Mirvat Hachem Osseili has been making cakes professionally from her home for over eight years. "I put a lot of time and effort into the art portion of cake decorating," she told BuzzFeed.
And Mirvat recently decided to share a story about why she requires a deposit if you order one of her cakes:
In her video, Mirvat explained that early in her career, she had a customer order an elaborate cake and then cancel at the last minute — after it had already been made. (The below cake is NOT the cake she refers to in the video.)
Mirvat's story went super viral with over 7.2 million views — and other bakers chimed in to explain that this is the exact reason they charge deposits and do contracts.
Even people who run small businesses outside of baking could relate to Mirvat's story.
In general, everyone understood that her story was a good reminder for why businesses may require these types of things.
"I decided to share this story because I understand how hard small business owners work and it isn't fair for us to be at a loss when a custom order is finished. It's very hard when it comes to food-related items because, if they don't re-sell right away, then the owner is at a loss," she said.
Mirvat hopes her video helps other bakers not feel bad for requiring a deposit. "Some people might think, 'I don't need to take a deposit, I'm a good judge of character. This wouldn't happen to me.' But, trust me, I've given people the benefit of the doubt and it has happened more than I'd like to admit," she said.
"Sometimes, people feel like they can take advantage of a small business owner because they are helping them by ordering from them. While every single order is definitely appreciated, us small business owners work just as hard as the big guys. Sometimes even more. For example, on top of being a mom of three with a household to run and maintain, I also run everything for my small business. I am the president, the baker, the accountant, the janitor, the social media blogger, the secretary, and so on. I'm in no way complaining. I love doing it. It's obvious that it's not about the money — any cake artist will tell you that. It's more about having passion for it. I see it as a way to be able to express my art through cakes and make special occasions even more merry."