to do was say “Hey, look, I have the skills. I can make the cakes that you see in the magazines for a tenth of the price.” So we got the reputation of not only making really crazy cakes, but also making really beautiful wedding cakes as well.

If you had one piece of advice for small business owners, what would it be?

One piece of advice for business owners would be don’t be lazy. Nobody is there to do your job for you. You don’t get a paycheck. I haven’t had a paycheck in ten years. That’s scary. The day that I woke up and I didn’t have a job anymore?…That is a very terrifying and very liberating feeling….So don’t be lazy, don’t let somebody else do your work. Just because you’re the owner, you still have to put in the time. But I think most successful entrepreneurs, they know that. And I think that’s what sets them apart from other people.

Read the full interview at Patch Partners.