A View From The Top

From bakesales to big sales: The Cupcake Collection founder shares path to success

Mignon Francois, the founder of The Cupcake Collection, reveals how she went from baking and selling cupcakes out of her home to opening storefronts in Nashville and New Orleans.

"I promised God that if He made me successful, I would tell anybody about what they could do if they believe." - Mignon Francois, the founder of The Cupcake Collection

March 15, 2021

By Mignon Francois, The Cupcake Collection, owner

My success in the foodservice industry has been the product of hard work, resolve and perhaps a little desperation.

The story of Cupcake Collection began in the middle of the 2008 economic recession. After years of drowning in debt and brokenness, I decided to do something different. I heard a financial expert on the radio say that you could get out of debt by having a garage sale or a bake sale, so I decided to have a bake sale every single day. Using the last $5 I had for dinner one week, I bought ingredients for what would eventually become a family legacy with over five million cupcakes sold.

Much like the cupcakes we make today, the business started from scratch. Prior to opening The Cupcake Collection, I didn't know how to bake, not even out of a box. At 33 years old I learned how to bake using a secret ingredient — my grandma! I baked my first successful cake using the instructions she gave me over the phone. From there, I combined her skill with my background in science to create my own recipes.

I got creative in marketing both my product and my personal brand. Whenever someone new moved to my neighborhood, I would greet them with a basket of cupcakes. Those same people turned into my first customers.

My business started to grow, but it was tough going at first. With no money and no credit, I financed everything — spoons, bowls — out of my profits. But I loved what I was building, one cupcake at a time!

Overnight success takes 10 years
I opened The Cupcake Collection out of my family home on Nov. 9, 2008. It's a few doors down from a popular restaurant, which helped drive foot traffic our way. The restaurant owner was a big fan of my cupcakes, and he allowed my son to pass out flyers to the patrons as they waited for tables.

My son would tell everyone (and still does), "My mom makes the best cupcakes in the neighborhood!" As we became more popular it changed to, "My mom makes the best cupcakes in the city!"

And eventually, it evolved into "My mom makes the best cupcakes in the world!"

What started off as a mom-and-pop shop run by a family that just wanted to make ends meet quickly became a destination bakery. Today, we rank in the top 10 cupcake shops in the country, and we ship cupcakes nationwide.

From Nashville to New Orleans
After finding success in Nashville, I wanted to go back and celebrate the city that raised me. I had always dreamt of taking my business back to New Orleans, and after I visited the city around the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I knew it was time. It was painful to see that the city was still hurting, and in many places, it just hadn't come back.

Inspired to build a legacy, I partnered with my sister and best friend and taught them what I knew. The Cupcake Collection-New Orleans is operated by them and is our first iteration of a franchise model designed to give other people the same opportunity as we grow and expand.

Becoming a smart cookie
As an entrepreneur just starting out and eager to expand quickly, I didn't always understand how having the right technology in-store would be vital to my success. We opened our doors with a high-end restaurant point-of-sale (POS), and while having some bells and whistles, it didn't have the functionality my small business needed to succeed. We switched to Clover in 2015 because it was customizable to my needs and didn't saddle us with tremendous costs.

Clover became a game-changer, primarily because of how simple things like detailed reporting and analytics allow us to better understand our customers. Having a view of how each item is selling at each location, when foot traffic is highest, and which cupcakes sell best throughout the year is invaluable.

Clover enables me to manage my inventory flow better and run targeted promotions. For instance, at the start of each year, we pay homage to the Girl Scouts with a cookie-inspired cupcake campaign. And our historical sales data helps us understand when in January the cookie-themed cupcakes become top-of-mind for our customers, and when in February the cookie season is in our customers' rear-view mirror. Understanding those nuances lets me run my business more effectively, and plan accordingly for the next campaign.

Pandemic strikes
In the last 12 months, the pandemic has had a major impact on our shop. Much like other small businesses throughout the country, the safety of our staff and customers became paramount in 2020, and adjusting our operations became a focus. An easy technology addition was allowing customers to tap to pay with a payment card. We also rearranged our physical footprint to limit face-to-face interactions between staff and customers. But as a small store, we needed to go a step further.

We added online ordering capability directly through the Clover platform. Doing so enabled us to take orders and accept payments in advance — online or via the Clover app — so customers simply came to pick up their treats when their orders were ready. We also added Clover QR codes to our storefront; for those waiting outside (we've been known to have a healthy line) an easy scan with their phone now gives access to our online ordering menu and allows for order and payment in an entirely digital manner.

More than cupcakes
Our mission at The Cupcake Collection is to be a lighthouse in the community and serve as an example of what good business looks like. Looking back at my journey, I feel blessed and obligated to pass on what I've learned.

I'm a mentor and serve on the board at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, an organization that helped me when I was first starting out. I also work with Corner to Corner, a grassroots organization for budding entrepreneurs, and I fund scholarships at Tennessee State University.

I am particularly aware of the challenges women entrepreneurs face, having lived through many challenges myself, so I serve as a mentor and board member at Pathways Women's Business Center, which provides resources for women-owned businesses.

I promised God that if He made me successful, I would tell anybody about what they could do if they believe.

Operations