We had the good fortune of connecting with Asha Cannon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Asha, what is the most important factor behind your success?
2LC Bakery has been a business that is driven by quality, nurturing of relationships with customers and providing more than just cakes. We tend to know when the babies are born, are invited to events, support the dreams of our clients and so much more! The success factor is that we are geared towards longevity of a clientele relationship! To be honest clients word of mouth has been the best form of advertising for our business! To us, its not just another sale we are trying to pursue or to get somebody to just order from us one time! Custom orders cost money so we want that order to be a memorable one and make the customer feel that they got their money’s worth!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
2LC Bakery also known by many as 2 Ladies and a Cake started as an cottage food baking company that bakes all types of desserts from scratch! Our most requested orders are custom cupcakes and cakes ranging from our classic vanilla buttery cake, key lime or red velvet. We thrive on gaining new customers by word of mouth and having face to face interactions at vending events and market place opportunities. We started this company in 2012 as a side business and by 2015 I left my full time job to pursue full on entrepreneurship! By 2017 I was baking in a shared kitchen facility as I began to start vending events and having more orders and 2018 we opened our first brick and mortar location in our hometown Americus GA!

What has made this journey somewhat challenging is that we opened a successful business however could not sustain the harsh effects of the pandemic and closed the doors as we were on the brink of starting to expand our customer base to south Atlanta GA. In addition unfortunately in a small town the ability to keep consistent employees was a hard challenge and knowing what I know now it takes longer to get a location stable without the day to day needs of the owner as employees should be in position to show they value the company just as much as the owner. In all I dont consider closing that location at a loss because I learned valuable information about running an actual walk in location on a day to day operations, management, and how to offer ever-changing products that were consistent with the seasons and timely marketing! This was not an easy task since most of the learning was through trial and error but I am thankful that because I had a great background in business management and knowing how to balance business in the financial areas I was able to walk away with little to no debt from that experience and a clean slate to rebuild!

Currently we are excited to be partnering with HoneyComb Credit and embarking on opening a retail and DIY cake studio in Downtown McDonough, GA! This location is in a beautifully growing area full of walkthrough traffic and support from the local community. This location will house our retail location for daily pick ups of breakfast pastries, sweets such as cupcakes, cakes, brownies, donuts and more of our weekly changing menu of at minimum 20 different selections! In addition this location will offer decorating classes, camps and other events to promote small businesses that may not have access to a brick and mortar to partner and host events such as sip and paints, etc!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The best place to eat would actually be in the downtown square where the bakery will be located! We would start at Gritz dinner which has an amazing all day menu but would start with the breakfast portion and get one of their huge omelets and pancakes. Then we would walk around to the Storytime bookstore right on the square that has a barista on the inside and head over the boutiques to see what’s new from the local businesses in the area! Afterwards if they were in the mood to shop Id take them to Southpoint Market which is a few miles away and then Tanger Outlet which is 2 exits away! For fun we could go to Dave and Busters which is located by the Southpoint Marketplace and wrap up dinner at this amazing Mexican restaurant called Hacienda Bar and Grill!

If its a Friday night McDonough’s nightlife includes a lounge called Tambou lounge that offers Haitian cuisine and plays Caribbean music! The most awesome part of McDonough is that often more times than less our very own Director of Community Relations Sheriff is Shaquille O’ Neal is spotted in local shopping places, out to eat or at the schools giving back! It would be most amazing if we bumped into him for pictures as he is very friendly and outgoing and takes pride in our area!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to thank my now teenage daughter for giving me the idea of the name of the business before we became 2LC Bakery! Baking was always just a fun pastime for the both of us, but that day when she looked at me in the kitchen and said, “Mom, we’re just 2 Ladies and a Cake” that started the beginning of this beautiful journey that I just cant “bake up”! She is the driving force behind the scenes even as she has navigated through her growth and her own entrepreneurship journeys…AND makes icings and some recipes better than any baker I have hired to assist!

I am thankful for my clients that even when I relocated they were willing to travel to events where I was vending or still even go as far as paying additional delivery fees just to still support! I am thankful to those supporters that I have met through social media that have become just like family!

I am thankful to my closest friends that encourage me that what I do is PURPOSE..which is the reason God continues to bless this business and allow me to use it as a vehicle to minister to people, give back and provide a sweet lasting impression, literally!

Most importantly I am thankful for my husband who never says no to an idea that I want to implore for my business and stays up to the wee hours washing dishes and cleaning icing off from random places so that I can sleep!

Website: www.2lcbakery.com

Instagram: 2lcbakery

Facebook: 2lcbakery

Yelp: 2lcbakery

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeKBGubPh4v7jBKyWgHRw8A

Image Credits
Photographers – Lil Fiya Craka Images and Dalton Tengelsen

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