Let Them Eat Cake Barkery and Boutique
Northwest's Client Success Stories
Let Them Eat Cake Barkery and Boutique LLC
When it comes to sweet treats and delectable desserts, why should humans have all the fun? Let Them Eat Cake Barkery and Boutique LLC is a North Carolina-based company catering to dogs with delicious and nutritious handmade treats, plus a curated selection of toys and accessories celebrating the bond between pets and their owners.
Longtime friends Andrea Shook and Traci Prater formed their LLC with Northwest Registered Agent, using our Business Identity service to bring their dream to the internet and offer quality goods to pet owners across the country.
“Everyone Needs A Little Sweetness”
Andrea and Traci both dreamed of starting their own pet-focused business, even before becoming friends.
“We’re both veterinary technicians and have been in the field for a long time, but I always wanted to do something more for pets,” said Andrea. “This had been a dream of mine for like several years now. I just had to wait for the right business partner, and I feel like God sent me Tracy.
“I always had a dream of doing a dog bakery too,” said Traci. “But until Andrea came and asked, ‘hey, do you want to do this,’ I would have never probably done it by myself.”
As a dog owner, Andrea loves to share with her furry friend, so opening a bakery aimed at dogs was a natural choice.
“I love my sweets, and I like to share things with my dog. Let’s face it, everyone needs a little sweetness, even pets.”
But a good snack for a person isn’t always a safe choice for a pup, which makes the duo’s expertise as vet techs invaluable.
“We’ve been working on the medical side of things for a long time. A lot of the time, whatever goes through a dog’s system manifests itself on the skin. Not every allergy is food-based, but a lot of it is. So we didn’t want anything processed, we’re incorporating wholesome ingredients and source foods that are farm fresh. All our goods are gluten-free and won’t cause any type of allergy.”
Let Them Eat Cake’s treats include a wide range of offerings, from dehydrated chicken liver and salmon bites to decorated dessert cupcakes and peanut butter popcorn, even treats for fresh breath and edible dog toys, and their signature hummus for dogs, “Woofmus.” Everything the barkery ships is shelf-stable and will last for months.
Many of their items originate from recipes Andrea and Traci have perfected with their own animals.
“Even before this venture, I did a lot of homemade things for my dogs,” said Andrea. “My dog might not be able to share a chocolate bar, but he can have a carob chip with a very similar taste, and he loves that stuff. And Traci’s been cooking for her dog for a long time, like actual full-course meals.”
“So we’ve put in a lot of time and effort, just with our own pets. We’d never put anything out there that would jeopardize our own pets or anyone else’s babies.”
“Learning As We Go”
As experienced vet techs, knowing what treats entice pets comes easily to Andrea and Traci. Starting their own business, on the other hand, took a little more effort.
“Neither one of us has owned a business before, so there’s been some trial and error,” said Traci. “We’re learning as we go, because we’re still working full-time as techs. But we’re having the best time doing it, and we’re grateful for everything.”
Originally, the duo had planned to open Let Them Eat Cake as a “Three B” business—barkery, boutique, and a conventional bakery making goods for humans. North Carolina’s cottage laws—state restrictions on what foods home-based businesses can sell—complicated that goal. They decided to focus on the pet goods side of the plan, selling their treats along with boutique pet accessories stitched by Andrea’s husband, plus shirts, stickers, tumblers and other items for humans with custom images of personal pets, as created by a mutual friend.
Narrowing their focus appeals to Andrea. “I think it’s super cool. The more niche your business is, the more interesting stuff tends to happen in those very specific fields. It really excites me.”
Andrea and Traci chose Northwest as Let Them Eat Cake’s registered agent. Between using Northwest to form their LLC and taking advantage of the Business Identity service to create their website, they both agree that Northwest has been a boon to Let Them Eat Cake.
“At the beginning, we looked at like five or six different registered agents, and I compared what every one of them did. Northwest was always number one, which is how we picked you,” said Traci. “And it’s been a blessing that we did, because you’ve been incredible to work with. Northwest helps us with anything, you’ve walked us through everything step-by-step. We’re grateful for that.”
“Knowing we have you guys for backup and support has been the biggest blessing,” said Andrea.