HAMILTON, Ohio — Hamilton is home to many small businesses, including Luke’s Custom Cakes, a bakery Luke Heizer opened in August.
What You Need To Know
- Luke Heizer started baking and decorating cakes when he was 12 years old
- After baking full-time, he decided to open a storefront in Hamilton
- Luke's Custom Cakes opened in downtown Hamilton in August and soon realized it needed to expand
- In March, the store opened its expansion with more than double to baking and prep space
Heizer, 22, said the bakery is something 12-year-old Luke wouldn’t believe.
“Looking back on it now, it was like ‘Oh my God, it’s so bad,’” Heizer said. “But it is kind of fun to look back on it to see how far I’ve come.”
Heizer started baking and decorating cakes when he was 12 years old and started his business when he was 15.
“It was in my parents’ name and then they gifted me my business when I turned 18,” he said.
After doing it on the side for many years, he knew it was his passion and pursued it full-time.
“I’d always be like, ‘Why am I doing this when I could be at home making way more money doing what I actually like to do,’” he said.
Which is how he ended up with his own bakery.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Heizer said. “Even opening the store in general, I didn’t really know how it would go, so when I started running out of room, I was like, I guess that’s a good thing.”
But Heizer quickly had to turn down orders, because he didn’t have the space nor the staff. In March, he opened his expanded store complete with extra equipment and all the space for baking.
Heizer’s mom, Tammie, helps bake in the additional space and is happy to be along for the ride.
“I just wanted to be there with him,” Tammie said. “I guess since I was there in the beginning, just to see it through now, I mean, I don’t know how long I’ll be doing this, but as long as he allows me to be here.”
Luke said the expansion will help take in double the orders, something he didn’t think was possible when he opened his storefront seven months ago.
“It’s pretty crazy at times, because I’m like it’s not real,” Heizer said. “But all this stuff is mine, so it’s kind of crazy.”
Since he’s living his dream, he shared his advice for other young entrepreneurs.
“Obviously, I’m young,” he said. “So, I had the mindset of I might as well try now and if it doesn’t work out, at least I’ll be content in knowing that at least I tried.”