A steadfast disdain for vegetables as a child put Melissa Jenkins, founder and CEO of BAM Desserts, on the path toward entrepreneurship. “I would make carrot cake to justify not eating vegetables, but my mom would not buy it,” said Jenkins as she reflected on the beginnings of BAM Desserts. Over the years, baking remained a throughline in her life. In 2017, she ultimately took a leap from her background in marketing and real estate to opening her New Jersey-based bakery (where carrot cake is, of course, a top-selling flavor).
“We ultimately wanted to create fun desserts that feel like home,” she said. The bakery has carried this mission to its food, whether serving major corporations, community organizations, or family gatherings. The shop also caters to the everyday customer who simply wants a sweet treat, emphasizing a commitment to being a go-to destination in the neighborhood.
After opening the business, BAM Desserts quickly switched to Square to make operations more efficient. Eight years later, the business still trusts Square as a technology partner to manage operations, and the new pricing model has helped strengthen the partnership.
How it started: Battling rising costs
When Jenkins first switched to Square, the payroll functionality was the first thing to get her attention. “I hated doing payroll. It was such a pain. It’s nice to be able to import the schedule and just click, click, click and be done,” she explained. Square Invoices was another feature that instantly stood out to Jenkins. “It’s great because it allowed me to put in automatic reminders and keep track of what we needed to do,” she said.
But the previous structure offered a number of SaaS features at an individual price, and with costs increasing on a global scale, Jenkins was looking for ways to alleviate the financial burden. “For example, we do a lot of baking here, and my utility bill almost doubled in the last couple of months. So I was like, ‘Ugh, I got to make some cuts and how do I do that where it’s not impacting the business?’”
She was considering cutting her regular newsletter to customers or trimming other nonessential parts of the business, but once Square introduced its new pricing structure, Jenkins realized she didn’t have to trim anything from her business. In fact, she could add to it.
How it’s going: Consolidated tools, more resources, and a better budget
Since switching to Square Plus, BAM Desserts has been able to explore other Square tools she wasn’t using before, adding value to the business. “I started using Square Shifts because it was already included in the package,” Jenkins explained. Before, she was using an external tool to handle her team scheduling. Square Plus empowered her to simplify her billing and bring more of her needs in-house.
Square Plus made me say, ‘Okay, I have all these resources here, let me start using ’em.”
Melissa Jenkins → CEO and founder of BAM Desserts
“It just makes it easier to have everything in one place. I’m not using several different programs to handle the business,” she added. Streamlining tool management has also enabled the business to practice better financial hygiene. “I can budget because I know the pricing is going to be consistent,” she said. With simplified money management and more resources, Jenkins is able to better position her business for growth and plan for the future.
Results: $1,200 saved annually
Jenkins estimates that the new pricing structure saves her $100 a month, totaling $1,200 a year. With goals that include opening more locations over the next few years, Jenkins is able to set aside those savings to scale the business. With the majority of her business tools consolidated in one place, she anticipates that scaling with Square will simplify the process. “Everything is in the system, so we can basically just duplicate it,” she said.
The ease of use and the new streamlined structure, according to Jenkins, make Square more competitive in a crowded market. “It was a good move, and it made Square very competitive. I’m telling people, ‘hey, you may want to think about Square,’” she said. “It’s the pricing and how turnkey it is. People want things where they don’t have to sign into all these different platforms…everyone wants that one less headache.”
