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How to Sell Cakes From Home

Whether you are entrepreneurial-minded or just want to earn extra cash, learning how to start selling baked goods from home can deliver financial and lifestyle flexibility. Making cakes and desserts to sell from home reduces overhead expenses that sometimes shutter startup ventures. While an attractive business idea, turning a creative baking idea into a profitable business requires thoughtful consideration and some due diligence. The following tips on how to sell cakes from home may prove enlightening.

1. What are the Best Baked Goods to Sell from Home?

It’s generally a good idea to consider favorite desserts and cakes in your area when planning a menu. This may open doors to negotiate deals with local supermarkets and restaurants to supply cakes, pies, pastries, and other desserts. In terms of the most profitable baked good, cakes (24 percent) and cookies (12 percent) represent the most widely produced and lucrative bakery offerings. Cupcakes also earned Top 5 honors with a market share of about 8 percent. Cakes, cookies, and cupcakes are considered mainstays and rank among the best baked goods to sell from home.

2. Do You Need a Permit to Sell Food from Home?

The majority of states — if not all — require some level of permitting for home-based operations. Many areas are open-arms to selling cakes from home, but place limits on other menu items. Cookies, pies, and desserts usually garner health department approval, but proteins such as beef and pork pose a greater risk of foodborne illnesses.

That being said, check the website of local health agencies and tailor your menu accordingly. Determine the required type of permit to sell food from home and don’t be surprised if you need more than one. After setting up a baking space that meets municipal guidelines, request an inspection.

3. How to Sell Baked Goods Online

Internet-savvy people can establish a home-based bakery website that includes a menu, photos, pricing, and fees associated with the delivery and mail-order purchases. If you possess e-commerce skills, the DIY process can be relatively straightforward.

Most baking aficionados are not quite as comfortable with the digital world as they are with ingredients. The good news is that web-hosting companies offer beginner-level tools that can be leveraged to set up an online bakery website. The tricky part is usually setting up a seamless electronic payment system.

If you’re going to successfully make cakes and other desserts to sell from home, hiring a professional website designer could help you avoid payment hiccups and poor Yelp reviews. Before launching the platform, take your time and make certain it won’t crash or suffer any glitches by conducting the following due diligence.

Your online bakery website can also prove instrumentally in furthering a marketing strategy. Consumers gravitate to green-friendly businesses, farm-to-table choices, and products that have a personal human interest element. If a recipe has been in your family for generations, don’t be shy about allowing that information to go viral. Of course, keep the delightful cake or dessert recipe a family secret.

4. Where Should I Build My Home-Based Bakery Website?

The internet is a vast, widely unexplored marketplace and newcomers are usually best served by forming alliances. Having a presence on a gold-standard platform such as Amazon may take time. But many other e-commerce organizations work with startups that prepare cakes and desserts to sell from home. The following may be suitable options.

Working with one or more established e-commerce platforms widens your potential customer base. Otherwise, your professional online bakery website may not generate the traffic and sales necessary to profitable your live-work lifestyle.

Learning how to start a cake business from home can be the first step to a more rewarding quality of life. Establishing an attractive online presence, brokering B2B deals in your area, and producing delicious cakes and desserts, can result in a life-changing experience.

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