Little Bitts’ Bytes: A Recipe for Success for Wheaton’s Small Businesses

For more than 30 years, Wheaton’s has stood as Montgomery County’s only dedicated cake decorating and candy supply shop. Cake decorating largely remains an analog activity, unaffected by technology, yet technology may be exactly what saves one of the area’s true retail treasures.

Without the big advertising budgets that large companies employ, many small businesses rely on word of mouth to drive sales. For years, Little Bitts used a combination of advertising in small newspapers, phone directories and sponsorships of fundraisers and educational programs at Einstein, Kennedy and Wheaton High Schools.

While that strategy has served the sweet shop well, changing customer habits and the looming redevelopment of Wheaton and its potential effects on the store’s location adjacent to Lot 13, made Little Bitts owners Bob and Ann Schilke reconsider their tactics.

“I fought Ann for years about having a website," Bob said. I really didn’t understand the cost or the technology."

A good friend of Ann’s, dating back to their schooling together at Richard Montgomery High School, worked for Yellow Book—where Little Bitts had run ads—and began recommending his company’s website services.

“We’re a mom and pop and don’t have the corporate dollars behind us like other places,” Ann said. “But I knew we had to be online.”

The Schilkes recognize that with the proliferation of television shows like Ace of Cakes, Cupcake Wars and Cake Boss (which they watch regularly on a television in the back of the store,) interest in cake decorating is growing. The challenge was to figure out how to capture those potential customers.

According to a survey by the Kelsey Group, 97% of consumers use online media when researching products or services in their local area, making a small business’ web presence crucial to their success.

“Once I understood the costs and that they [Yellow Book] handled the technology, I was ready to go,” Bob said.

With an initial investment of less than $1,000 and monthly fees under $100, Little Bitts now has a five-page website that includes information, photos, video, maps, directions, buttons for visitors to share on social media sites and a contact form.

“They made sure we are on Google, Yahoo and all those places, plus made our site accessible on mobile phones,” shared Ann. “So many people look for things on their smartphones now, and that has been good for us.”

Three years ago, Little Bitts saw an average of 30-40 customers per day, but now with the website, they often see as many as 90-100.

 “We see it in our daily sales count,” said Bob. “Today alone, two new people found us from the website, and some days it six or seven that find us that way – this whole thing has gone so well.”

When asked what advice he would give to other small businesses in Wheaton, Bob breaks out in a smile. “Listen to your wife!”

“Seriously though, I fought it – the financial outlay and trying to understand the technology - but in the end, it really paid off and it will pay off for them too," he said.