A bakery (or baker's shop) is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes,pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafes, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.
Starting a home bakery isn't as easy as it sounds. To successfully start and run a home-based bakery, you'll have to comply with local laws and treat the business seriously.
Read the following tips to give you an idea of how to start a bakery at home:
Things Needed
- Fully-equipped kitchen
- Baking supplies (mixing bowls, spoons, spatulas)
- Appliances (oven, stove, fridge)
Instruction:
Instruction:
Step 1
Come up with a business plan. A home-based bakery takes as much planning as a business located in a downtown shop. Include information about start-up costs, cost analysis, and the costs of your ongoing business operations in your plan. Set clear goals for your business and aim to complete them.
Contact the county health and food inspector. Even home-based business must have a permit to operate a business that deals with food. The county health and food inspector will come to your home and inspect the kitchen to make sure that the kitchen is clean and sanitary, and that your food preparation and storage methods are up to code and keep people who eat the baked goods from getting sick.
Identify the baked goods you are going to sell. Create a sheet that lists out each baked good you intend to sell, a description you can use in your marketing materials and prices.
Buy bakery containers. Contact a local container store or one online that sells food containers. Choose to have the boxes and containers printed with the name of your business, website and business phone number. If you have to ship the goods, you may also want to purchase shipping boxes that come pre-printed with your business information.
Step 2
Contact the county health and food inspector. Even home-based business must have a permit to operate a business that deals with food. The county health and food inspector will come to your home and inspect the kitchen to make sure that the kitchen is clean and sanitary, and that your food preparation and storage methods are up to code and keep people who eat the baked goods from getting sick.
Step 3
Identify the baked goods you are going to sell. Create a sheet that lists out each baked good you intend to sell, a description you can use in your marketing materials and prices.
Step 4
Buy bakery containers. Contact a local container store or one online that sells food containers. Choose to have the boxes and containers printed with the name of your business, website and business phone number. If you have to ship the goods, you may also want to purchase shipping boxes that come pre-printed with your business information.Step 5
Build a website. Buy a domain name and create a website that describes the types of baked goods you offer and how customers can place orders. You can opt to build an online store so customers can place orders online or simply have them call your business line to place the order.
Step 6
Contact coordinators for farmer’s markets, flea markets and other local vendor opportunities. Find out how much it costs to rent a space at the sales spot to sell your goods. Set up a booth or table where appropriate, hand out free samples, business cards and stock your area with a variety of your baked goods for customers to buy from you. You can also have sheets available for customers to place special orders.
Step 7
Contact restaurants, local bakeries, cafes and coffee shops. Call or visit some of the local eateries that may be interested in buying your baked goods from you or stocking the store shelves with your goods. Speak with the store owners or managers who have the decision making ability to choose if they will buy the goods directly from you and then resell them to clients or allow you to sell the baked goods on consignment.
Step 8
Determine the legality of home-based bakeries in your area. While opening a home-based bakery might seem easy, you should be aware that there can be limitations involved. For example, in some states, home-based bakers are prohibited. In others, there are many permit and insurance requirements that you'll have to meet before opening your bakery's doors. Check with your state's health department or food and agriculture agency to determine if starting a home-based bakery is legal in your area.
Step 9
After you've determined that you can open a home-based bakery, you'll want to modify your home kitchen into a commercial kitchen area. This will allow you to sell baked goods to customers. There's a good chance that you'll have to modify your kitchen somehow before inspectors will certify your kitchen. Research what modifications you have to make and complete them before an inspector makes his first visit.
Step 10
Get all your paperwork in order. Home-based bakeries can require that their owners have food preparation certificates. In addition, liability insurance and permits can be required of a home bakery's owner, like they would of any other business owner.
Step 11
Research your target market. You need to know to whom you plan to sell your baked goods so that you can direct your advertising and marketing efforts accordingly. Decide who will make good customers and aim to sell your products to them.
Step 12
Make sure you stand out from the crowd. Offer baked products that are new, different, or special somehow. This can be something that can get you an edge on competing bakery businesses.
Step 13
Spend money on advertising your products. There will likely be many bakeries with which you will have to compete. Don't scrimp on advertising and marketing. Invest in professional photographers and advertising companies. Your advertising efforts can have a big effect on how successful your business will be.
Step 14
Experimenting with recipes and offering different batches of baked goods under the same name will likely hurt your business. If you must experiment with recipes, make sure to clearly advertise deviations from the normal recipes. For example, you can market a cookie with a different icing than you normally put on top of the cookie as a seasonal cookie.
Tips
- Look into certifying your kitchen.
- Many home-based bakery owners find that they want to expand or create more product than they first anticipated. When this happens, they often look to renting outside space to help keep up with the demand for their products. When looking for additional space to bake your goods in, make sure that the space complies with the pertinent inspection requirements.
- Keep your customers satisfied with consistent-quality products.
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