How To Start A Home Based Bakery

Use your creative talents and learn how to start a home based bakery!  It is not difficult.  It mostly means jumping through a few hoops for the licensing agencies, and for the banker.

Home Based Business Start Up Get your business started right. Worksheets, options.

Catering Business Plan Financing your home based bakery business.

And what a great field!  People are happy when they order baked goodies.  You will be working with celebrations of all kinds, from weddings to birthdays to graduations to retirements to everything in between.  Your job will be to enhance the celebration with the flavors and styles and colors that the hosts prefer.

Actually starting a home based catering or bakery is the easy part;  making it profitable is the hard part.  There are a lot of considerations when starting any home based business, from marketing to financing to establishing your client base, and lots more.  A home based bakery is no different. 

We have to assume that you are a professional level baker.  No simple ebook is going to teach you how to bake, or how to decorate a cake, or even what tools you need to do the job right.  Those are things you need to know before even thinking about a home based bakery business. 

It is all those other things that get in the way of starting up -- the client base, the marketing, the financials.  To get a handle on how to start a home based bakery, take a look at Your Home Based Business.  The worksheets will walk you through many of the decisions you will need to make and present you with lots of options.  This is especially important if you have never owned a business before.  Make your mistakes on paper, not in your business!

The Issue Of Licenses And Permits For Home Bakeries

One thing that the book does not discuss in detail is licensing issues for home based bakeries, and there are licensing issues to consider.  When making any food for profit, there are health department rules and regs that MUST be followed.  Failure to familiarize yourself with these rules -- and follow them -- could mean hefty fines or being totally closed down.  Don't risk it.

Contact your local department of health, probably a county agency, and ask them what you need to do.  If you are lucky, you will discover a health official who can really help you through the paperwork. 

Should you be unlucky enough to get a health department worker who stares blindly, or who hands you a 1000-page "handbook", don't fear.  There is another way.  Find a caterer in your area who you won't be competing with.  Maybe a barbeque caterer, or someone who teaches cooking at home.  Ask to sit down with them in a quiet moment and get the scoop on what is important, and how they have dealt with the issue.  It is important, so don't let it slide.

The Issue Of Financing When You Start A Home Based Bakery

Outside financing will likely be tough.  Whatever you do, don't go to a bank as a "start up".  Banks really don't like start ups.  They want to see that you have already succeeded, even if you worked at it part time.  Any kind of success trumps "a start up" every single time.

When you start a home based bakery, it will be unique, reflecting your own style.  Your business plan needs to do that too.  It sounds schmaltzy to take a cupcake to a banker, but sunofagun, it is just that type of creativity that will help you win. 

Decorate your business plan with pictures of your prior jobs.  Include lists of clients, and letters of recommendations.

There is a perception that creative types don't understand financing, so pay particular attention to the finance sections of your business plan when you start a home based bakery.

You can do this!  (Pssst.  We love cup cakes too.)  And here are some other articles to help you on your way: