Home Baking Businesses are incredibly fascinating and they come in ALL shapes and sizes! I’ve had my own successful Home Baking Business for 5 years now and I’ve loved pretty much every second of it. Every job (whether you work for yourself or not) has its ups and downs, but I’m SO exceedingly grateful for my little Home Bakery!
*All photos of my bakes by Alice Swan Photography
Over the last year in particular, I’ve realized that so many passionate bakers have talent, but they don’t pursue their passion/dream of having a FULL TIME Home Bakery because of FEAR. Fear that they don’t have the “required” specific skill set it takes to have a successful Home Baking Business.
A skill set that has FALSELY become synonymous with the term “Home Baking Business”. These are nothing but MYTHS.
These Myths Are:
- You need to have studied formal pastry/chef/baking courses at an institution.
- You need to have studied some kind of entrepreneurship/business courses at an institution.
- Being a master at Fondant work, gum-paste details and sugar art is ESSENTIAL. Being a master at creating detailed designs to match whatever theme a client wants is ESSENTIAL.
- And then also this belief that you need heaps of capital for expensive kitchen equipment, branding, packaging, advertising etc.
I’ve grown SO deeply frustrated with these beliefs, because they really are TOTALLY false. Today I’m hoping to expose these myths once and for all.
Without becoming too feisty.
I’ll try my best.
But I might fail at diplomacy here.
The reason WHY I want to expose these myths is because I keep coming across amazing, passionate, GIFTED Home Bakers that are actually very unhappy – for various reasons. And they often lack confidence because they don’t fit the brief listed above.
It breaks my heart, because they don’t need to feel this way.
There’s another way!
BUT FIRST, let’s start by breaking down the myths. Sound good?
MYTH # 1: You need to study formal pastry/chef courses for your Home Baked products to be “GOOD enough” to Sell
There’s this old mind-set still hanging around in society that makes life and growth quite difficult. It’s the belief you need to formally study and have some kind of qualification before you can work in a certain field.
Over time, some new shortcuts have been created (like short courses) which aim to condense your learning experience into a shorter span of time. Although I love the idea that you don’t need to put aside YEARS for these courses, they still have major flaws.
I’ve wanted to do a thorough course in Pastry for 5 years now. Unfortunately, all the options would require of me to set aside a minimum of 6 months to complete the course. 6 Months of FULL TIME study. This means no work and no income plus a mild expense of $ 5000. How is this sustainable or even possible?
My friends, this is a different time. The online world has opened up doors for all of us to learn almost any skill and excel at it. You don’t need to study a formal, expensive course for your Home Baking Business to succeed. AT ALL.
If a cake tastes amazing and rocks your world, then no one cares if the baker has a qualification or not! You can learn and grow into the BEST baker you can possibly be without any formal training. I’ve developed 5 FUN weekly habits over time that keep me sharp and constantly evolving as a Home Baker.
These 5 Weekly Habits Include:
Watching an inspirational dessert show. Shows like Unique Sweets, Great British Bake Off, Zumbo’s Just Desserts etc. NOT decorating shows. Watch shows that focus on flavour! I always keep a notebook handy to write down which new flavour combinations I’ve learned, which new techniques I’ve learned and how I could implement them in a bake I’m comfortable with – like brownies.
Conquer something technical that has EPIC flavour (typically spaced out over a month, with research on the specific bake every week). Perfect Baked Cheesecake, Flawless Cupcakes, Perfect Lemon Meringue Pie… these are all very technical desserts, yet I’ve managed to master them through extensive ONLINE RESEARCH and then practicing baking them. It’s all you need. Really.
Eat something that gives you a YUM-high! Hard Work, right? 😉 Eating YUM-high food/treats is essential to keeping your flavour edge sharp in your baking. Eat something every week that inspires you! It doesn’t have to be expensive either. Get to that baked thingy that everyone in your town/city is talking about!
Follow GREAT bakers (not decorators) online. You will learn something NEW every time. I still do.
Use seasonal ingredients for inspiration. Fresh, seasonal ingredients can inspire you to create bakes you’ve never tried before. Search online to see what other herbs/spices/nuts go with that seasonal vegetable or fruit.
These habits have grown me into the baker I am today without ever needing to pay a cent for training. I’ve explained the core concept of each habit, because I don’t want to be stingy, but if you want to, you can download the full, free, 5 page guide in my Free Resource Library. I'm confident that you will benefit from it tremendously!
Another super effective strategy to Grow as a Baker (for free) is to volunteer at any restaurant/eatery/bakery/suppliers that do anything related to baking. This includes breads, pizzas, doughnuts, pastry, cakes, etc.! You get to learn, hands on, on a schedule that works for you. Since you are volunteering and providing them with free labour, they can’t exactly make demands on your time. I recommend doing weekends or like every second weekend.
This way the restaurant/bakery gets FREE extra labour and you learn for FREE – TOTAL win-win!!
I’ve explained the basics without being cryptic, but if you want to read more on this strategy of mine you can download my full guide from the Free Resource Library.
MYTH #1 BUSTED!!
MYTH #2: You need to formally study business/entrepreneurship for your Home Baking Business to be successful
Once again, my friends, this is a different time. The online world has opened up doors for all of us to learn almost any skill and excel at it. You don’t need to study a formal, expensive course in business for your Home Baking Business to succeed. AT ALL.
The web is absolutely TEEMING with online entrepreneur & business coaches who are giving away a WEALTH of info – for FREE. I’ve learned all I need to from these peeps. Their free stuff has made me a savvy entrepreneur with a successful Home Baking Business even though they never speak about baking.
If you have a little bit of money to spend on this, it will definitely help though. I HIGHLY recommend “The $100 start up” by Chris Guillebeau. I’m NOT being paid to say this or anything. This book has genuinely smashed my concepts of business and redefined my home baking business’s focus. It’s really inexpensive and amazing.
So yes, it’s paramount that you learn about business and entrepreneurship, but you don’t need to do a formal, expensive course at a university or institution.
MYTH #2 BUSTED!!
Myth #3: You need to be a master at fondant, sugar art and themed designs for your home baking business to succeed.
Now this is where I get very VERY feisty.
As any “normal” baking nerd would do, I’m part of a few Baking facebook groups. On these groups you typically see folks posting these AMAZING wedding cakes with mountains of fondant work, sugar flowers and modelling chocolate details… They are works of art.
One day I posted a photo in the one group of the types of cakes I do. A rustic, purist, cleanly presented carrot cake.
This Carrot Cake has generated $3000+ in sales for my home bakery business. I asked in the group if anyone does cakes like these because everyone’s work seems so “wedding-cakey” or “themed”.
Everyone’s responses SHOCKED ME.
Here’s what the fellow Home Bakers said on the group:
“I love baking cakes like yours for myself, my friends and family. But in order to make a living from baking I have to make fondant cakes.”
“LOVE these kinds of cakes, but fondant cakes are what customers want, so that’s what I do most of the time.”
My heart sank!
Is this is truly what most Home Baking Business owners believe??…
It does not have to be this way. I would just curl up in despair if the only way to make a living off baking was to make fondant, themed cakes.
Here’s why…
In general, ANY creative enjoys creating something that THEY actually want to buy themselves. As soon as you start just creating for “whatever anyone wants”, you quickly get frustrated, bored and burned out.
“In order to make a living from baking I have to make fondant cakes…” But it’s not what she enjoys doing at all. She feels she HAS to do it.
TRUTH IS that there’s a WHOLE other market today that is into QUALITY and FLAVOUR. This is what I’ve discovered & experienced over the last 5 years of building my own Home Baking Business.
FLAVOUR and QUALITY (taste) create more concrete memories than sight. It’s been scientifically proven. When more of your senses are involved in an experience, a more solid memory and rich the whole experience.
If you eat a cake with an awful flavour (includes both your taste & smelling sense) and texture, the only sense that the memory can stand on is SIGHT. SIGHT does not create a very solid memory to begin with since it is a sense we use 16+ hours per day. BUT if you eat a cake with a glorious flavour (includes smell) and beautiful, fresh texture then you already have 3 senses involved in the exerience and memory!
That’s why the desserts and bakes from our childhoods are forever seared into our memories.
I’ve NEVER heard anyone say: “oh do you remember when we ate that green fondant?! It was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life!” “Yes! And those silver deco balls, how divine!”
Nope. Never.
Over the last decade, the cake decorating scene has exploded on television and social media. It was always there, but shows like Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, Charly’s Cake Angels etc. opened up an exciting new world to the public and bakers. Overnight, super decorated, fondant cakes became the new beacon for “baking”. People were loving them on TV (and social media) and demanding them from their local bakers!
Now, I am not saying there’s no need for cake decorating (that would be foolish and ignorant). It’s an amazing art!! I’m just saying that the cake decorating “hype” has gone completely out of control and created this stigma that
BAKING = DECORATING and DECORATING = BAKING. This is FALSE.
You can be an amazing cake DECORATOR, but this does not make you a great BAKER.
In the name of “You eat with your eyes!”, super pretty, BUT terrible tasting, dry, tough, stale cakes have been served to the masses for years now. I have been on the receiving end so many times… I’m sure you have too?? It totally sucks. It ruins everything.
Bottom line: lines have become blurry and the concept of actual BAKING has been severely compromised by an exterior decorating obsession.
Ultimately, WE ACTUALLY EAT WITH OUR MOUTHS, NOT OUR EYES.
And, believe it or not, there’s a whole market just waiting for someone to produce DELICIOUS cakes, FULL of FLAVOUR, that give them a yum-high and leave them in a daze. Great, full on BAKING. This is what I’ve done and you can totally do it too!
Now obviously the cake needs to be neat and presentable, but all this means is clean lines. A neat finish on something HONEST, HOME MADE and AUTHENTIC.
You never need to make sugar flowers, or spend hours kneading purple fondant, or bake a cake a week in advance so that you have enough time to put the 1000 modelling chocolate ornaments on the cake IF YOU DON’T WANT TO.
So yes, I’m going to say it OUT LOUD:
You CAN make a comfortable living as a home baker without EVER baking a wedding cake or a themed cake!
MYTH #3 BUSTED!!
Myth #4: You need loads of Capital to start a Home Baking Business
SO, totally and completely false.
When I started my home baking business I had almost nothing. I had a $10 hand mixer, 2 cheap plastic mixing bowls, 1 square tin and 1 muffin/cupcake tin (and a $5500 student loan to pay off, lol!). That’s it! That’s all you need.
I know there are so many gorgeous kitchens on Pinterest, blogs and magazines, but don’t fall into the comparison trap.
A beautiful, fully equipped kitchen is not essential to your home bakery’s success.
Remember, this is good, honest HOME BAKING. When your mom or gran made your favourite birthday cake, could they manage without the $1000 Cuisinart Mixer? Was the cake memorable even though they mixed it by hand?
I’m betting YES.
Focus on the quality of your bakes, not the aesthetics of your kitchen and I promise that your home baking business will be successful.
Beautiful branding and packaging can also be a very tempting expense. If a wrapper is beautiful, but the candy tastes bad, will you ever buy it again? No.
Just go for simple packaging to start off with. You can seriously get away with 50 cents per cake box. To add a personal touch, get a logo stamp made for $10. It looks super rustic and cool!
A simple, affordable logo design solution is to do a trade exchange with a local graphic designer. Creatives really look out for each other and are keen to help where they can! Offer them a cake in exchange for a logo. If they are super good, maybe offer them a $100 voucher/credit at your home baking business. It’s a wonderfully enriching experience working with any other creative! Give it a try 🙂
The last area where big spending can be super tempting is advertising for your home bakery.
Take it from someone who has done this for 5 years…
When it comes to baked goods, ONE word of mouth referral from someone who has actually tasted your bakes is worth more than 1000 flyers or 2000 views on a facebook ad. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Also remember to keep the “home” in Home Bakery. Your clients want a touch of “home”. Focus on retaining your clients and build genuine relationships with them so that you become their GO-TO Baker! Loyal clients are the backbone of any Home baking business.
MYTH #4 BUSTED!!
I hope that this post has been helpful to you and that it has also LIBERATED you as an authentic home baker. Please be YOU. Your gifts and talents are SO needed!
What's next?
If you can relate to what I've shared, then Philosophy of Yum is exactly what you've been looking for. I'm so excited that you are finally here!
** I HAVE A FREE COURSE – HOME BAKED CONFIDENCE!
In this 1 week FREE email Course you will learn how to price your bakes perfectly and how to break free from jumping through hoops for demanding clients.
Please comment below if you have any other struggles or doubts about building your own home bakery business because I would LOVE to help!
Chat soon,
Aurelia 🙂
POPULAR BAKING TIPS
POPULAR BAKING TIPS
Wow ! you really open my mind with this , now im really excited to start, thank you !
Hi Shirley! Oh that is so wonderful to hear!! 🙂
Hi Aurelia!
I’m Portuguese living in France, i love making cakes at home made like my mother did to us wen i was a child!
Portugal as a lot of different cakes and deserts, so believing that there’s a market for them i opened a shop in Etsy in December 2017.
I’ve made some home made cakes and give it away free to people that would talk about it and help advertise my shop.
Although they all loved the cakes!…. I have not made any sell yet. It’s so frustrating!
I keep thinking I’ve miss something in the process, is it my cakes or my entrepreneur & business field that went wrong?!
Maybe your course will help me believe in me again!
Thanks
Hi Marina! Thank you for sharing your frustration… I’m so sorry to hear that it has been difficult for you 🙁 Home Baked Confidence course will definitely be a great start for you yes! It’s difficult to be a confident baker (which you absolutely need to be – especially in France!) if you don’t know exactly what to be confident in. An Etsy store might not be the best route to take. But we’ll chat more about that over email 😉
This is great and Inspiring but when you say home baking do you mean you take orders in advance or do you always have baking ready to sell (like a bakery)?
Hi Pippa! Thanks for asking 🙂 A Home Bakery is not a shop, so it is baking for orders yes. It can be for direct clients and/or restaurants.
I’m so glad I came across this article. I have been baking for the past 3 years, mostly just for family and friends. A lot of them have been telling me to quit my day job and start my home baking business, but as it says in your article, fear, I have not done it out of fear..fear of failure and yet deep down inside I know I will not fail.
Oh Taahira your story makes me so excited!! I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with fear of failure… I really know how difficult it is to live with that fear. You are not alone! Best advice I have is to start SLOW. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing! Bake for just 1 day in the week to start off with (as an extra income). Don’t leave your job just yet. Take your time.
Thanks Aurelia for sharing all those advise, I am passionate cooker and I would love to start my business from home since after I lost my job in 2016 I was detected with Cancer going through to different up and down and that makes me think a lot about to start something I love and give me the freedom to be with my family, Let me know if you have more information and suggestion how can I make people taste my food in Canada
Hi Glenys, I’m so sorry to hear everything you’ve been through… Life can be so difficult sometimes. It’s great to hear that you are a passionate cook! I focus more on baking, but my free course (Home Baked Confidence) will definitely be the perfect place to start. It will help you discover your best assets, how to incorporate that in your cooking/baking and how to be super confident in your home-based business 🙂
Great article time to show off hidden talents with confidence. 5stars for your brilliant knowledge thank your for sharing.
Thank you so much! You are most welcome 🙂
Hi Aurelia! Wonderful and helpful post for everyone who decided to divert from fondant cakes to make living!!!Thank you for saying out loud what I was thinking all along. So helpful!! Baking is my absolute passion but there was never a right time to pursue my dreams to make it as a business. 4 years on and 3 kids in tow ( inc. set of twins) and the time has come! In the past I started with good old fashioned biscuits and various range of cakes but then focused on novelty cakes because, as you mentioned, that’s what was the demand was for. Did it make me truly happy? No. Working with fondant is not my thing and whilst I was able to create nice fondant cakes I could feel it wasn’t IT. You just know it’s not your niche. It might to do with the fact that I don’t actually know many grown ups who like the taste of fondant or the bright colours….sure, people love the creations ( because let’s face it, it is a proper art and I admire people who can enjoy and do it well – hence why I want to leave it to them)..it’s just once you start cut into it it’s a just a cake in the end. And the cake needs to taste good. I quickly got bored of it, didn’t really enjoy the process ( although loved the look when my cake was finished), found the whole decorating stressful and prospect of another order filled me with dread instead of joy. That’s when I knew I need to focus on doing what I love…artisan biscuits of different flavours, shape and textures. I only decorate with chocolate, or sprinkles… sometimes there is no need for any decoration at all apart from dusting of icing sugar or peace of nut…but I love it that way. I love that people don’t have the need to peel the fondant off my biscuits but instead enjoy the biscuit as a whole. I agree with you, I think the whole artisan good old fashioned baking is underrated. And it’s as challenging. You need to bake well. You can’t hide behind any decoration…I’m planning on starting my business next month so I will need every advice under the sun. I’m a decent baker but never done marketing and running business in my life so I expect a huge learning curve and lots of ups and downs + occasional loss of motivation :))
And although I live in UK, I find your post really helpful!! Thank you xx
Hi Stania! Oh I just LOVED reading your comment! Naturally, I TOTALLY relate to your approach and philosophy of baking 😀 And I’m SO HAPPY to hear that you’ve found your niche. It can be very tough (and a long journey) to discover what kinds of bakes really make you tick. Life’s curve balls can be quite intense – like twins for example! But well done for embracing it all with so much gumption. I’m so excited to see how your baking business starts and grows! Chat soon 🙂
Hi, great article! How about food liability insurance? I guess liability insurance will be needed right? what are the cost? what does home bakers need to insure?
Hi Melly, thanks for your comment. I recommend applying for your country’s equivalent of a “Certificate of Acceptability” and a “Hawking Meals Business License. They are super cheap! An inspector comes to your home just to make sure you have adequate washing up facilities. Not a big deal. You don’t need insurance. I do have a disclaimer on my site though, encouraging clients to take responsibilities for their own allergies. I can’t be blamed for an allergic reaction to nuts for example, because my disclaimer says that I work with nuts in my kitchen.
dont you need a busines license and what about the health department? any inspections to go thru??
Thank you for your comment Shelly! You do need a license yes 🙂 I’ll write all about this in my next blog post!
Aurelia, thanks so much for this blog. You have actually pointed out the real pain points of every home baker. Something that even I struggled to find a solution to. You have really helped me boost my confidence.
Thank you!
Lots of love and good wishes <3
Hi Dackshta! Thank you so much for your kind words – I really appreciate it! I’m so happy to hear that I’ve helped to boost your confidence 🙂 xxx
So glad I found your insight! I’m not the only one who isn’t into fondant 😂 you were a breath of fresh air. Hopefully we can connect as I am looking into starting my own little home bakery. 😊
Hi Crystal, thanks so much for your comment! So glad to meet a kindred spirit! Will be happy to connect yes 🙂 What’s your Instagram handle?
Hi there! I was literally two seconds from practicing how to make fondant!!! I’ve been baking as a side gig for the better part of 5 or so years. It started with co- workers in a small office. Now I’m with a larger company and now im the building’s baker. I was also on the hunt for storefront opportunities, but was afraid of the major responsibilities that come along with it. I’m glad to know I can stick to my passion with is simply baking and decorating. People love my icing and I kinda hate fondant to be honest 😉
Hi Stephanie! Oh thank goodness you did not fall down the rabbit’s hole! Lol! Your situation is SUPER fascinating… The building’s baker – awesome!
Thankyou, thankyou and thankyou for this. I’m a fresh graduated architect who just started a cupcake brand focusing on flavours since I’ve always had a passion for baking. Your article just relieve all my insecurities of not having the qualifications of a professional baker. I’ve always thought that I’m not good enough to compete with all those executive pastry chefs until I started to join a local pop up market and the feedback of the customers were overwhelming. What you say about we eat with our mouths, not our eyes is definitely true, when we focus on the taste, texture, the looks doesnt really matter to the customers, they came back for the taste experience. Thanks for this inspirational article! Love from Indonesia :))
Hi Ilona, thank you so much for your wonderful comment! I am SO GLAD to hear that it has meant so much to you! I’m elated to hear that you’ve started selling your bakes at a market and that the responses have been so positive! 😀 *High five!*
I LOVED your article! I’m cameroonian but only came back home a few years back. I am currently selling ginger flavoured madeleines at my parents bakery and I spent months trying to find the right texture, flavour, the hump, it was just an obsession. I have dedicated clients who show up at the bakery just for those madeleines, I’m really happy about that! I don’t care much for fondant either, I’m much more about taste and mastering techniques even for the simplest pound cake and also including local products or diy substitutes. Just like Ilona in the previous comment, I was thinking about getting a qualification, but you clarified that for me too, exprience is worth more than a diploma. I won’t stop at madeleines, I do a lot more stuff at home that my family loves, but trying
my hands at that gave me more confidence to continue on that path. Thank you again for taking the time to share that with us, few people give away such thorough knowledge for free.
Hi Eva! Thank you so much for your comment – I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed the article! 🙂 I LOVE how dedicated you are to perfecting the quality of your bakes – it will take you very far in your baking career!! You are 100% right – with baking, experience is worth so much more than a diploma! xxx
Hello,
So I was wondering does anyone know if you have to obtain a license for an at Home Bakery?
Hi Nadia, thanks for you comment! I’ve written a post on that as well – Home Bakery Certificates & Licenses.
Great article! My best friend and I have recently started our at home bakery and are doing all the research we can! We’ve had several orders so far and we just make sure that what people want is within our wheelhouse. We don’t pretend to be able to do it all, but it’s so much fun to create. I think our biggest struggle is pricing right now. Do you have a blog post where you discuss that? Thank you!!
Hi Summer! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂 SO excited for your new home bakery!! Well done for taking this bold step into a new season and what a blessing to have your best friend by your side. I actually have a whole free email course on pricing yes – Home Baked Confidence!
This is exactly what I needed to read!! This addressed all my concerns about starting a home bakery that didn’t touch fondant 😂 I hate the stuff with a passion. My concern is that I live in humid/hot climate. Do I have a disclaimer address is appropriate storage in the heat??
I am so glad you enjoyed this post Bonnie! I also live in a hot & humid climate – South Africa. In the middle of summer it is best to bake early in the morning and start again late afternoon, but it’s absolutely doable yes! Obviously you will use your fridge a fair bit, but I’ve coped with just 1 domestic fridge for 5 and a half years now. You don’t need massive fridges and freezers.
I so appreciate this post and am glad I found your blog. I have been a sahm for 14 years and am trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up 😉 I’ve always adored baking and have had a home baking business for a short while, but life got in the way and I didn’t get to pursue it the way I would’ve liked. I would like to eventually have a bakery in our little town, but wanted to start with a home bakery first. You’ve given me great encouragement and I appreciate your knowledge! =)
Hi Lauren! I’m so excited to hear that you feel encouraged to pursue your baking dreams again! A Home Bakery is the perfect business for a SAHM to pursue because you decide your work hours based on your needs and you get to be at home for your family as well. All of this while generating a great income! I’m here for you if you have any questions 🙂