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How To Start a Cake Business From Home Easily

Do you love baking cake and the thought of working from home? With some business savvy — and a delicious product — you can turn your baking skills into a profitable business. When you start a home business, you’ll be able to share your craft without dealing with a lease or difficult coworkers.

Sounds tempting, right? Read on to learn how to start a cake business from home!

Create a Business Plan

Before you dive into baking, craft a business plan. This is a document where you will map out your short-term and long-term goals. You’ll also want to develop a budget and track expenses.

Put down the names of anyone helping you manage or finance the business. And if you foresee any equipment needs, write them down — as well as the projected costs.

Spend some time writing a mission statement, too. If you want to specialize in wedding cakes, for instance, write that goal down on paper. You’ll always have a statement that pulls you back if you start to stray.

Keep Your Kitchen Legal

It sounds easy enough to put on an apron and start baking, but you should check the laws first. Different states have different requirements as far as cottage food laws are concerned. 

Many states will allow you to run a business from your kitchen without making any upgrades. You may face restrictions on where you can sell your food. For instance, you might need to go through a safety protocol course if you’re selling anywhere other than a farmer’s market.

Likewise, you may need to register your business. And you may have limits on how much you can produce. So, do your homework on the legal matters before you start baking!

Determine Your Cake Menu Options

When you’re starting a home business, don’t overwhelm yourself with options. Go with a simple cake menu at first. Stick with a classic white cake, chocolate cake, and lemon cake.

Consider limiting the number of tiers and restricting customization, as well. As you develop a system for creating your sugary delights, you may be able to take on more over time. Besides, it’s really the quality of your buttercream and cake crumb that matters!

If you’re just starting out, do some research on your competitors, too. How much do they charge for a birthday or wedding cake? Consider undercutting their prices to pull in new clients on a budget. 

They may charge $300 for a wedding cake. You could try doing $200 and raise your prices in a few months. Or try charging by the tier or scale.

How to Start a Cake Business from Home Using Your Kitchen

Be realistic about your production goals given the size of your kitchen. When you’re low on counter space, you should err on the conservative side and avoid overbooking your kitchen. You may also want to invest in a butcher block or mobile countertop to free up more space.

Do you have an oven that can handle a lot of traffic? You may need to upgrade to double ovens if you’re anticipating a consistent stream of business. Or you may want an oven with a glass door so you can get a visual indication of each cake’s progress.

However, if you need details info on choosing an oven for baking cakes at home, this resource would be very helpful.]

Know Your Transportation Guidelines

Elaborate cakes look stunning — but they can be a chore to move! Do you want that responsibility? The easiest solution is to require the buyer to handle all transportation for a cake.

On the other hand, for wedding cakes, customers may appreciate it if you’re willing to transport the cake to the reception space. You could offer a delivery fee of $50, for instance. Just make sure that you have a van and system to secure your cake.

Build a Website and Brand Identity

Selling your food online may be an effective way to expand your audience. To do this, you need a strong virtual presence and logo. And you’ll definitely want to have a strong and consistent social media presence.

Your logo should incorporate your business name and imagery. A strong designer can take your color choices, personality, and goals and wrap them up into an original logo.

Wondering how to build a website from home? Many platforms have user-friendly interfaces where you can input text and images easily. Choose from existing templates and modify the colors to make your template unique.

If you’re feeling insecure about your web designing skills, hire a web designer to do the work. They’ll have the expertise to build you a professional site that’s easy to navigate. And they can help you take advantage of search engine optimization to direct traffic to your site.

Revisiting your branding strategy is crucial, too. Keywords and the popularity of social media platforms will change over time. Check out these resources from Decibel to determine how customers are responding to your brand.

Make Clear Communication a Priority

When it comes to home business tips, clear communication is key. When someone calls or emails with a question, make a habit of responding within 24 hours. And to build a loyal customer base, know that you’ll need to commit some weekend time to answer questions — and baking.

Create invoices for your cakes. That way your customers will have written documentation of the type of cake, size, and date. Email it to the customer, and keep a copy for your records.

A few days after your customer has your cake, check-in with them. Encourage them to leave positive feedback on your website. And offer a discount to incentivize additional business.

Learn How to Start a Home Business the Right Way

With time and persistence, you can learn how to start a cake business from home. All you need are good recipes and a strong work ethic. You’ll enjoy calling the shots and making your customers happy!

For more tips to improve your life, check back for new and informative articles.

Jeff Campbell