Do you absolutely love baking in your spare time?
Have people told you that your cakes are amazing and you should sell them?
What if there were a way to sell the bread, pies, cookies and brownies you bake at home and make some extra money on the side?
Today I’m going to introduce you to the first steps towards being able to sell your baked goods from home!
In this article I will:
Introduce the most important step you need to take to become a home baker,
list some great resources for you to follow up with,
and include a link to my free workbook for becoming a home baker.
What I am sharing with you is based on my 30 years experience as a baker. 15 of those years were spent opening/operating and owning four different shops.
My very first shop started as a home based baking business. It grew quickly into a thriving wholesale and retail operation. I sold that business for a profit and went on to open three more bakeries over the following 10 years. (For a link to the full story click here)
I have gone through all of the steps I am going to talk about here and I understand how exciting, overwhelming and scary the process can be.
I can relate to the AMAZING feeling of achieving a lifelong goal.
I understand that nagging thought telling you that working for yourself, selling your cakes, cupcakes, breads, pies and cookies is something you want to do, something you need to do and something you can do!
A few things you should know:
- Do your homework and don’t skip the planning stages
- This guide is intended for bakers in the United States. These are the rules and regulations that I am familiar with. I can’t speak about the requirements in other countries.
The first step is to learn about the regulations your state has for home baked goods.
Some states call these “Cottage Laws”
What is a Cottage Food Law? Cottage food laws are laws that allow small-time producers to use appliances in their homes to bake, cook, or candy certain low-risk foods for sale. All other food producers must process foods for sale in licensed kitchens
Currently 22 states require some sort of licensing or registration for cottage food businesses.
You will need to do some research for cottage laws in your area and determine what type of rules and regulations there are for home based bakers.
Depending on the state regulations:
- You may need to apply for a permit or get a license.
- Some states have restrictions or an earning limit on the sale of baked goods from your home.
- Some states will require you to have a food handlers license and/or safety certification.
- Some states will require labeling of your products.
- Other states put restrictions on where you can sell your products.
- Many states limit what ingredients you can use in your cottage food setting.
Here is a great resource for Cottage Food Laws by state
Make sure you have fully researched your state and understand the restrictions they have.
A great place to jot down those notes is in my free workbook.
Click here to get the workbook link emailed to you.
What did you find out about your state cottage food laws?
Check out the resource links and then come back here to the comment section and let me know!
Click here to continue on to the next step.
