I'm considering starting a home baking venture, as I can make up to $78k annually in my state without having to obtain a food license. What are the most outstanding pros and cons of staring a small operation like this? Can you offer me any advice?Under this cottage food law, I am allowed to sell food from my home, a farmers market, and 'community events.' I figure that the profitable move would be to fill my calendar with regular community events, where I can set up a small booth and sell bespoke pastries to fat moms a few times a month. Is there any kind of blueprint for small vendors to find and register for events like these regularly?I recently obtained a commercial 20qt mixer for free, which sparked this idea. I'm handy, and probably more capable than the average home baker at running a mobile operation with a large vehicle, tent, tables, etc. Please poke holes in my idea, thank you
Make Kimchi. It's blowing up and you can sell it at a ridiculous profit.
>>20974880What will your profit actually look like? What will the taxes be like on that $78k? Do you have to rent your space at community events? What will it cost to run and retrofit the vehicle you use for this? What are your costs in general? What are the upfront costs? What will it take to break even? Can you afford to lose money on it initially? occasionally?Are you approaching this as a primary source of income? supplemental? or as a hobby? If it's supplemental income, do you have the time it takes to break even on this?
>>20975029I'm basically approaching this from a hobbyist perspective, with the notion that it could be profitable if done efficiently. My biggest upfront costs that come to mind right away are ingredients, gas, tables, signage and food staging, and space rental per event. I have the necessary cooking space and food preparation equipment available to me already, which is a huge upfront cost that I don't have to think about. I have a large vehicle with which I can transport everything and shouldn't need modification. I'm fine with losing some money at first to get started. I would be subject to regular income tax. Buyers are exempt from sales tax on baked goods. What is the best payment processing platform for stuff like this?Appreciate the good questions
>>20974880Check out a 3D printer (Bamb u is best in terms of cost/ease imo, not shilling), it’ll let you create custom signage, decorations, and hardware (hooks, small shelves).Approachability / “facebook likes” is probably important with the fat moms and cute signage and decor should help a lot with that
>>20975279Thanks I'll take a look. I'll invest more in the 'approachability' factor, social media engagement will be a hurdle for me
>>20975874If it looks nice enough hopefully the customers will take care of the social media part. Do you already have recipes in mind? Have you thought about accounting software, or would it be spreadsheet based at first? Might be helpful to walk around a market and see what payment methods they use, I’m sure if they aren’t busy they’d be happy to answer questions about it.
>>20976477>Have you thought about accounting softwareFormer tax accountant here, I would recommend against using accounting software for a really small business like this. 80% of the time really small businesses like this make an absolute fucking mess out of quickbooks or whatever software they're using. Something this small can be tracked on a spreadsheet.Ideally set up a separate bank account to make tracking expenses easier, save all your receipts, and for the love of god make sure you know what your sales and use tax filing and payment obligations are.>>20975279What's the point of buying a 3d printer? Basic supplies like hooks are cheap and easy to buy, the sort of decorations you'd have at a farmer's market booth are cheap and easy to buy, and for something like customs signage you can just hire a company to print a big vinyl banners for your booth or whatever.
>>20974880Find a niche. E.g., don't just sell pastries. Sell "vegan" pastries, or halal/kosher pastries etc. Or look up your geneology and appropriate your muh ancestral cuntry's meme cuisine.
>>20974880>Please poke holes in my ideaHave you even baked a loaf of bread before? Do you know how?
>>20975121okay but do you bake? are you a baker?
